With last night's performances -- each contestant chose a song from the year of his or her birth -- things are continuing to crystallize in terms of just who has the talent necessary to make it all the way to the finals. People who have been iffy to us for the last few weeks have stayed that way this week. With just a couple of notable exceptions, nothing that happened last night was a game-changer.

Let's begin with our recap of the performances and our guesses of who should be a little bit worried.

(1) Danny Gokey sang "Stand by Me" by Ben E. King. One of the absolute classics of American music, Danny was allowed to sing this 1961 hit due to a technicality: it was remade in 1980 by country artist Mickey Gilley for the Urban Cowboy soundtrack. Ostensibly Gilley's version of the song, Danny gave his usual solid performance and started off the night on a good note. There were a few rough parts in his rendition where his voice flattened out, but as usual, Danny proved to be a crowd pleaser and got universal acclaim from the judges for his vocals, if not for the song's arrangement. PREDICTION: SAFE

(2) Kris Allen sang "All She Wants to Do is Dance" by Don Henley (1985). This was one of the few surprises for us during the night in that we, like the judges, thought this was a step down for Kris after the last few weeks of great performances. He did get swallowed up by both the crowd that surrounded him as well as the overdone arrangement, and as a result, may find himself in trouble this week. Tonight's results will really be a test as to just how much of a fanbase Kris has amassed. His star has risen in the competition week to week where he's being mentioned in the same breath as Danny and Adam. Did last night's performance undo some of that momentum? PREDICTION: BOTTOM 3

(3) Lil Rounds sang "What's Love Got to Do with It" by Tina Turner (1984). Easily Lil's weakest performance to date, and we'd go so far as to say that it was the weakest of the night. The song started off extremely rough as her voice was not able to pitch itself properly on the lower register first verse. Lil looks great on camera and has considerable stage charisma, but this could be her first visit to the bottom. PREDICITON: BOTTOM 3

(4) Anoop Desai sang "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper (1986). After Ryan put him on the spot by trying to turn Anoop's comment to Kara last week (that wasn't really audible to us at home) into a controversy, Anoop gave a slick, soulful vocal of this Cyndi Lauper classic. The judges all liked it and so did we, but we're wondering if Anoop and the song are both just too low key to get a lot of people excited. Anoop was in the bottom 2 last week, and we wouldn't be completely shocked to see him end up there again this time around. PREDICTION: SAFE

(5) Scott MacIntyre sang "The Search is Over" by Survivor (1985). Scott stepped out from behind the piano for the first time and accompanied himself on the electric guitar for this mid-80s power ballad. In general, it was an okay vocal, but when he tried to hit the really high notes, he went out of tune for a second and it became unpleasant. With mediocre-to-bad reviews from the judges, Scott is once again in danger of landing at the bottom. PREDICTION: BOTTOM 3

(6) Allison Iraheta sang "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt (1992). After a couple of rough weeks (including 2 visits to the bottom 3), Allison came roaring back with this track from Bonnie Raitt's career best-selling album, Luck of the Draw. In spite of Simon's admonition that Iraheta become more likeable, we feel that, of the two remaining female singers left this season, Allison now has the better chance of going further in this competition. PREDICTION: SAFE

(7) Matt Giraud sang "Part-Time Lover" by Stevie Wonder (1985). Stevie Wonder songs are notoriously difficult to do given Wonder's vocal prowess and dynamic range, but Matt did an admirable job here and gave not only a good vocal, but showed considerable charm and style on the stage. In his pre-Idol life, he was a "dueling pianist" at bars and clubs and his ability to work a crowd was evident here. In the bottom 2 a couple of weeks ago, Matt should avoid that fate this time around. PREDICTION: SAFE

(8) Adam Lambert sang "Mad World" by Tears for Fears (1982). This track, from the band's first album The Hurting, was an international hit, but not released here in America. However, the song did become popular here when it was remade by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules for the soundtrack to Donnie Darko in 2001. It was this stripped down version, rather than the synthesizer-heavy original, that Adam used as inspiration for his rendition. Sitting at the front center of the stage and bathed in moody blue lighting, Adam brought the house down with a performance that caused Simon Cowell to give his first standing ovation. The show was running overtime by this point, so the rest of the judges didn't get to comment, but a camera take on Paula during the song showed her to be pretty much hypnotized by Adam's precise and haunting vocal. The crowd's screams were so loud that they were audible even though the show's sound mixers try to negate the audience's reactions during the performances. We always like it when Adam pulls back vocally, and last night's understated performance was an Idol-best for him. If this week were the finals, Adam would have just won American Idol. PREDICTION: SAFE and undoubtedly the highest vote getter of the night.

For our bottom 3, we've selected Kris Allen, Lil Rounds, and Scott MacIntyre. Of these 3, we're the least sure of Kris and if he were swapped out for Anoop, we wouldn't be too surprised. Anoop is a solid, dependable vocalist, but his personality doesn't really jump off the stage. In this competition, we feel he's no better than a mid-lister and we'd be surprised to see him get any higher than #5. Anoop's performance was better than Kris's but Kris has a lot of goodwill built up over the last few weeks and may be able to keep himself out of the losers' circle.

Of the remaining eight contestants, four have never been to the bottom 3 yet: Kris, Danny, Adam, and Lil. For us, this is actually our top 4, but Lil does deserve to land in the bottom after last night. Of the five eliminated contestants thus far, four were eliminated on their first trips to the bottom 3, so it's not out of the question that Lil could go home if she ends up there. We don't feel that Kris has any chance of going home tomorrow, but Scott MacIntyre is in more danger, and he is our pick for elimination tonight.