Idol's Top 11 Soar, Crash. Who Will Not Be Going on the Top Ten Tour

Every Idol watcher knows this fact. It's crunch time, on the big stage. Song choice, vocals, personality, it all has to line up now. If you want it bad enough, you will step up. If you don't, then just pack up and go home. What we saw tonight was the contenders and pretenders getting clearly separated.

With Mentor Miley Cyrus in the house, the contestants tackled the top 100 #1 Billboard hits. That is a vast array of music choice. So let me get right to this. These contestants gave, in my opinion, their best performances of the entire season:

Michael Lynche- Big Mike sang "When a Man Loves a Woman." For his vocal range, this was a great song choice for him. Although I think Mike is a one dimensional singer, I liked him tonight. But I seemed to be the only one impressed. Randy didn't think it was his best, Ellen called his song choice 'Safe," while Kara thought it was a little 'Over indulgent. While Simon didn't think Mike made the song relevant, Miley fell in love with him.

Lee Dewyze- Singing The Letter," by the Boxtops, I think Lee did make this song modern and relevant. Miley told him to watch his stage presence before he sang, and Randy exclaimed that Lee 'Knocked it out of the box." While Kara thought Lee had "Raised the bar," Simon called it kind of corny, and told Lee he still hasn't "Had his moment yet." Sorry Simon, I think he just did.

Cssey James- After Miley told him to make more eye contact with the audience, Casey, playing guitar, sang "The Power of Love." Although he didn't change the song up much, I think Casey is on the comeback trail. Kara, after being very critical last week, told Casey he was "Ready to make an album," while Simon compared his performance to an 80's cover band.

Crystal Bowersox- If you closed your eyes tonight, you would have sworn that Janis Joplin was performing on stage. 'Me and Bobby McGee" certainly couldn't sound much better than Crystal's performance tonight, and was easily her best song choice in many weeks. Randy declared that 'Now that is a star!" While Ellen and Kara didn't think Crystal is showing enough personality, Simon said she "Nailed it!" I agree with every judge on this one.

Not giving their "Best" performance tonight, but certainly not going home were these two:

Aaron Kelly- Suffering form a case of laryngitis, Aaron sang "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," and he didn't miss anything. Although his voice was sub par for him, it was still better than most of the other singers tonight. While Kara and Ellen credited him with a perfect song choice, Simon told Aaron that he 'Has a zero chance of going home." I absolutely agree, Simon.

Siobhan Magnus- After Miley told her that her voice 'Had swagger," Siobhan gave us her version of "Superstition," by Stevie Wonder. While Randy thought Siobhan was "Fearless," Kara thought her high notes were amazing. Simon cautioned her not to always "Scream" those high notes at the end of every song. Siobhan is easily a front runner, but I agree with Simon tonight.

Here are tonight's two "Also rans," in my opinion:

Katie Stevens- While I happen to love Katie, tonight she sang "Big Girls Don't Cry," by Fergie. Katie slowed the song down, and Randy gave her lot of credit for "Listening to all of the judge's advice," by choosing a younger song. Ellen thought it was Katie's best so far, while Kara said it was the right song, and Simon said she was good. Katie will be going on tour, but needs to step it up.

Didi Benami- I must have been the only person to like Didi's version of "You're No Good." While I thought she was sultry, Randy called her, what else, "Pitchy". Ellen though she made a bad song choice, Simon said she sounded like she was in a 'Bad musical." I get the feeling the judges just plain don't like Didi, but I'm hoping me and the rest of America do.

Here is my version of this week's bottom three, very easily.

Andrew Garcia- Andrew sang "I Heard it Through the Grapevine." While Randy, Ellen, and myself thought he picked the wrong song, Kara called him 'Puppet-like," and Simon told him that he 'Sucked the soul out of the song." Andrew continues his downward spiral.

Tim Urban- A much more confident Tim sang "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." He moved all around the stage, mingling with the audience, and seemed to have fun. Randy called his vocal 'Boring," Ellen called his performance "An audition for High School Musical," and Simon said Tim had "Zero chance of winning." I incorrectly had Tim going home last week, and the only thing that could save him this week will be the worst performance of the night, by:

Paige Miles there is simply no way to find anything good about Paige's performance of "Against All Odds." Not only was the entire song 'Pitchy," Paige was very nervous, and frankly, terrible. While Kara commented that Paige seemed to 'Stop competing," Simon told her she had got 'Progressively worse." I'm honestly not sure what has been saving Paige every week, but it's hard to believe she deserves one more chance. Sorry Paige, no top ten for you.

By the way, as a Miley Cyrus fan, I thought this young lady did a great job as a Mentor. She was not all all critical, and gave a few contestants some good advice. She'll be singing tonight, right before Paige goes home. Or, at least I think that. Am I right this week? Stay tuned,