'American Idol' Video Watch the Top 11's Best Performances Recap

"Y'all are meeeeeeean!" said country-girl contestant Skylar Laine on last night's "American Idol" (or at least it was something like that). Sure enough, the judges were being much more critical than usual, perhaps smelling that they need to do something to keep their heads above "The Voice" and "The X Factor."

But there were a handful of performances that they simply couldn't say anything negative about, and those are likely the contestants that we'll be seeing again and again for weeks to come. So, who were they?

Phillip Phillips was the first to get a big ovation, but may have benefited from going first. His performance of "Hard to Handle" was energetic, but instrument-heavy and a little tough to judge as a vocal performance. Still, the judges gave him great feedback.

Elise Testone also impressed, bouncing back from a disastrous results show last week that saw her up for elimination and saved by the judges. Elise sang "Let's Stay Together" with just enough growl and grit to make things interesting, and earned some positive feedback from the judges.

Country girl Skylar Laine might not have picked the most challenging song to sing last night, but she nonetheless impressed the judges with her performance of "Love Sneakin' Up On You" by Bonnie Raitt. Skylar has made a name for herself with her energetic performances and large stage presence, and continued the trend last night, much to the judges' delight.

The tiny but powerful Hollie Cavanaugh also got the judges on their feet this week. The diminutive singer has made a habit of picking power ballads from some big singers (Christina Aguilera and Whitney Houston have been choices thus far), and continued the trend this week with "The Power of Love" by Celine Dion.

Joshua Ledet killed his performance last week, but still ended up in the bottom three. His performance this week of "When a Man Loves a Woman" was even more impressive, bringing everyone to their feet and stupefying Jennifer Lopez, who must have said "wow" twenty times at least and called it the best thing she's ever seen on the show. If Ledet ends up in the bottom three again, it will be a real shame.

That's just the top five on the night (in my humble opinion). You can read a full recap of all the performances right here on Yidio, or let us know who you thought was best last night in the comments!