American Idol Top 13 Recap: 5 Best Performances and Bottom 3 Prediction—Who's in Danger?

Majesty Rose, Caleb Johnson and Alex Preston all turned in great performances on the Fox hit's Wednesday night show, but Kristin O'Connor and Malaya Watson underwhelmed

By Tierney Bricker Feb 27, 2014 3:22 AMTags
American Idol Top 13Michael Becker / FOX

And here we go!

American Idol has officially entered the final round of competition! Season 13's Top 13 all performed a song that fit the "This Is Me" theme, hoping to impress judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. While some definitely impressed and even surprised us, others, including a fan favorite, definitely fell short of the high bar the Fox reality hit has set this year.

Ben Briley, Caleb Johnson, Jessica Meuse, MK Nobilette, Emily Piriz, Alex Preston, Dexter Roberts, Majesty Rose, Malaya Watson, Sam Woolf, Kristen O'Connor, CJ Harris and Jena Irene all took the stage on Wednesday night to belt it out for America's votes, and we're running down the best performances of the night, as well as the three contestants we think are in danger. Plus, who do we think will be the first finalist sent home?

Our Top 5 Performances: Majesty Rose, you are an absolute delight. Not only does she have an amazing voice, but she's just fun to watch. She's a star and her performance of "Tightrope," a pretty difficult song, proved just that. And Jennifer Lopez wasn't alone in getting some serious "goosies" after Jessica Meuse's gritty rendition of "The Crow and the Butterfly."

Alex Preston made the best song choice of the night with Jason Mraz's "A Beautiful Mess," which perfectly captured who he is as an artist. We totally want to listen to this while drinking coffee and strolling in New York City. (We know. We know.) And though she started off a bit shaky, Jena Irene ended up turning in a beautiful rendition of Coldplay's "The Scientist," which really showcased her powerhouse vocals.

But Caleb Johnson may have mad the performance of the night (and he scored the coveted final spot!) with his gorgeous cover of "Pressure and Time." Welcome to the competition, Caleb!

The contestant who surprised us the most? Ben Briley, with his rendition of "Folsom Prison Blues." 'Twas pretty darn fun, no?

Who's In Trouble: Kristen, Kristen, Kristen...you don't come on Idol and take on a tune from Kelly Clarkson, arguably the show's most talented champ ever, and not do it flawlessly. Her cover of "Beautiful Disaster" was more of the latter than the former. We also wish we would've enjoyed Dexter Roberts' take on "Aw Naw," more, but we kind of forgot about it right after he finished performing. (Sorry, we're not sorry.) MK Nobilette should be a little nervous, too, given that Connick described her as "a deer in headlight" after her "Satisfaction" performance. [Insert joke about how it didn't satisfy the judges here.] Someone get us 100 CCs of stage presence ASAP!

And while we don't think Sam Woolf is in any real danger of heading home just yet, his "Unwell" cover totally underwhelmed us, as we've come to expect a bit more from him.

Bottom Three Prediction: Malaya Watson, MK Nobilette and Emiy Piriz, considering we barely remember her performance, never a good sign. (Pink's "Glitter in the Air," FYI.) CJ Harris may be in the most danger on the guys' side.

Exit Prediction: Malaya Watson, though her personality and stage presence could help her stick around.

Who do you think will be the first to go home? Which performance was your favorite? Sound off in the comments!

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