The "Idol" results are in and Paul Jolley has been eliminated from the competition.
Lazaro Arbos and Paul were two of the only disappoints among the Top 9 in Wednesday night's performance show, which had the "Idol" hopefuls singing Beatles covers. But only Paul wound up in the bottom three along with Devin Velez and Amber Holcomb.
"I'm really shocked that Amber's in the bottom three -- I can't believe that," Randy Jackson said. Nick Minaj agreed, adding, "I definitely think Amber should not be in the bottom three ... That's common sense."
Paul sang Heart's "Alone" for the judges' one save of the season, but it was not enough and he was sent home.
On Wednesday night, Paul chose to sing "Eleanor Rigby" and though it was perhaps his best "Idol" performance, it wasn't enough to impress America (especially considering viewers' memory of David Cook's rendition of the song in Season 7). Nicki told Paul the performance was "very, very safe, very bland, and forgettable.” Randy told Paul he "disconnected from the song" and Mariah Carey added, "You have to be able to give as much emotion when you're singing softly as when you're singing at the top of your range."
Lazaro, Kree Harrison, Candice Glover, Angie Miller, Janelle Arthur, Burnell Taylor were safe and Devin and Amber later joined them to round out the Top 8.
Lazaro was the first to be inducted into the Top 8, which diminished the suspense for the evening. The judges were brutally honest with Lazaro after his rendition of "My Life" on Wednesday night, leaving the singer in tears. All four judges agreed that Lazaro should have chosen to sing in a higher key with Randy Jackson adding that it was his "worst performance.” Nicki Minaj felt like the singer was losing himself, saying, "You are not back to the Lazaro I know.”
Lazaro later tweeted about the performance and his breakdown thereafter:
"They were right for the most part," Arbos admitted of the judge's critiques in Thursday's elimination show. "I have to do songs that I love and that I want to sing and not change songs."
At the start of the show, the Top 9 performed “Got To Get Into My Life." Before the results were revealed, two "Idol" alumni also graced the stage: Season 10's Casey Abrams performed his single "Get Out" and last season's runner up Jessica Sanchez also returned in a whole lot of glitter to perform her new single “Tonight” with Ne-Yo.
Were you happy with tonight's "Idol" results? Who do you think will take it all? Sound off in the comments!
"American Idol" airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
