'American Idol' Season 11, Episode 38 Recap - Who Went Home from the Top 3?

A shocking vote leads to what should be a very interesting finale next week, as quite possibly the strongest performer in the competition was eliminated tonight.

The night kicked off with the trio singing "Gotta Get You Into My Life," and later featured performances from Adam Lambert, who performed his single "Never Close Our Eyes," and Lisa Marie Presley, who sang her new single "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet."

Other segments included the top 4 providing backup vocals for a song on the "Ice Age: Continental Drift" soundtrack, which also features Jennifer Lopez, Drake, and a bunch of other people. The contestants could not have been less thrilled to be there.

The results started quickly, with Seacrest bringing Joshua out and recounting his performances on Wednesday night. Jimmy thought it was a good night for Joshua, but not his best. He gave Joshua's first performance an 8, and had problems with the choice to do "Imagine," since it's such a simple melody and Joshua is too big a singer for it. But Jimmy also blamed himself for shortchanging him with the "No More Drama" choice, saying it didn't have enough melody.

Jessica's results were next, and Jimmy felt that her Mariah song didn't quite come together as well as it could have. He felt the same about her performance of "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing," saying that it missed a really "magical moment." Jimmy blamed himself again for Jessica's struggles with "I'll Be There," as he apparently forgot about that one Jermaine verse.

For Phillip, Jimmy praised his cover of "Beggin'," saying that he's becoming "more original and less derivative of other artists" as the competition goes on. However, he thought Phillip's Matchbox Twenty cover was a "total snoozefest." But lucky for Phillip, he also thought that his Bob Seger cover "won the night" and was his best performance yet, and praise the emotion and depth to the performance.

The final results started off with a big surprise: Jessica was the first one named to be going through to the finale. That left the last spot to either Joshua or Phillip, and it seems that those screams for Phillip ended up carrying him all the way: Seacrest named Phillip as the second contestant, meaning Joshua would be going home.

Joshua sent himself off with a reprise of "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's, Man's World," just as fiery as the first time he sang it, while collecting hugs from Jennifer and Steven and bringing his mother, to whom he dedicated the song the first time around, up on stage with him.

It was pretty much a done deal that Phillip was going to be in the final, as he seemed untouchable no matter what he did. But to have Jessica make it, even with the relatively weak night she had this week, it a shocker. It's a good shocker, though, and it means that we could have our first female winner in half a decade... and there might not be one more deserving.

Eliminated: Joshua Ledet