Idolator

Tonight's American Idol is going to be content-packed, with each contestant singing three songs: A song picked by Clive Davis, a song from each of their previous repertoires, and a song selected by one of the judges. (There is no way tonight's episode is going to end on time, is there?) The judges' picks were announced during the contestants' homecoming trips last week: Simon chose Jordin's song, Randy picked Melinda's, and Paula got to pair her No. 1 crush object with a song. After the jump, we look at the three judges' picks, and rate each one's potential to get the judges raving.

Melinda (picked by Randy): "I Believe In You And Me," Whitney Houston. This track from The Preacher's Wife is pretty much the ideal Melinda song—a beautiful ballad that we're sure Melinda will sing flawlessly. But we're a bit worried that Randy's decision to give Melinda a Whitney song may result in the inevitable declaration that "It's hard to sing Whitney," thus dimming her star. 7 OUT OF 10 DAWGS

Blake (picked by Paula): "Roxanne," The Police. Will he dare to beatbox? After all, doing so will make his encounters with Sting in the VIP tent at this summer's Virgin Festival^* only that much more awkward. 5 OUT OF 10 HIGH-PITCHED GIGGLES

Jordin (picked by Simon): "Wishing On A Star," Rose Royce. Quite possibly the worst pick of the three—this track (which we first heard when it was done up by the Cover Girls) has the potential to show off the most grating aspects of Jordin's voice, namely her tendency to whine when she has to show off the higher aspect of her register. Not to mention that it could have last week's problem of not really being a great Idol song—the climax it builds to isn't one of those "whoa factor" moments Idol seems to appreciate most. Well, if she wears a headpiece like the one Royce is wearing in this clip, she'll at least have the Sanjaya voters in the palm of her hand. 2 OUT OF 10 CHEST-RUBS

American Idol [Official site]

^* Dude. 311 is playing!