James Durbin, Haley Reinhart, Jacob Lusk Dominate “American Idol” Buzz Wednesday

Voting results will not be revealed until Thursday night, but as far as Internet users are concerned, performances from “American Idol” contestants James Durbin, Haley Reinhart and Jacob Lusk warranted special attention.

Google Trends, which has been on-and-off as it relates to tracking searches related to the “Idol” finalists, indeed features several queries related to “American Idol” this week. Leading the charge is “Luther Vandross,” with the reference to the singer undoubtedly fueled by Lusk’s rendition of “Dance with My Father” on Wednesday’s performance show. As of 11PM, “Luther Vandross” was the most-searched term on Google.

Interesting, of course, is the fact that Lusk received only a lukewarm reaction from the judging panel, which was undoubtedly at its most critical of the season. It is also worth noting, as confirmed on the “Idol” telecast, that today marks the late Vandross’ birthday, a fact that also likely plays into search interest.

Haley Reinhart is also apparently making waves, courtesy her version of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” (which also received a modest reaction). “Adele Lyrics” is the number four search as of press time, a query undoubtedly boosted by Reinhart’s performance. At the same time, with Adele’s album “21” selling like hotcakes and “Rolling in the Deep” taking off as the English singer’s most successful American single by far, it is possible only a small Haley Reinhart boost was needed to cue the search volume.

The most unambiguous buzz-booster is James Durbin, who is Trending, by name, at number eleven. He is the only “Idol” contestant whose name appears in the top twenty.

Meanwhile, his acclaimed rendition of “Uprising” also seems to be boosting interest in original artist Muse. The UK rock outfit sits at number twelve on the Trends chart.

How does the buzz translate to performance quality? Who is likely to leave this week? Headline Planet’s frequently-cited “American Idol” performance recap and review will be published by Thursday morning.