“They have become heroes in their hometowns,” Ryan Seacrest announced at the top of the American Idol hour. The Top 3 contestants stood on stage behind him; only one of them will be left standing at the end of next week’s finale. Everyone’s all but given the competition to Adam Lambert, but this round of singing yet remains. Can Danny Gokey or Kris Allen manage to outshine the front runner yet?

Only this performance night would yield the answer.

The Top 3 have the pleasure - or the pain - of singing two different songs for the week. Danny Gokey’s song was chosen by Paula Abdul, who picked “Dance Little Sister.” “I don’t know,” Gokey answered with a laugh, when asked how he felt about the song choice.

The funk-infused performance allowed Danny to offer up his usual great vocals, and I think Paula’s song did just what it was intended to do - make Gokey seem like a fun and entertaining contestant. The only flaw I could find with Gokey’s performance was the sad fact that he felt the need to scat during the song. That was just uncalled-for, Danny.

“The way to jump it off tonight, Danny!” Randy Jackson was excited. “That was dope for me, dude.” Kara DioGuardi praised Paula’s choice, but didn’t at all care for Gokey’s dancing. Nor did I. “I think you did really good!” Paula Abdul cried. “You let that magic part of your voice carry out throughout the rest of your song.” “This is actually a singing show, not that funny little dancing show,” Simon Cowell shot out. “I thought the dancing was a bit desperate,” he agreed with Kara, but added that the performance was “vocally, very, very good.”

Because Idol has too many judges, Kara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson had to share their song pick for Kris Allen. Call that pretty poor planning from the producers. They picked the One Republic song “Apologize.” “It’s a big song, big range,” Randy Jackson  said. “It’s open for interpretation,” Kara DioGuardi smiled.

Allen crooned his piece while sitting at the piano, leaving ladies swooning in the theater. I’m not familiar with the song, but it seems to be another ditty about love, and the same sort of joint Allen has been singing all year. If I ever saw anything different out of this guy at this point, I’m sure I’d go into such a deep shock I’d miss the rest of the season.

“It’s about who’s gonna win this thing,” Randy Jackson made a brilliant observation, then rambled for bit about Kris’s career in the industry. “I think at this stage you gotta be swingin’ it out of the park,” Kara DioGuardi said, disappointing the Allen fans. “There was a bum note there…that was loud,” Paula Abdul admitted, but smiled as she said “good job.” “You can’t choose a song for him and then blame him for doing the song,” Simon Cowell told Kara, which got her quite riled up. Paula Abdul grinned cheekily as Cowell tore into DioGuardi, and it’s obvious there’s a lot of love at the judges’ table this year. “He’s just tryin’ to make us crazy,” Kara tried to blow Simon off.

“Things are heating up all over this set tonight,” Ryan Seacrest, as usual, had no real control over the flow of the show.

Simon Cowell, naturally, chose Adam Lambert’s first song for the evening. Cowell has not at all hidden the fact that he expects Lambert to win. He gave Adam U2’s “One.” “It’s one of my favorite songs in the world. I had to get permission from the band,” Cowell said. He then went on to talk about his conversation with Bono.

Adam stood in a dim pool of light to softly sing the beginning of the song, immediately captivating the crowd who watched. His vocals were perfect, his look was only marginally “out there,” and I feel confident that he’s neatly sewed up his Final 2 position. By that token, Lambert probably could have failed to show up and still will make it to the finals.

“You’ve been hot since Day 1,” Randy Jackson said. “It is a great song, and you are a really, really talented guy.” Kara DioGuardi liked the way Adam decided to “change up” the song. “You did your own version,” she praised before she shot a scathing remark to Cowell down the table. “It was one brilliant song, one superb performance and one American Idol that I’m staring at right now,” Paula Abdul praised. Well, let’s at least count the votes first. “It may sound a little bit biased, but I thought that was a brilliant song choice,” Simon Cowell dryly told Adam. “You find a great artist, you find a great song…it was a brilliant, brilliant performance. And I have to say, here and now, if you’re not in the final next week it will be one of the biggest upsets.” Someone tell the judges they don’t have to keep pushing - Lambert’s already got the votes.

A clip of Carrie Underwood in Africa played after the break; this was an update on the money the show has made from Idol Gives Back, an event which did not take place this year. “We’re not done yet,” the country superstar reminded everyone. This is all a pretty good indication that Gives Back will indeed be back in Season 9.

Danny Gokey also got to choose a song for himself for the Top 3 round. Perhaps a little oddly, he chose the exact same tune Taylor Hicks picked for Top 3 night: “You Are So Beautiful.” Gokey’s breathy, slow rendition mightn’t have done him any big favors, but at the same time sometimes a ballad can be well-placed enough to be a success. I’m not sure this is the case, however. Danny’s performance dragged as he whined and winged over the microphone, but he picked it up at the last chorus and hit a stunning ending note.

“Amazing song,” Randy Jackson enthused. “You can really, really, really sing. Mad vocals!” He cried. “Everything you didn’t do in the first performance for me, you just did,” Kara DioGuardi was amazed. “That was stunning!” Paula Abdul told Danny that he “left all of us breathless.” “I would call that a vocal master class,” Simon Cowell gave Gokey a very high blessing indeed.

Kris Allen decided to sing “Heartless,” a Kanye West song. Allen presented the tune a bit like a country tune, which I’m guessing is a large change from the original version. Not familiar with the tune, only the artist. Allen’s performance was actually one of his best - he was great up there with only his acoustic and very confident vocals. This contender truly threw all his game at this one, and honestly I think he could upset Danny Gokey this time around. I said I wanted to see something different, and this was absolutely it. I haven’t found a thing to like about Kris Allen all year, and suddenly now I’m compelled to vote for him.

“I like that version better than The Fray’s version, better than Kanye’s version,” Randy Jackson was blown away. “It was bold, it was great and it was fearless,” Kara DioGuardi found herself equally impressed. “You sang a song that’s about Simon Cowell,” Paula Abdul quipped, before she gave Allen a “bravo.” Simon Cowell didn’t seem all that moved - at first. “I had written you out of this competition,” he said. “That, however, has all changed after that performance.”

Adam Lambert picked an Aerosmith tune for the final performance of the evening. “Steven Tyler’s the man, so I wanna do him proud,” Lambert said before he took the stage. He then delivered “Cryin’” in a way that might have shown Tyler up. This guy is definitely the total package, but there’s still no telling who he really is.

“You’re one of the best that we’ve ever had on this stage,” Randy Jackson is a big fan. Kara DioGuardi wants to see Lambert at the finals. “You’ve set the bar so high in the sky,” Paula Abdul marveled. “We’ll be seeing you next week, and many years after that,” she declared. “It’s very easy to assume that you’re going to sail through to the final next week,” said Simon Cowell. He then made an out-and-out pitch for Adam, encouraging viewers to vote. Well, that’s not too overt. “Kris and Danny did really well tonight,” Lambert was charming for the cameras while his numbers were announced. Adam absolutely knows how to say all the right things and he’s got just the right attitude of quiet, confident-but-not-arrogant grace. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was put on. …

At any rate, only two of them will go head-to-head for the exciting American Idol 8 finale. The results of this will be revealed on the Wednesday results show.