Michael Becker / FOXAfter weeks of competition, only two finalists remain on American Idol.
Phillip Phillips, Jessica Sanchez and Joshua Ledet all sung their hearts out last night with a margin of error that was smaller than ever. No one did a bad job, but not every performance was Phillip doing "We've Got Tonight," either.
Steven Tyler helpfully predicted last night that both Jessica and Joshua would win (and that Phillip could be a "new-age Boss," as in Bruce Springsteen), and the judges liked most everything to the nth degree, except for Jessica's take on "I'll Be There," which was "just OK" to Randy Jackson. And was Jimmy Iovine, who never hesitates to diss a song choice, still confident after the fact in the three choices he made for the contestants last night?
But, most importantly, who's competing in next Tuesday's performance finale?
Congratulations, Jessica and Phillip!
Which means, obviously, that Joshua didn't make it—and frankly, we're bummed. And his swan song, "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's, Man's World" made us even more bummed.
But Jessica, who proved that the one-time-only judges' save is actually worth something, should give Phillip a run for his money, considering their different styles and presumably divergent fan bases.
Jimmy had said that Joshua had a "good, but not great" night, and that he took responsibility for picking what may have been the not-melodic-enough "No More Drama" for the 20-year-old Louisianan. But he also said that, "100 percent, he deserves to be in anyone's finale."
Alas, that's not to be.
Instead, we've got more than tonight with Phillip, and Jessica will be there!
The two-night American Idol finale airs next Tuesday and Wednesday.
What do you think of these results? Surprised that Jessica made it and Joshua didn't? Sound off in the comments!