As many expected, Syesha Mercado was the one who left American Idol last night.
It wasn't much of a surprise and the popularity of David Cook and David Archuleta was bound to send Syesha packing!
The last girl standing this season has been voted off, leaving the two David's for the finals.
Syesha's performances on Tuesday night was an indication that she might get the lowest votes this time.

Before the results, former idol contestant Fantasia Barrino performed 'Bore Me' and entertained the audience.

Last night on American Idol 2008, the final three had their chance to perform three songs each to gain the audiences votes.
Tonight, one will leave and two will compete for the title of American Idol!
How did the final three do? Well, let’s say the two David’s did great and Syesha could have done much better!
David Cook performed Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", Switchfoot's "Dare You to Move" and Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
David did great and got good reviews from the judges, although his version of ''Dare You to Move'' was kinda’ flat and bit pitchy!

In those final few weeks of American Idol 2008, the competition raises the bar and the smallest details count.
On Tuesday night, the final 4 contestants did their best to try and keep themselves on the show, but one didn't do himself any favors and was booted out last night.
Tuesday night was Rock n' Roll night and the contestants chose some of the best songs ever to perform. Of course, their choices weren't all that great though!

David Cook chose to sing "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Baba O'Reilly".
Syesha Mercado chose to sing "Proud Mary" and "A Change is Gonna Come".
Jason Castro sang "I Shot the Sheriff" and "Mr. Tambourine Man".
David Archuleta sang "Stand By Me" and "Love Me Tender".

Although she tried her best and gave 100%, luck wasn't on Brooke White's side last night.
24-year-old Brooke was voted off American Idol 2008 and her idol journey ended.
Although on Tuesday night, Brooke did well with 'I Am ... I Said', her performance of 'I'm a Believer' must have been what brought her down!

Brooke stood in the danger zone alongside the other female contestant, Syesha Mercado!
It's good that Syesha is now one of the Top 4, at least we've got as female up there among the males!

Yesterday the final 5 contestants of American Idol 2008, picked songs from Neil Diamond's song book.
Every contestant had to sing two songs and would listen to the judges critics after both performances.
Jason Castro was the first to go. He sang ''Forever in Blue Jeans'' and then ''September Morn''.
David Cook was next and he chose to sing ''I'm Alive'' and ''All I Really Need Is You''.
Brooke White was third to perform. She did ''I'm a Believer'' and ''I Am...I Said''.
David Archuleta came up next and he sang ''Sweet Caroline'' and ''America''.
The last one to sing was Syesha Mercado. she sang ''Hello Again'' and ''Thank the Lord for the Night Time''.

One of the most interesting things to happen last night was when Paula Abdul has some memory loss or was seeing into the future and thought Jason Castro had already finished both his performances!
That's when Ryan Seacrest told her: "You’re seein’ the future baby, you’re seein’ the future!" Funny!

I was sure that either Brooke White or Jason Castro was going to be the next booted out of American Idol this time! I was wrong …
The contestants in the danger zone this time were only two; Syesha Mercado and Carly Smithson.
Those got the least votes for their sad performances of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s famous Broadway songs on Tuesday. Although, both Brooke and Jason did really bad on Tuesday night and deserve to at least be in the danger zone!
But the unlucky lass to leave, despite a few kind words from Simon the night before, was Carly Smithson.
Carly took her luck with high spirits and said she was very proud of herself and happy: “I'm not upset that I'm going home. I had the best time here.”
With Carly out, there are only 5 contestants left. Next week, they’ll be performing songs be Neil Diamond. Will they do better next time?

Tuesday night was a supposed to be an entertaining Broadway show night, but some of the contestants turned it into a bland show night!
The Top 6 performed great songs by famous composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The first to sing was Syesha Mercado and she did ‘One Rock n’Roll too Many’ from ‘Starlight Express’.
She tried her best, but it seemed to me that wasn’t good enough. On the other hand, the judges thought she did great and has a shot at a huge Broadway career. What do you think?

The second to sing was Jason Castro and he did ‘Memory’ from Cats.
That’s a tough song and needs a strong voice to give it was it deserves.
Jason didn’t do well! As Randy put it, it was a train wreck!

It's now down to the Top 6 in American Idol 2008.
Last night, and as expected, one of the girls was voted off the show and it was Oregonian Kristy Lee Cook!
Kristy and two other girls were in the danger zone yesterday ... they got the lowest number of votes for their not so good performances of Mariah Carey's songs the night before.
Kristy stood there, side by side with Syesha Mercado and Brooke White.
After her elimination, Kristy Lee playfully sat on the judges' table right in front of Simon Cowell and serenaded him with her performance of Mariah's song 'Forever'.

Next week, the Top 6 will battle it out with Phantom of the Opera composer Andrew Lloyd Webber! That's gotta be hard!

Photos of Kristy Lee Cook

Last night the guest mentor on American Idol 7 was Grammy winner Mariah Carey … now, keep in mind, it has to take a lot of efforts from the Top 7 idols to match Mariah’s strong voice! And we all know how every time the contestants take on a Mariah or Whitney song … they don’t do very well!
Well, Mariah was there and so was her little white dog! She’s a diva alright!
In all cases, let’s start with the boys, who are now out-numbered by the girls.
David Archuleta kicked off the show with his version of Mariah’s ‘When You Believe’.
Little David pulled it off, Randy and Simon both thought he did very well.
David Cook sang 'Always Be My Baby' and boy did he give a swell performance!
Randy tells him that he's ready for an album and Simon tells him: "coming out of karaoke hell into a breath of fresh air. It was original, it was daring, it stood out by a mile".
Jason Castro chose to do 'I Don't Want to Cry' and gives it a new mellow do!
This time Paula and Simon agree that it was good and Simon says that the guys have won the night!
Let's see what the girls did with Mariah's songs ... after the jump ...

It was a shocking surprise what happened last night on American Idol.
There was a breeze of hope that no one was going to be leaving the show this week ... but i guess that was only a feeling, because Michael Johns was voted off and it was totally not funny!
Michael Johns, Carly Smithson and Saliesha Mercado were in the danger zone and till the last minute i felt that either no one was leaving or that Carly would be the one to go!
Well, Michael picked himself up with grace, sang a great version of 'Dream On' and walked away ...

Last year, no contestant left the show on the Idol Gives Back week ... so I'm not sure what happened exactly! Did the audiences not vote enough? Or was there some other fishy thing happening ... Or was it simply Michael's bad luck?

What do you think of the elimination and how do you rate the Top 7 now?

With the Idol Gives Back event coming up tonight, last night's theme -songs that inspire- is in total harmony ... but were the contestants in harmony too? How did the top 8 do?

I'm not really going to give my opinion of the performances ... because I'm today, just as cranky as Randy Jackson was last night!
The first to sing is Michael Johns and his choice was an Aerosmith oldie, Dream On.
The second to sing is Syesha Mercado and her choice was Fantasia's I Believe.
The third to sing is Jason Castro and he chose to do Over the Rainbow. i just have to say, this is one of my most favorite songs and he just gave it a different twist last night and i wasn't at all annoyed with that! Kudos Jason!

It was sorta predictable to see three girls in the danger zone yesterday on American Idol ...
Ramiele Malubay, Kristy Lee Cook and Brooke White failed to impress the audiences and thus were the ones with the least votes.
But the girl with a ticket home was Ramiele Malubay ... she was upset and started crying ... yet, when she performed her version of Dolly Parton's "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind", she did better than the day before! Astonishing, no? Maybe if she sang it that way, she would have stayed on the show, you never know!
Where you surprised to see Ramiele leave?

Dolly Parton also performed on the show, she did "Jesus and Gravity" from her "Backwoods Barbie" album.

That leaves us with the elite 8!
How will they perform next week? and who will the elite 7 be?

No introductions today ... I'll get right to it ...
The Top 9 performed their versions of the legendary Dolly Parton songs.
Each contestant puts his/her own stamp on the songs and it's all done with supervision of the lady herself, Dolly Parton!
The first to sing was Brooke White, she played the guitar as she sang Jolene.
Brooke sang well, and the song suited her voice, but she didn't give anything new!
Her performance was too simple and lacked in emotion.
The second to sing was David Cook, who chose to do Little Sparrow.
His arrangement of the song gave it a new spirit yet kept it's Dolly soul.
The judges praised David and Simon gave him a big 'Congratulations'!
The third to sing was Ramiele Malubay and she did Do I Ever Cross Your Mind.
Her performance was bland and as Simon said, totally forgettable!

Last night wasn't such a romantic night for American Idol 7 contestant Chikezie ... he got voted off and his singing journey came to an end! He's the first of the Top 10 to leave.
Chikezie was in the danger zone with two others, Jason Castro and Syesha Mercado.
But, it wasn't such a great surprise that he was the one with the lowest votes. He was warned many times by the judges to tackle the songs with his own character and give them a Chikezie twist!
As for his last performance of Luther Vandross's If Only for One Night ... that definitely brought his idol journey to a dead end! Simon described that performance as 'Cheesy'!

There was another contestant with all the spotlights on yesterday ... and the whole thing wasn't related to singing! Carly Smithson put a rumor which has been circulating about her to sleep.
It was reported that she and her hubby were expecting a baby ... meaning she was pregnant! But she said: "Apparently, I'm pregnant ... But I'm not, no, I'm not."

So, what will the Top 9 sing next week? And who will be leaving next?