Why do Randy and Simon insist on telling Syesha that she doesn't sound like Whitney Houston .. or this week Fantasia.  I get that she is singing their songs, but she is holding her own.  She is not trying to imitate them.  Syesha has been giving the songs she sings her own twist.

Jason Castro captured our hearts with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo. 

This guy just keeps winning with me... First it was Jeff Buckley's rendition of "Hallelujah" now this.  He's just the coolest American Idol contestant to ever live.  Love him!

Randy called it blazing, molten, hot!

Paula told Jason he was the most definitive soul and noted that she loves the version he chose.

Simon asked, "this is the version by Israel something, right?  The first time I heard it, I wasn't sure.  The second time, I loved it.  The third time, (as he pointed to Castro) fantastic!

Enough said! 

Move over Katherine McPhee -- there is another "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" performance that Simon gushed over.     

Aerosmith's "Dream On" by Michael Johns exploded the American Idol scene.  Wow, another strong night for Michael Johns!  He's not messing around anymore.

Paula thought the song was perfect and told him he sounded as good as he looked.   

Randy was really annoying with his critiques.  To Michael he thought it was a pretty good song choice, but had some pitch problems.  He also added, "I don't buy you in any way like an Aerosmith.  That's not the singer you are to me."

The judge pushed more.."that's the song you chose?"  The very enthusiastic aussie contestant responded, "I just had to do it!  I'm up here living in America and dreams can come true!  It's happening!" 

But Randy nitpicked, this show is about being the best singer, not about dreams."

Oh get off of it Randy, it certainly is about finding the best singer -- but it's also about fulfilling the dreams of regular people who might not have the opportunity to make it big and cut a record.      

Simon sort of agreed with Randy.  He likes when Michael gets bluesy.

I suppose Randy is fine with AI contestants who have already fulfilled the dream of signing with a big label and cutting a record.

Hmmm.. why has the ultimate name dropper not mentioned that he worked with Carly Smithson?

Randy has been hard on Carly lately and I wonder if that's intentional to try to look unbiased.

To Carly's "The Show Must Go On" by Queen - "it didn't quite hit the mark" for Randy.  He thought the beginning was ok, but got pitchy by the middle.

Paula is a huge fan of Carly's voice, calling it "pretty perfect."  But she said she didn't feel the connection with this performance.

Last week Simon told Carly she needed to look more the part of a star.. so he started his criticism off by saying she looked good.  But he thought it came out as an angry performance and said, "once again you've chosen the wrong song."

Carly mentioned that during the song she saw Simon's bitter face and she lost it.

Is it just me... or does David Archuleta look like he's aged about five years since the start of the show?

Randy "loved it" x3.  "When you stopped and did those runs - crazy hot."  That summed it up for Paula.

Simon thought it was the best song choice and called it one of the best pop songs ever written.

David Cook is always trying to be a little different to stand out.  

During his performance of Our Lady Peace's "Innocent" he jumped over to the judges table -- and after the song he held out his hand which had the words -- give back -- written on it.

Paula noted, "I caught something inspirational on your hand."  She told Cook, you are so well defined... the whole package.  "You are it."

Randy wasn't too impressed saying it's not one of his strongest weeks.

Simon didn't get the performance either, "I thought it was a tinsey winsey bit pompous."  He went on to say, "I didn't like the white jacket."

Randy chimed in, "I like the white jacket."

Simon finished, "this for me is the weakest performance...not anywhere near the last two performances.

The weakest performance of the night for me came from Brooke White who was singing Carole King's version of "You've Got a Friend".  It wasn't consistently a bad performance all the way through, but she was definitely struggling in the middle.