American Idol Finale and the Danny Vote

Tonight is the first of the two-night American Idol season finale.

What's a Danny Gokey supporter to do?

Will the Danny voting block determine the winner of American Idol?

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The final "American Idol" performance episode could be the weirdest concert ever televised.

In one corner, there's over-the-top Adam Lambert, the dominating presence who transformed Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" into a sitar-infused spectacle and tackled "Whole Lotta Love," the first-ever Led Zeppelin tune performed on Fox's "Idol." From the outset, he's been the ambiguous rocker next door, most comfortable—but not scary—in eyeliner and studded leather.

Then, there's Kris Allen, always at home in jeans with his guitar. The only fashion risk he's taken is that smidge of blue nail polish spotted on his thumb during a visit home to Conway, Ark. Allen garnered the most praise with his daring song choices, like singing "Falling Slowing" from indie musical "Once" and reinventing Kanye West's robotic "Heartless" as a wistful singer-songwriter joint.

...The mixture of Allen's subtly and Lambert's showiness—only to be broken up with a performance by fourth-season champ Carrie Underwood—will likely make for a kookier-than-usual show Tuesday, especially considering that Allen's slot in the final two has been perceived as a come-from-behind victory for the 23-year-old college student.

"It's going to be a strange and interesting juxtaposition on Tuesday night," said Michael Slezak, who blogs about "Idol" for Entertainment Weekly magazine's Web site. "Kris and Adam are so different. Calling them apples and oranges doesn't go far enough. They're almost from different planets. It's like comparing a root vegetable to a sea creature."

...The winner's fate may lie in the dialing fingers of the fans who had been supporting Milwaukee church music director Danny Gokey—and keeping him out of the bottom three until his dismissal last week. DioGuardi believes that Tuesday's episode "will be about forming a connection with the audience, and it's really about who's gonna get those Danny votes."

I think Kris might be more likely than Adam to pick up Danny votes.

At least online, Adam's fans have been very vocal and brutal in their criticism of Danny. Those attacks don't sit well.

Fair or not, that could influence the voting.

There's also the underdog factor. Adam has been performing professionally for years and has hardly been picked out of obscurity. That could benefit Kris.

The judges are so in the tank for Adam that there could be a backlash, again working in Kris' favor.

My guess is many of Danny's supporters are bummed enough that they won't bother to phone or text for either Adam or Kris.

So late in the competition, it's hard to switch allegiances, especially when harboring the feeling that Danny is so gifted and deserved to be in the finale.

When you don't care, there's very little motivation to watch, let alone waste time casting votes.

Season 8 is already over.