Carly Makes A Comeback On 'Idol'

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- With just four weeks until the "American Idol" finale, the remaining six contestants were thrown their heaviest challenge to date - tackling the world of musicals and in particular, the songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Before the competition even began, judge Randy Jackson expressed a concern for the contestants.
"I gotta say, Simon and I were saying last week, this is probably gonna be the toughest night of the season. These are tough songs man," Randy noted.

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But it turns out the concern wasn't needed.

Syesha Mercado tackled "One Rock & Roll Too Many" from "Starlight Express," starting her performance while standing atop a piano. Debuting a sleeker hairstyle, Syesha sauntered across the stage barefoot during her song, cuddling the backup band.

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"This may surprise you, but I feel tonight, not only is this your element, I think you could be a huge Broadway star," Randy said. "That was your best performance to date so far."

Fellow judge Simon Cowell was equally impressed.

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"Syesha, that was very sexy - the whole kind of Michelle Pfeiffer laying on the piano," he said. "I actually agree with Randy, this was one of your strongest performances so far."

According to Andrew Lloyd Weber who counseled the contenders ahead of time, Jason Castro made a "brave" choice picking "Memory," from "Cats" for his set.

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Brave perhaps, but his rendition wasn't rated highly by two of the three judges. While Randy branded it a "bit of a train wreck," Simon had said, "It came across as a young guy being forced by your mum and your dad to sing a song you didn't want to sing at a wedding."

Paula Abdul, however, who has championed Jason all season, had higher praise for the dreadlocked contender.

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"Everyone is so used to hearing this song by a female power balladeer, and that's not who you are. I think it was a very wise choice, you doing this song," Paula said. "It further identifies your unique being as an artist."

Brooke White tackled "You Must Love Me," from "Evita," but it appeared the first few verses of the song tackled her instead. Stumbling on the lyrics, Brooke asked the band to start over. And the judges stumbled to find praise for her version.

"You must never start and stop," Paula said after a pause. "Having said that, this is the biggest show and the biggest platform, you're strong enough and great enough as an artists to pick up the pieces. What I did love about this performance, Brooke, is you didn't overact, you just were you."

"It actually became quite uncomfortable, so this is a tricky one," Simon added. "I think you're going to be very disappointed when you watch that back."

Teenager David Archuleta sang "Think of Me" from "Phantom Of The Opera," giving the song an acoustic pop twist.

"You even put your own personality into it with the little Stevie riffs. Dude that was the bomb, this one's the boy to beat," Randy enthused.

Meanwhile, it was "Jesus Christ Superstar" for Carly Smithson, who donned a paisley dress for her rendition of the soulful tune. Her performance received a standing ovation from Paula, and some "Super" praise from Simon.

"Other than the fact that it got a little bit shouty in the middle, it was actually one of my favorite performances of the night," Simon said.

The final contestant of the evening, David Cook, chose "The Music of the Night" from "Phantom of the Opera." And for one of the first times on "Idol" this season, David performed the original version of the song, hitting the tenor notes on pitch.

"That was an amazing vocal performance," Randy said. "Another hot molten lava bomb tonight."

"This song just proved more and more that you are so well rounded as a performer and you have a beautiful instrument," Paula said. "And I thought it was fantastic."