American Idol: Quentin Tarantino and Steven Van Zandt

The theme of tonight's America Idol was movie music.

Quentin Tarantino, a big Idol fan and guest judge on Season 3, advised the contestants. It was interesting to watch the little taped segments of him at work, giving his take on how they should approach their selected songs.

Tarantino was in the audience for the performances. The camera would cut to him for his reaction.

The camera also honed in on Steven Van Zandt. He was tonight's celebrity audience member. I didn't expect to see him there. He wasn't sitting directly behind the judges the way David Spade was, and Miami Steve wasn't chomping on gum like Spade. Katie Couric was also in the audience.

Due to time constraints, the judging was a bit different tonight. Each contestant heard from two judges, either Paula and Simon or Randy and Kara.

Adam Lambert sang "Born to be Wild." Video here.

He was back to his rocker personality. Personally, I didn't care for the performance. He did the screaming stuff that bugs me and he was back to the excessive theatrics. At times, I thought he sounded like Meat Loaf. Weird, I know; but that's who came to mind. At other times, he reminded me of Steven Tyler, and not in a good way. It was kind of karaoke, albeit fantastic karaoke.

Danny Gokey, Adam's main competition, sang "Endless Love." Audio here.

Tarantino advised him not to use his hands too much when singing, to let the emotion come out of his eyes instead of his hands. That sounded like advice from Tarantino the movie maker. I think it was good advice. Interestingly, Danny went without his glasses tonight for the first time.

A harpist was on stage to accompany him. Paula thought he did great. Simon said he was disappointed with the harp and that the version was too traditional. He said he was a bit bored. Having said that, Simon continued, he could see that the song meant a lot to Danny and that he was emotional. Simon congratulated him for performing it.

I thought it was a very moving performance. Go Danny!

Tarantino said that Kris Allen most lived up to the spirit of the competition in that he picked a song from a movie that meant a lot to him. Kris sang "Falling Slowly."

Randy said it was pitchy. Kara said the song was one of his best moments. I thought it was great.

Lil Rounds sang "The Rose." I thought she did well, but Simon was quite rough on her.

Time was short again, even with the different judging method.

I think tonight's best performances were from Kris and, of course, as always, Danny.