by Todd Betzold

This is a huge night on American Idol...none of the singers left in the competition want to leave tonight. Yes, it is an honor to say they made Top 3 on Idol, but it would be tough to swallow to say you were so close to the final, but denied right at the very end...with their performances last night, you could tell they all want to win this season.

We are down to the Top 3...Phillip Phillips, Joshua Ledet and Jessica Sanchez. They gave it their all last night in performances that were both amazing and entertaining. I am so torn with how this week is going to go...I feel all three singers are equally loved by America...the judges seem to agree with me, as they were torn in their choices and words last night. Steven said Jessica could win it, they always are in love with Joshua (but they did back away from that a little last night) and Phillip is Phillip and he seemed to win the judges back last night. Someone must go home tonight and I am hoping it goes a certain way.

First to their performances: Phillip was amazing last night...what he did was win me back over completely, but he seemed to bring the judges back to his side also. His performance of "We've Got Tonight" by Bob Seger was so simple and raw...it was just pure brilliance. He showed off so many emotions and as Jennifer Lopez said...he made 20 million girls out there wish he was singing it to them. His Matchbox 20 song was his own little concert on stage and the Madcon song showed his more upbeat side and his ability to change a song up completely and make it his own...I was thoroughly impressed with Phillip tonight. Joshua Ledet...what can I say about him? I am not a fan...I don't think I will ever be a fan, but I will talk nicely about his performances. The guy does have an amazing voice...just not my cup of tea. I loved the start of his Etta James song...then he went into his screaming and it brought me back to why I don't enjoy him. The judges loved him and standing ovation...of course! But that was the only standing ovation for him tonight. His "Imagine" performance was just blah to me...it was sung well, but nothing special for me...no moment moment for me (as Randy said to Jessica) and "No More Drama" was either screams or lowkey...I listened and his range doesn't seem to be very big. He goes big with the screams or he just sings lowkey...anyone else hear this? For Jessica, she took on some big songs/artists tonight...Mariah Carey, Jackson 5 and Aerosmith (singing a popular song made famous by one of the judges)? She did well on all three songs...Randy said the best Mariah song he's ever heard sung on TV and Steven said he can see her being the last one standing...Steven gave her a standing ovation for the Aerosmith song, which means a lot because he never likes people singing his songs and Jennifer said she killed it hard with her Jackson 5 song.

Now to the tough part...who is going home tonight? I am trying to look at this in a logical way and not in a way of how I want it to be. Phillip will be safe...like Jennifer said, 20 million girls out there were wishing he was singing that song just to them. Those 20 million girls are also out there voting two hours straight for him...he's good to go. That leaves us with Jessica and Joshua in the bottom two. Here are my thoughts: with Hollie leaving last week, I feel her voters will shift over to Jessica. They have such a similar style, so they will cast votes for her. Also, I think we have to have some girl power in the final, so that must have garnered some votes for her as well. I think Joshua has a huge fan base, but can it compete with Phillip? I think it lacks compared to Phillip and with Jessica's surge in voters (hopefully), I am predicting an exit for Joshua and another guy-girl finale with Phillip taking on Jessica.

What are you thinking? Am I correct? Am I way off? Who is getting the boot tonight? Guy-Guy finale? Guy-Girl finale? Tell me your thoughts in the comments!

Find out if my predictions are correct when American Idol airs tonight at 8/7c on FOX.

(Image courtesy of FOX)

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