One's a native of southern California with an extensive professional background in musical theater, the other a church music director from Wisconsin.
One looks a little like Elvis, the other like a way-too-cheerful Robert Downey Jr.
Danny, who lost his wife four weeks before his first "Idol" audition, making his cheerfulness all the more remarkable, was a big story in the early weeks of the season. But it's Adam, who pairs even his edgiest performances with a disciplined, unthreatening demeanor in front of the judges, who's generating most of the media buzz now.
On Sunday, the New York Times devoted a good chunk of its Style section front to asking whether a gay contestant could win.
And not just any gay guy, but one who'd given in to his "inner Maybelline girl."
"Leave aside for a moment the answer to such a question, or even whether Mr. Lambert is gay," wrote Guy Trebay. "He may be. He may not. Fox, which owns 'Idol,' is not saying; neither is the contestant himself."
Don't ask, don't tell? That does sound like "Idol."
But as much as I shake my head over the numbers of postings I've seen on the Web from girls who refuse to entertain the possibility that a guy who wears that much makeup might not be meant for them, I don't need Adam to say if he's gay or not.
He's already rendered an important service just by being possibly gay.
Don't know if it's the way he towers over host Ryan Seacrest or that his voice has judge Simon Cowell seeing dollar (and pound) signs, but those two seem to be engaging in far less of the homophobic banter that's rendered so many "Idol" interludes icky in recent seasons.
