Tonight we saw the Final Three peform three songs. One song was picked by one of the judges, one song was picked by the producers, and one song was picked by the performers.

Jordin was up first with a “Wishing On a Star”, chosen for her by Simon. It wasn’t my favorite song, but she did a good job singing it. It showed her vocal range well. Ironically, Simon was the only one of the judges not crazy about the performance— he said he didn’t really like the arrangement.

Paula chose “Roxanne” for Blake. Since the beginning, my husband and I have thought Blake reminds us of Sting, so it was fun to get to see him sing a Sting song. I thought he did a good job with it, which is always difficult with Sting. I didn’t necessarily think he brought anything new or funky to the song, but he gave a good, solid performance. Again, Simon was the lone curmudgeon, saying the performance wasn’t as good as the original song.

Randy wanted to hear Melinda sing Whitney Houston’s “I Believe in You and Me”, which was kind of surprising since he always says no one should sing Whitney. What wasn’t surprising was that he found a way to work in that he’d worked with Whitney Houston. I think it’s a huge compliment that he thought she was capable of tackling this song. She has one of the few voices that we’ve heard on American Idol that can stand up to singing Whitney and not sound, at best, like a poor imitation. All three of the judges liked this performance, with Simon declaring that round one went to Melinda.

Jordin got the first viewer question of the night. She was asked her favorite song of all time. Her answer was Mmm-Bop by Hanson. I’m not sure that answer shouldn’t disqualify her from winning American Idol. HANSON?? The producers assigned Jordin “She Works Hard For the Money”. Her shoes made me nervous because I kept thinking she was going to fall down. And you know when I have to start off the critique with fashion talk, there’s not a rave review coming. There wasn’t really anything wrong with the performance— I just wasn’t blown away. All of the judges really like it, though.

Blake was asked if they made a movie about his life, what would be the title and who would play him. He said Jim Carrey would play him in the movie titled “Organized Chaos”. The producers wanted to hear him sing Maroon 5’s “This Love”. This is exactly the type of music I can imagine Blake singing. It was a really great performance. All three judges agreed it was really good.

Ryan asked Melinda who her Idol was growing up and why. She answered her Mom because she’s one of her best friends. Melinda was assigned Ike and Tina Turner’s “Nut Bush City Limits”. It was a really excellent song choice. For someone who doesn’t consider herself to be a rock singer, she sure does a good job of it. All three judges loved it, and Simon declared this round a tie.

For the song she chose for herself, Jordin chose “I Who Have Nothing” from 60s week. I thought that was one of her strongest performances, at the time. Tonight was no exception. I really think Jordin is well-suited for going into theatrical singing. She has a really nice way of connecting with the emotion of a song, and this song showcased that. Simon didn’t care for her song choice, wishing she had chosen to sing a more current song.

I was really surprised that Blake chose to sing a song he hadn’t worked on previously. He chose to sing Robin Thicke’s “When I Get You Alone”. I don’t have any idea what the original song sounds like, so I have no idea how much of the vocal performance was Blake’s unique take and how much the song was just written that way. What I do know is that Blake is unsurpassed in singing songs with difficult rhythms. I think that’s why he did so well with “Roxanne”. Randy preferred the Maroon 5 number to this one, but Simon really enjoyed this. He was glad to see Blake took a risk.

The final performance of the night was Melinda Doolittle singing Peggy Lee’s “I’m a Woman” from the Top 8 Girl’s week. As with Jordin, originally this was one of her best performances. I thought it was solid again this week, as well. Simon said if he was going to award a place in the Finals for the person who gave the most consistently good performances, he would choose Melinda.

So, here’s my summary of the night. Jordin was good, solid, but not really great. I like her a lot and always think she’s fun to watch, but the last few weeks she has struggled a bit off and on. Tonight wasn’t a struggle, but it wasn’t that exciting, either. Blake is always a favorite of mine. I never can predict what he’s going to do, so it’s always interesting to find out. His weakness is that he picks odd song choices, at times. He picks the kind of music he likes, but it’s not always the best music for his voice and performance style. Melinda is a great vocalist. If this song were truly “a singing contest”, as the judges continually remind us, I think she’d win hands-down. BUT it’s not just a singing contest. It’s a personality contest, a performance contest, a singing contest and a popularity contest all rolled into one. I’m not sure that Melinda has what it takes to win in every one of those areas. But tonight’s performances convinced me that it’s possible she could.

So, tonight I would have to rank the singers: Melinda, Blake and Jordin

What do you think?