'American Idol' Season 11, Episode 21 Recap - '10 Finalists Compete'

Boy, only a couple of contestants eliminated and they're already getting way too sentimental. The intro makes it look more like Shannon died than was sent home, but that's "Idol" for you. Everything that happens here is the most important thing to have happened ever.

Seacrest is looking especially dapper, and gets a shout-out from the audience, to which he responds "I love you darling, thank you very much" in probably the most dismissive way possible. Why bother?

It's Billy Joel night, but who cares? The kids are going to meet with Tommy Hilfiger now, who is going to work on their image. DeAndre's hair is possibly Tommy's favorite thing ever. P. Diddy is acting as guest mentor this week as well. Is it just Diddy now? I know the Puff part is gone. Let's go with Diddy. You'll know who I'm talking about. The guy with the dumb name.

DeAndre gets "Only the Good Die Young" and proceeds to do the same thing he's always done: a swingy, slightly reggae-ish, brass-featuring performance with some high notes here and there. Tommy's contribution to the performance seems to be a black and white leather jacket, which is fine, but also a shirt that I think actually has a pair of sunglasses printed on it. I'm confused and scared. Somebody hold me.

The judges love it! Except for Randy, who says it was "okay." He doesn't give any reason for it, so that's going to be really helpful for young DeAndre. Way to go.

Erika is up next and taking on "New York State of Mind," and Diddy says she has to "be a New Yorker" while she sings it. Then she meets up with Tommy, who decides he wants to chop her hair off, and now the mystery mirror before the commercial break makes sense. To Tommy's credit, the transformation is pretty huge... it's sort of a classier, more understated Pink cut.

The judges love it! The performance was very solid, but each judge gives the same note: they want Erika to let loose and show off some more, even after Jimmy continues to tell her not to over-sing. These bozos might be right, though... Erika needs a little something to make her vocally flashier. She's a great singer, but subtlety gets you nowhere with the voting audience.

Joshua is up next, and Tommy wants him to be "polished." In fact, he puts him in a tuxedo. As his song, Joshua gets "She's Got a Way," a song that he doesn't know. Sure enough, during the song he seems a little bored with it. It doesn't matter too much with Joshua, though, as he's so technically strong.

The judges love it! Jennifer, though, notes that he wasn't really "singing" it, as in feeling it. Very true. Steven and Randy maintain that it was perfect in every way.

Skylar is singing "Shameless" and is completely dumbstruck at the sight of Diddy. He gives her lots of hugs, which is nice. Diddy is now a big Skylar fan. Tommy wants to "evolve" her look without "abandoning the boot idea." Then he totally abandons the boot idea and puts her in a dress with leggings and heels.

The performance is much less bouncy than Skylar's usual fare, but she still manages to put some attitude into it. It starts off a bit flat, but once she stops walking around she seems to settle in and things improve a bit.

The judges kinda love it! Randy agrees that the top wasn't as good as the second half of it, thinking that maybe it started out too low. Agreed.

Elise's turn, who chooses "Vienna." Jimmy is really looking out for her, saying that he doesn't want her to do a song that nobody knows. He justifiably complains about her being in the bottom three last week. Tommy want to put her in bellbottoms and do a Janis Joplin thing. Nothing near that ends up happening for the performance.

The performance is great as usual, but as with Skylar the unnecessary choreography seems to get in the way. However, once Elise hits center stage, she hits her groove. She also puts in a very creative run at the end that I love. If she ends up in the bottom three again, it's irrefutable proof that the voting audience is completely clueless.

The judges love it! They give her a standing ovation and Randy says that Elise had her "moment" tonight. It's clear that these guys would prefer to not have to use their save on Elise so soon.

Phillip sits down in front of Tommy, and Tommy says "you need some help." He thinks Phillip's clothing will be a serious detriment to his performance. Diddy is more concerned with Phillip's "groove" and makes him put down the guitar.

And then, the performance starts and Phillip is dressed pretty much how he's always dressed, in the one color Tommy said not to wear (grey), and holding his guitar, like Diddy told him not to. At this point, we should probably just start skipping straight to the songs. As for the song, it's pretty much what Phillip always does: very growly, standing center stage with the guitar.

The judges love it! Jennifer says "you are who you are" and notes that Phillip seemed like he was taking some aggression out on his mentors. Steven throws him his very shiny scarf. Phillip mumbles a lot about putting the music first and whatnot. You know, being an artist and stuff.

Hollie is up next, and her brother has some gentle ribbing for her via video. He must be younger than Hollie, as his British accent is nonexistant. Tommy and Jimmy both agree that Hollie shouldn't dress like an old lady, so Tommy decides to put her in a lot of sequins I guess. On stage, she looks to be dressed even older than usual in high bellbottoms and a short jacket.

The performance seems a little shaky at points. There's a lot of power in it as usual, but it seems almost like a couple of the notes get away from her.

The judges don't love it! Steven notes she was "a little pitchy" and one person who doesn't know what that means applauds. Jennifer and Randy agree that it was a little off and needed more work.

Heejun is singing "My Life" and is having trouble with all the criticism he got last week. He wins Diddy over, who says "I don't know if he's an actor, or a con man... I don't even know if he's Asian." He also messes with Tommy to no end, and their meeting seems to go nowhere.

So Heejun starts off on stage with a tuxedo on stage, then stops the piano player and says "that's too slow, and I WANNA DANCE!" He then tears off his removable tux and launches into a very confrontational rendition of "My Life" that he delivers mostly to the judges.

The judges kinda love it! Jennifer thinks it was "a lot of fun" but notes that he didn't hit the vocals quite right. Steven thinks Heejun should take the music business "a little more serious." This show is a joke through and through, dude. Chill. Randy has the right idea, saying that Heejun should at least have fun up there.

Jessica time! She's pretty excited to meet with Tommy, who doesn't have to give her much advice other than to shorten her dress a bit. Diddy is pretty harsh on Jessica, though, saying he doesn't believe her and that she's relying on "tricks" like too much vibrato and embellishment to get her through.

It looks like they make the adjustment, as her performance on stage is pulled back a bit from the usual. She's still a little bit insincere with it though, but that's to be expected from someone her age. She's what, 12 or something? She barely has any personal experience to pull from. Still, the performance is pretty great, because it's Jessica. And the dress looks great.

The judges love it! Steven says "when God was giving out vocal chords, you were SO at the front of the line." Randy compliments her consistency, which is a good point. She's pretty great every week.

Colton impresses Tommy right off the bat, as Colton is pretty specific about what he wants. However, Tommy doesn't like the hair. HA! Take that, Colton. Of course Colton gets "Piano Man," and it seems he's doing pretty well with it: Diddy says "I wanted to buy that record."

Sure enough, it's a great arrangement of the song, as Colton clearly put a lot of thought into making it his own. Somehow his voice seems to fit the song perfectly, and he even avoids the histrionics that Billy Joel himself threw into this song, which always bugged me. I'm actually impressed. He still needs a haircut though.

The judges love it! Jennifer got her "goosies" and then almost calls Diddy "Puffy." That's what happens when you change your name every six months, dude.

So that's the top ten. The judges all pretty much agree that Elise, Colton, Jessica and Phillip were the standouts, and it looks like they've given up on the whole "who's the weakest" thing.

I'll tell you who was weakest: DeAndre and Hollie. Heejun was a little shaky too, but he always has been and should only get more votes after this week's display (Heejun 4 life!). Sadly, we may see Elise in the bottom three instead, and we will almost definitely see Erika there.