So Ryan Seacrest announced that there were 88 million votes on Tuesday night. I half-expected Seacrest to put a pinky to the corner of his mouth like Dr. Evil when he said that. Anyway, he also said that it was the closest voting ever, with 1 million votes separating the top two.

Then came a bit on Idol Gives Back, with a surprise appearance from Alicia Keys, who was there to pimp the cause, and not to perform. Instead she talked about how we can donate, and then introduced 9-year old African sensation Noah, who performed “I’m the World’s Greatest,” a song that should have been performed by Kara DioGuardi or Simon Cowell. The song itself? Kind of like “Pass the Duchie.”

Then they showed each contestant’s journey back home last week, starting with Danny Gokey’s trip to Milwaukee. Danny was reunited with his buddy Jamar, who auditioned with him and hung on up until Hollywood week. Then it was Kris Allen’s turn to go back to Conway, Arkansas, and it’s safe to say that both he and Danny were overwhelmed by the turnout and reaction back home. Their lives will never be the same, that’s for sure.

Then Season 6 champ Jordin Sparks sang her new single, “Battlefield,” which sounded like five different songs in one. And like every other post-Idol performance, it was all shouty and annoying. Then they had Adam Lambert’s return to San Diego, and dude clearly loved the attention.

Then it was Katy Perry’s turn to guest star, and she came out wearing some sort of cape with Adam Lambert’s name printed on the back. No wonder Adam said he couldn’t wait to see Katy perform. Anyway, as Mrs. Mike correctly pointed out, Katy Perry is all gimmick….she’s not awful and her songs are catchy, but watching her perform makes me hate the music industry. And that vibrato in her voice? It sounds like The B-52’s doing “Rock Lobster.”

Then it was down to business. Danny, Kris and Adam were asked to stand at the center of the stage. The first contestant to make it to the final was….Kris Allen! Yes, my boy made it! America certainly has better taste than Idol judges. Would Adam be the one going home? That was my prediction….well no, it was Adam moving on to the finals, and Danny headed home. Wow. I thought Gokey was going to win or have a chance, but this goes to show how strong the field is this season.

After having Danny sing one more time, Seacrest asked Cowell what he thought…..and he said something about Kris’ second song Tuesday (Kanye West’s “Heartless”) vaulting him into this spot, which might be somewhat true….but more so, the viewing public recognizes sheer talent and artistry and they wanted Kris in there. The judges also got their wish of having Adam in the finale, though based on Tuesday’s performances, he didn’t deserve it. That’s Idol though.

And here’s something nobody is talking about….well, until now. One million votes separated Adam and Kris…so for as good as these judges think Adam is and for as lousy as they (mostly Simon) have thought Kris to be, it’s not a slam dunk for Adam by any means. Cowell even admitted that next week is set up to be a “big ding dong,” which I think is the British way of saying epic matchup.

This is going to be a match between two extremely different performers…the showy, screechy, overrated, tongue-in-the-camera’s face Adam Lambert, and the laid back, underrated, slay-em-with-your-arrangement country boy Kris Allen. I’m betting that the votes next week are even closer than this week, and I’m saying it right here, right now….Kris is going to win, and it will send Kara and Paula directly to their respective shrinks.

What do you all think?

First of all, I’m quite sure that in previous seasons at this stage, they showed the three finalists going to their hometown with a whole montage on that before performing, but this time they shortened the show to an hour and though I haven’t looked at the listings, I’m expecting a longer results show tonight. But anyway, each contestant would sing something a judge or judges picked for them, and another song of their choice.

Danny Gokey went first and the song was Paula Abdul’s selection of Terence Trent D’Arby’s “Dance Little Sister.” Not a bad choice at all, with the tone and funky chorus that is right in Gokey’s wheelhouse. The problem is that the song never really goes anywhere, but Danny did a fine job with it. Randy said it was “dope,” Kara said the song was in Danny’s money spot but that she didn’t like the dancing, Paula said she was proud of Danny, and that she as a choreographer DID like his dancing (say what?), and Simon agreed with Kara but said it was a good vocal.

Kris Allen was next, and since there are now four judges, Kara and Randy tag-teamed on this one, picking One Republic’s “Apologize.” Kris played it painfully safe, sitting at the piano and doing a good job with it, but wowing positively no one. I was bummed that they kind of gave him a lame choice. Randy said the song fits who Kris can be, Kara liked the choice but wished Kris would have changed up the arrangement and said it wasn’t a home run, Paula said she understood the song choice and that she was proud, and Simon thought it was too copycat and he gave Kara a really hard time about Kara giving Kris a hard time about the arrangement of a song she chose for him. Ha!

Adam Lambert had U2’s “One,” chosen by Simon Cowell after Cowell received the personal permission necessary from Bono to let Adam perform the song. I can feel the pressure of Cowell’s and Bono’s big heads swelling from here. Get over yourselves. Anyway, it went from subtle to screamy and I am being totally honest when I say I thought it was all over the place. More exciting than Kris but for me, not quite as good as Danny. Randy said Adam is in the zone but he didn’t like the way he changed up the melody, Kara said it was “unbelievable,” Paula said it was “One brilliant song” and that she is looking at “One American Idol.” So basically Paula was handing Adam the crown. Whatever. Simon of course said it was a brilliant song choice and a brilliant performance. Whatever.

Then after a segment about “Idol Gives Back” with Carrie Underwood going to Africa, it was back to business.

Danny went first, and his choice was Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful,” which Randy appropriately pointed out was written by the late, great Billy Preston. It was a cool arrangement, and for me, this was Danny’s one moment….I think he showed with this performance that he is very capable of winning it all. Randy said Danny “can really sing!” Kara said it was “stunning,” Paula said she was “breathless,” and Simon said that while he didn’t love the arrangement, it was a “vocal master class.” Well said.

Kris then stunned the entire world by taking on Kanye West’s “Heartless.” Say WHAT? But as he’s done before, Kris strapped on a guitar and completely re-did the arrangement, making it one of his best performances this season at a time when he desperately needed it. Randy was blown away, saying it was better than the original, Kara said it was bold, brave and fearless, Paula said it was brave and “relevant,” and Simon said that he had written Kris off, but that after that performance he gave him a shot to make it one more week.

Adam closed out the night with Aerosmith’s “Cryin’,” probably remembering that Kara preferred the new, more schmaltzy Aerosmith to the drunken rock star Aerosmith of the “Dream On” and Toys in the Attic days. Not a bad choice, but somewhat safe at this point, because it was a good performance, but not nearly a “Whole Lotta Love” moment for me. Naturally, the judges touted Adam’s brilliance again. Randy said it was one of his best ever and that he was a true rock star, Kara said “see you at the finals,” Paula went on about, “If Steven Tyler was a mentor, blah blah blah.” And Simon said it’s easy to assume that Adam will reach the final 2 and that we shouldn’t crown him just yet, but that with his showing tonight, he truly deserves to be here next Tuesday. I’m not going that far.

So here is what we’ve got…..Danny was decent on his opener, phenomenal on his second song….Kris was mediocre on his opener, phenomenal on his second effort….and Adam was pitchy and screamy on his first song, and decent on his closer. By my accounts, Danny is safe, and and despite what the judges said, Kris and Adam are going to duke it out for that second spot. I wouldn’t be so sure America is giving Adam a free pass….because America loves Kris and he has many pimps like me. But if Kris goes home, I could totally see that happening too.

So what’ll it be America? What do you think? I’m going to make a bold prediction here…Adam is going home. Remember you read it here!

First, there was a group performance of “School’s Out” with this week’s mentor, Slash, on guitar. Not awful, but not worth watching on your DVR again. I will say that, holy crap, can that dude shred.

Then AI judge Paula Abdul put her judge hat aside and performed her new, highly auto-tuned single, “I’m Just Here For the Music.” It was, as Simon would say, a “forgettable” ditty. But the best part was when Paula did a stair-dive into a group of suit-clad dancing men. That could have ended badly.

Then No Doubt performed their ’90’s hit, “I’m Just a Girl,” with an out of breath Gwen Stefani making us all dizzy with her stage aerobics. Gwen didn’t sound all that great, either, but her and the band have that itch again, and they are hitting the road for a summer reunion tour next week, to be followed by a new album.

Then, on to the results. They had the final 4 of Allison Iraheta, Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert and Kris Allen come out to the front of the stage, and Seacrest was going to send one of them back to safety. That person was….Kris! My boy is in the final 3. Screw you, Simon Cowell and Kara DioGuardi.

After that, Idol alum Chris Daughtry and his band performed a song from their upcoming album Leave This Town, called “No Surprise.” Um, I’m as big a fan of Daughtry as anyone, but this song was not very good…not only that, but who thought it was a good idea to have Chris sing about an octave above his range? Nobody needs to hear the dude straining, and a long tour is going to wreak havoc on his voice if that’s the lead single.

Back to the results…the next person who is in the final 3 is Adam Lambert. Well, duh. You don’t ace a Led Zeppelin tune on Tuesday and risk getting voted off. So it was down to Allison and Danny, this being Gokey’s first time on the chopping block but like Allison’s fifth or so. Seacrest left Danny hanging for about five minutes before saying those magic words, “You are safe.” Allison, who was one of the youngest contestants ever to make it this far, was going home, leaving us with a sausage-fest final 3 of Kris, Adam and Danny.

Allison sang Janis Joplin’s “Cry Baby” one more time, this time with no fear, and it was so good that it probably would have been good enough to not get her kicked off if this performance counted. But that’s what nerves will do to you, and you can’t not be nervous at 17. Still, you haven’t heard the last of Allison’s golden pipes, believe me.

I would like to add a parting shot at judges Simon and Kara, who threw Kris so far under the bus Tuesday night that I feared America would heed their comments and vote him off. But not so, just like America proved that Matt wasn’t worth saving, and just like Daughtry went on to be a multi-platinum artist after Simon’s constant dissing, and like David Cook wound up being the popular choice in the finale last year when Simon and the rest of the world all but crowned David Archuleta on that Tuesday. It’s just proof that America likes who they like, and these judges, like many A&R types in the music business, can’t recognize a fan favorite like Kris Allen without poking giant holes in his performances. Good for Kris that he can inwardly tell them to stick it, at least for one more week.

Are we headed for that Adam-Danny cage match? Don’t be so sure. And don’t be so sure Adam is going to skate away with the crown…as we’ve seen in the past, you just never know on “American Idol.”

Your thoughts?