Actually, I thought David Archuleta connected with his audience/viewers/humanity in a way he hadn't before. And his voice cracked a little at the end of the second song, both of which suggest he may not be a robot after all. As someone who wants to see him disassembled from this show, I was disappointed.
Syesha Mercado, my co-favorite since the beginning (along with Michael Johns), almost comes across as a throwback -- to previous Idol seasons. She's seemed out of place with all these contestants playing instruments, but has managed to stick around because she's better than many of them. (And while she's beautiful, I miss her old fun hairdo.)
It may not seem like it, but David Cook really blew it this week. Out of all the songs from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame artists, he goes with "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Baba O'Riley"? Such a waste -- he's been the savviest singer this season, so he should have known that a 90-second snippet of the latter would just have him say "teenage wasteland" over and over.
Jason Castro has long outlived his usefulness on this show, but if he stays around at the expense of Syesha (or David Cook), I may stop watching.
If the mods were to add a poll, I think -- I hope -- that we'd finally pick the loser.