American Idol's March 17 Show: Anoop Desai Performs 'Always on My Mind'

After a disappointing performance last week when all four judges criticized his song choice of Beat It from Michael Jackson's catalog, Anoop Desai landed the best performance of this Country song themed night with Willie Nelson's Always On My Mind. Last week, Paula told Anoop that his performance sounded like a karaoke version of the original and Randy agreed. Kara didn't like it and said she felt disconnected from his song. Simon was more blunt and said, "The performance was horrible, light weight and a bad impersonation of Michael Jackson." He continued his rant and said that he made a mistake in choosing the 13^th contestant and Anoop should have gone home.

Randy Travis, who coached the contestants this week, warned everyone that they will be rethinking Anoop's capabilities after this performance and they will see the best of him tonight. Anoop took the stage and proved Randy Travis right and judges critiques from last week totally wrong. He sang a beautiful rendition of the classic Always On My Mind. Anoop hit every note and sang with sincerity and conviction. It was a performance that would make Willie Nelson proud.

Paula was first to comment and said, "Anoop is back!" She went on to say his interpretation was beautiful and the song fit him like a glove. Simon said, "You just went from zero to hero." He said it was his favorite performance of the night. And candidly said, "I take back what I said last week. You do deserve to be here. Glad to have you back." Randy said he can really sing and liked the arrangement and Kara said he did an amazing job. Anoop is definitely back in this competition. Look for continued great performances by this young contestant from Chapel Hill, NC. He is sure to be a fan favorite with the young girls.