We know we’ve seen various alums throughout the season, but it’s still a little surprising that they didn’t book much beyond Carrie Underwood for this 20th season finale of “American Idol” -- and then she went ahead and had to cancel due to a Covid exposure within her group. All that hype, and we don’t even get to see the franchise’s biggest music star (sorry, Kelly, it was close!) perform? Even without Carrie, there were plenty of superstar performers, including “Idol” alum Gabby Barret (with Cade Foehner). She was joined on the night by Flo Rida, Earth Wind & Fire, Deana Carter, Ben Platt, Tai Verdes, Sara Bareilles, Thomas Rhett, James Arthur, Michael Bublé, and Melissa Etheridge. To keep things exciting as the night progressed, the Top 3 were set to perform multiple times. And after the first two rounds, a live snapshot of the voting results at that moment will both determine and eliminate the third-place finisher. That’s one way to keep people invested in voting early and as often as they can for their favorites. After an exciting season, it was all down to HunterGirl, Leah Marle and Noah Thompson. One would get cut halfway through the night and one would be crowned the Season 20 winner. Did you get it right? Fair warning, since I'm safe at home, I'm probably going to be a little harsher than my colleagues Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan. But I might be nicer, too. Maybe. And just for fun, I'm going to rank the performances from worst to first to see who my favorites are in each round. That way I can see who's the best and then see if you get it right with your votes - i.e., agree with me. ROUND 1: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (“Cover Me,” Bruce Springsteen - 20, Normal, IL) Bruce’s catalog doesn’t lend itself to big vocal moments because that’s just not the kind of artist he is, but Leah still managed to find a few moments to milk a moment and find a sweet note to play with. It was cool seeing her rock out with the guitar up there, looking and sounding more and more like a real pro with each round. Clearly all the audience support is giving her a huge boost of confidence, as she’s grown the most of anyone in the competition from her stage presence to her style and everything else. (“Dancing in the Dark,” Bruce Springsteen - 23, Winchester, TN) Every time, her voice is just so radio ready; these live performances could be studio recordings. It’s incredible how pure and clean her voice is. Throughout this piece, HunterGirl managed to find moments to punch it and other moments to just live in the moment. At the end, she gave us a breathy delivery we’ve not heard from her on those final few lines, and it was everything. She really is the total package and ready to take music by storm. (“I’m on Fire,” Bruce Springsteen - 20, Louisa, KY) Bruce is a perfect fit for what Noah does naturally, but he took it to a whole ‘nother level with this intimate and transfixing performance. Noah on the center of the stage with a mic stand and that’s all we needed. He caressed those early verses and had our souls, he hit those soaring (yet gente) high notes and then put emphasis on the backend to build an emotional bridge to our hearts. This was an unexpectedly powerful performance. It felt like Noah had lived every line. Easily this was his strongest moment of the season! (“Red Bird,” HunterGirl - 23, Winchester, TN) Another great song, written with a personal connection for HunterGirl. As we said before, she is so radio ready and so is this song. She’s ready to step off this stage and into Nashville and be accepted (hopefully) with open arms. The vocal performance was just a bit shaky at times, but you could hear her heart and how much the message of the lyrics meant to her. Her hometown was so touching, and she showed her heart in the work she does with veterans, HunterGirl remains one of the most impressive people to ever come through the “Idol” machine. (“One Day Tonight,” Noah Thompson - 20, Louisa, KY) Noah is such a sweet and humble human being, and his friend Arthur is the angel he didn’t know he needed. His hometown visit definitely hit all the feels ahead of this performance. While this was a great song, Noah seemed to be underperforming it just a bit. It’s a habit he’s fallen into in the past, as if his confidence leaves his voice a little timid and even shaky. This is a huge stage and already a number one hit, so he just needs to take that final step and own that he has earned this whole experience. No matter what happens here, though, we have a feeling country music is ready to embrace his authenticity, heart and talent. (Flowers,” Leah Marlene - 20, Normal, IL) On the verge of losing it entirely, Leah kept it together just enough to get through this original song she wrote to her past self. It’s a beautiful song with such a strong message for anyone who feels trapped in a situation where they’re spirit is wilting. Just believe in yourself, grow and bloom and be you and your greatness will break through. Life is worth taking a chance on yourself, believing in yourself, fighting for yourself. This was a great breakthrough kind of moment for her as an artist truly sharing her art. After two rounds, it was time to cut one dream short of the big confetti moment at the end of the show. And as much as we’ve been rooting for her all season long -- and she is so ready for this -- we couldn’t help but think that maybe it was HunterGirl who was going to fall short. We’ve been ready to see Leah Marlene go these past few weeks after she failed to impress us as much as others, but tonight we’ve seen Leah blossom and grow and find her confidence as an artist. HunterGirl came in polished and ready, and we all know voters love a growth story -- both Leah and Noah have those. The first person Ryan sent into the finals of these finals was Noah, which we pretty much expected. If his song was already at number one -- and he’s the only one we got those deets about -- then he’s clearly got his fans out there. The fear for HunterGirl at this point was whether or not she and Noah were sharing country music fan votes. It’s such a singular genre, with so many people in it and so many people absolutely not in it, that she’d have a challenge at this point surpassing Leah. But that’s not what happened at all, and no one was more stunned than HunterGirl to find out she was still in this thing. That means it was the end of the road for Leah Marlene, who oddsmakers were listing as the favorite to win as recently as last week. Looks like it’s an all-country final after all. (“I Get a Good Feeling,” Flo Rida) We have a feeling this wasn’t a live recording, but it was still a very fun piece to open the show. That said, we found ourselves more mesmerized by the rapid camera work atop the Hotel Roosevelt wondering if it was drone work, and still impressed by how quickly things were moving. Flo sounded great, but as we said, it could well have been a recording. And with the Top 10 relegated to just singing the chorus in .. ahem … chorus, there’s not much more to say. Visually, though it’s a lot of fun (just be careful if you’re super prone to motion sickness as this one moves!). (“Shining Star/Let’s Groove/September,” Earth, Wind & Fire) Jay meshed great vocally with the band as they brought such a cool groove to the stage. These guys are total legends in what they do and they can still bring the funk like nobody’s business. It was good seeing Jay in his element, too, clearly enjoying the sound and style -- and probably the company he was able to share the stage with! (“Strawberry Wine,” Deana Carter) It was so sweet how Deana got lost in watching Mike perform and forgot to come in at one point. Their partnership was so sweet and their harmonies were fantastic on the chorus. It was a masterful vocal performance by two people who clearly are fans of the other’s music. We’re so happy for Mike that he found his niche on this show and hope he continues and brings his soulfulness into country music. (“Take Me to the Pilot,” El