American Idol

Kristy Lee Cook, Brooke White and Syesha Mercado rounded out last week’s bottom three contestants. After Cook’s elimination, the other two women were left with four other contestants — David Cook, David Archuleta, Jason Castro and Carly Smithson.

After last week’s exit of Kristy Lee Cook, the Top 6 American Idol finalists are left standing. This week, they have mentor Andrew Lloyd Webber — and all of America, of course — to please.

7:01 p.m.

The band shifted positions this week, just a month before the new Idol winner will be crowned. Tonight, the finalists are up against a huge catalog of music from Braodway composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. This could be a huge challenge for the contestants, even though many former Idols have been Broadway bound after the show.

7:06 p.m.

Syesha Mercado is first to take the stage with One Rock ‘n’ Roll Too Many from Starlight Express. This is a perfect theme week for Syesha, who has a bit of an acting background, and certainly has the attitude for theater. While she’s delivering a commendable performance, it may not have been the most challenging of song choices. All in all, though, Syesha brought the look, the attitude and the vocal power tonight.

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

“This is your happy place, and you’re real good at it,” Paula said.

“Syesha, that was very sexy,” Simon said. “I think this was one of your strongest performances so far.”

7:15 p.m.

He’s still not so good with the interviews, but Jason Castro may be able to bring something interesting to Memories from Cats. The song certainly is one of the most popular hits from Broadway, and Jason is doing his thing with it. He has a distinct sound, but it doesn’t work for a male singer. This is a powerful hit song most often sung by female leads.

“Musically, vocally for me, it was a train wreck,” Randy said. “It’s just not the kind of song … it’s just not for you.”

“The reality was, it came over as a young guy being forced by your mom and dad to sing a song at a wedding you didn’t want to sing,” Simon said. “You were miserable throughout. I was partly miserable throughout.”

7:26 p.m.

She was in the bottom three last week, but will Brooke White be able to climb out of that spot this week? Her song choice is You Must Love Me from the movie version of Evita. This week could be the kiss of death for Brooke, who messed up her performance and had to, once again, for the second time this season, start over at the beginning of the song. If she survives this week, it will be a big shock. At this point in the competition, it’s just not OK to have the big of a goof-up moment.

Sorry, Brooke. But this should be the end for you.

“For me, this wasn’t great,” Randy said. “The one thing that I did like that you did was, at least you did listen to Andrew Lloyd Webber.”

“You must never start and stop,” Paula said. “Having said that, this is the biggest show in the biggest platform … what I did love about this performance, Brooke, was that you didn’t overact.”

“This is why I love live TV,” Simon said. “It was so dramatic at the beginning. The trouble was, Brooke, it threw you. … This is a tricky one. I think you’re going to be very disappointed when you watch this back.”

7:37 p.m.

David Archuleta certainly has the talent to tackle Broadway. The youngest contestant’s song choice this week is Think of Me, another popular Broadway hit written for a female lead. The Phantom of the Opera song possibly is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s best-known work. David’s arrangement of the song is an updated, much more pop-friendly version of the tune. And it’s a great move, I think, for David to put himself back in direct competition with David Cook, who has been stealing the spotlight in recent weeks. No worry, little David, this showing proves you really do deserve the praise you’ve been given. I’m sure your dad will be thrilled.

“What is really cool is you’re exactly what this show is about,” Randy said. “Dude, it was the bomb. This boy is the one to beat.”

“I think it was absolutely perfect, David,” Paula said.

“David, I thought it was pleasant,” Simon said. “One of your weakest performances over the live shows. It’s just not one of those performances you’re ever going to remember.”

7:47 p.m.

Coming off of her best performance in a while, Carly Smithson may not seem fit for Broadway. She is an interesting talent, though, so she may surprise us all. Her song choice was All I Ask of You from Phantom. But Andrew Lloyd Webber wasn’t having it — he suggested she go with her other choice, Jesus Christ Superstar. Ladies and gents, I think this could work …

Look out! Carly Smithson is back, people. Mr. Webber was right. This certainly was a brilliant song selection for Carly — the remaining resident chick rocker. She has the pipes to really wail and show some attitude. I think it works well for her. What about those three celebrity judges?

“It’s no surprise to me that the bigger voices are doing better tonight,” Randy said. “It was definitely good, and I like the outfit. I think the outfit’s kind of fly.”

“I love what you did in the chorus,” Paula said.

“It was actually one of my favorite performances of the night,” Simon said.

7:54 p.m.

Rounding out the night is David Cook. His song choice is The Music of the Night, which is another famous tune from Phantom. Do these people know not of Webber’s other major hits? Apparently not. But there’s no question David really could make something quite special happen with this song choice — or any for that matter.

OK, I have to say it was a brilliant song choice for David. It’s well-known, he’s well-liked and he, well, is making it happen. It’s practically flawless, really. That high note? That was the vote-getter of the night, if you ask me. There’s something about David’s performances that just put him on a completely different level from his competitors.

“I said it before, I’ll say it again,” Randy said. “If you can sing, you can sing anything. Dude, that was an amazing vocal performance.”

“I thought it was fantastic,” Paula said.

“David, I think you’ve made the most of the song,” Simon said. “This isn’t the side of you I like, but you made the most of the song you were given.”

WHO GETS MY VOTE: David Cook. He may get my votes from here on out. Why? He deserves to win this entire show.

WHO SHOULD GO: Sorry, again, Brooke White. But your time has expired. Syesha Mercado proved she deserves to be here and you, well, you choked. And that’s not OK, no matter what Simon says. In fact, if you don’t go, Brooke, it’s time for Jason Castro to say bye-bye.

American Idol, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jason Castro, David Archuleta, Syesha Mercado, David Cook, Brooke White, Carly Smithson