Kris Allen Rocks AI Stage on Download Night

Tonight was another slow start for the Season 8 contestants of American Idol. After weak performances from Anoop Desai and Megan Joy Corkrey, Danny Gokey brought the crowd to their feet. Adam Lambert was the next to nail his performance, no surprise really. Then came Kris Allen with the night's finale of "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers. Kris has not been my favorite, to say the least. Tonight he definitely made an impression. Kris Allen finally looks like a contender for the American Idol Season 8 title.

Kris Allen performed behind the keyboard tonight. He showed more passion than I thought he had in him. Kris completely changed the arrangement of the song. The contemporary twist will do well as a cover single and will no doubt be Kris Allen's signature AI song.

Danny Gokey returned to his gospel/soul roots with "What Hurts the Most" by Rascal Flatts. Absolutely Danny's best performance since the start of Season 8. I am not a fan of Rascal Flatts and was not a fan of Danny's after last week. I'm glad he did much better this week. Gokey will have to keep it turned up to last to the end.

One thing about Adam Lambert, he is never boring. Though I was not as impressed this week with "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)" by Wild Cherry, it was still better than 6 of the other American Idol contestants. Adam just knows how to work the stage. I would have liked something really different this week, we know he can scream on key. As I said before, Adam will not have an off night vocally, his only downfall will be over-confidence. It started to show tonight when he thanked the band for giving a great performance. It was nice, but sounded a little like they were already Adam's band.

Tomorrow there should be a bottom four. Anoop Desai did not start the show well. Attempting Usher's "Caught Up", Anoop did not do it justice at all. Another mediocre performance from Scott MacIntyre performing "Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel. Scott is definitely out of his league at this point. Matt Giraud has been all over the place this season on AI, even in the bottom two last week. I don't think he helped himself with his song tonight, "You Caught Me" by The Fray. It was just bad.

Lil Rounds has been the biggest disappointment for me this season. Tonight singing Celine Dion's "I Surrender" there was no emotion, again. Lil sounded flat through out the performance. She looked gorgeous and the judges again tried to bolster her supporters, but even Simon said it's time to bring it. Lil may be in danger this week.

For the full rundown on tonight's American Idol performances including judges comments, visit my blog: American Idol Dreams.