American Idol Recap: Did Casey Abrams Redeem Himself? And Who Just Rocked?

Still-intact top 11 took on Elton John tunes, fully aware that two people are going home Thursday

By Natalie Finn Mar 31, 2011 2:11 AMTags

The American Idol universe was rocked last week, as it was left to the judges to save the seemingly untouchable Casey Abrams from elimination.

And that means two people are going home Thursday, so Casey had to really bring it tonight, with the name of the game being the music of Sir Elton John, to pull himself out of last and second-to-last place.

Did he manage to redeem himself?

We're going to say...yes. The 20-year-old completely shook it up by slowing it down and showing real range on the quintessential John single "Your Song."

Not only did he set the growl aside for a rainy day, but he hit some lovely, never-heard-from-him-before high notes. We like to think this will keep him out of second-to-last place.

"One decision I didn't lose an ounce of sleep over was saving you," Jennifer Lopez informed the comeback kid.

And, happily, most of the Top 11 had a great night—though we're going to give John a huge chunk of credit for that. His songs are just so singable, and, as we said, most of the contestants were able to avoid corny parodies and truly embrace the great music.

But who looked a gift horse in the mouth and laughed in its face?

Naima Adedapo combined a great song with an interesting concept and all that it produced was an affected Jamaican accent.

She did a reggae (her "thing," apparently) version of the très upbeat "I'm Still Standing" and the Milwaukee-raised 26-year-old apparently thought it would sound more authentic if she tried to sing like Bob Marley. We seriously doubt she'll be able to avoid the bottom three after that.

Haley Reinhart picked exactly the right song in "Bennie and the Jets" and, while her version wasn't always pitch-perfect, she was able to show off her range, and the sultry arrangement suited the tone of her voice.

"That was it, Haley!" raved Lopez. "The poise, the moves, the confidence—you felt every place you were going...It was amazing."

"Best performance of the night right there!" Randy Jackson exclaimed. Added Steven Tyler, "You. Sing. Sexy."

Scotty McCreery, tasked with kicking off the show, went...wait for it...with "Country Comfort," a lesser-known John track from 1970's Tumbleweed Connection. But though it's no sing-along standard, it sounded tailor-made for the 17-year-old standout who, even if his range is more limited than a few of his competitors, keeps hitting it out of the park with song choice.

Maybe all he did was Google "Elton John" and "country" and click the first thing that came up, but he totally nailed it regardless.

James Durbin went for rock-star John, tearing into "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"—and strutting, preening, straddling and squatting. But at least James' performance level is rising in proportion to his cockiness. It all worked, and the judges agreed.

Struggling Georgia peach Lauren Alaina also rose to the top of the pack tonight with the sentimental favorite "Candle in the Wind," deemed the greatest performance of her Idol tenure so far. Steven was so kind to point out, referring to her long-in-back, short-in-front black sparkly number that, if she keeps singing like that, she can buy the rest of her dress.

And if Pia Toscano was going to ignore the judges' advice to shake up her all-ballad program with an up-tempo number, she at least picked the right night and the right ballad.

Her performance of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" was spot-on, and it provoked a brief debate among the judges as to who the numbskull was who objected to her balladeering. (For the record, no one objected to the quality of her performances per se. They just want to see something different.)

Stefano Langone, however, took the judges' note to work the audience more and ran with it, sidling right up to J.Lo upon the conclusion of "Tiny Dancer" to hold her hand and gaze into her eyes. Consider Lopez worked.

Though the judges weren't entirely convinced by Thia Megia tonight, we thought her performance of "Daniel" was her best of the season, although the upcoming two-person elimination means no one who's been on the bubble is safe.

And while we still felt slapped in the face by parts of "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word," as sung by Jacob Lusk, the 23-year-old gave a very visceral, yet controlled performance.

"That last note? You don't see that every day," Lopez said. (Actually, you never "see" such a thing, but...we digress.)

It turns out, meanwhile, that there is a limit to our crush on Paul McDonald. We don't need to hear "Rocket Man" performed like that ever again. Unless we're high as a kite by then.

Two hopefuls are going home tomorrow. Based on tonight's performances, who do you think will be saying "Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road"?

WATCH: It was Ryan Seacrest who was in big trouble last week...