Tonight's "American Idol" magnified a key factor: Singers are the most impressive when doing straight-ahead, melodic songs.
Just about everything from Queen fits that description. During the first half of th show, all six finalists thrived.
Then, oddly, half of them went in the opposite direction, with complex songs that do nothing for the singer. Elise Testone did Jimi Hendrix, Joshua Ledet did Luther Van Dross, Phillip Phillips did a seemingly impenetrible Dave Matthews tune.