In the span of a few days, the questions have changed drastically.

As Thursday morphed into Friday, many Milwaukeeans were asking themselves and their friends "Who the heck is Danny Gokey?"

When the "American Idol" star made his way around the city Friday, the question morphed a bit. People were asking "Why are the local TV and radio stations treating this guy like he just won the Super Bowl, cured every disease known to man/landed on Mars?"

Now that Gokey's visit is over, a different question is bubbling:

"Can he win the thing?"

We will know more tonight, when Gokey and his co-competitors -- Adam Lambert and Kris Allen -- square off in a "judge's choice" setup (the judges will pick a song for each contestant to sing and the finalists will choose one themselves) at 7 p.m. on Fox (Channel 6 in Milwaukee).

Gokey will sing "Dance Little Sister," a song by Terrence Trent D'Arby. Lambert will do U2's "One" and Allen will do "Apologize" by Timbaland.

For those who haven't been following the action to this point, here is a status update.

Gokey, a widower and choir leader, was tabbed as an early favorite in the competition. He had the back story. He had the vocal chops. He had the wholesome look, but with funky eyeglasses. Though his performances stood out some weeks more than others, he was consistently strong throughout.

His only misstep, a screechy final note in Aerosmith's "Dream On," has been compared to Howard Dean's campaign trail scream. Gokey has joked about the finish, which some of his detractors have turned into a ringtone, and the humility will help.

Adam Lambert, a swaggering San Diego song master who wears glam-rock "guy-liner," gained momentum with a series of chameleon-like performances throughout the competition. At times, he channeled Mick Jagger strutting the stage. Other times, he dialed it down and seemed like a Harry Connick crooner (on the disco hit "If I Can't Have You"). His versatility and ambiguous sexuality -- he's rumored to be gay -- have made him seem a bit edgy for a show that seems to reward manufactured musicians. The fact that he graced the cover of Entertainment Weekly won't hurt his cause.

Allen, who accompanies himself on guitar, has been regarded as a solid contestant but by no means a front-runner. His boyish good looks will win him votes from the Tiger Beat set, but his rise has been late and that doesn't bode well for the results show on Wednesday. Many have predicted a Gokey-Lambert showdown for weeks.

Back to the questions...

Who is going to win? Either Gokey or Lambert, who seems to have a lead at this point and hasn't shown signs of making a mistake.

What about the other common question: Who cares about all this?

Rest assured, though, that plenty of people care. Eight years into its run, "American Idol" remains a major ratings draw, star vehicle and generator of water cooler conversation.

The New York Times reported that the show generates $1 billion in advertising revenue for Fox. That figure, which is more than the GNP of some countries, doesn't include revenue from iTunes sales, licensing deals and the summer concert tour, which stops Aug. 28 at the Bradley Center.

Viewership may be down -- as it is for virtually everything on TV these days -- but "Idol" has enough heat to keep the executives happy.

Check out this blurb from the New York Times story:

In the 2003-'04 season, the first in which "Idol" was the top-rated prime-time series, its lead over the second place show was about 7 percent. That margin has grown every year since and this year is 66 percent.

Mike Darnell, the president of alternative entertainment for Fox, who oversees "Idol" and other reality shows for the network, said that "Idol" could lose 12 percent of its audience every season and still be among the top 10 shows on television in 2016 -- even if every other show on television maintained all of its current audience.

What that means is a few more seasons of this hype.