Top 12 Season 7 American Idol Hits and Misses: David Archuleta Forgets His Words!

The hardest stage yet of season 7 of American Idol kicked off last night with some fantastic hits and some terrible misses. It was Lennon/McCartney night for the Top 12 and while some of the song choices were brilliant, others should have been left alone. It's been fascinating watching each of these 12 singers progress because the ones that seem to have been on top are slowly faltering while others are emerging as fantastic singers. Here's a look at what happened last night on Idol.

The show began with Syesha Mercado who has been consistent throughout this show so far. Her range and vocals are spectacular yet she has had some trouble choosing the right song. She chose to sing "Gotta Get You in My Life" and to the audiences delight, the judges gave a positive review. Next up was Chikezie. He chose to sing "She's A Woman." By adding a blues/rock twist to the arrangement he won over all of the judges, including Simon who has not been overly impressed by Chikezie thus far.

Third on the American Idol Top 12 was Ramiele Malubay who sang a soft version of "In My Life." While Ramiele has an outstanding voice, this particular song did not showcase that well and the judges were not won over. It seems like the theme of this year will definitely be song choice. With so many brilliant singers, choosing the wrong song can mean getting the axe from America. Up fourth was Jason Castro. He sang "If I Fell" and the judges were pleased with his performance (despite earlier suggestions to come out on stage without the guitar). They felt he portrayed his emotional connection with the song very well and it reached and captivated the audience.

Up fifth for the American Idol Top 12 was Carly Smithson. Carly has been performing fantastically throughout this entire competition and her rendition of "Come Together." She put a little Janis Joplin twist on the tune and the judges were blown away. Simon even compared her to Kelly Clarkson. Carly is definitely going to go far this season; it wouldn't be surprising if she makes it into the top two. Up next after Carly was rocker David Cook with "Eleanor Rigby." The judges gave rave reviews with Simon thinking it was 'brilliant!' They said if the show remains a talent competition, instead of the usual popularity contest, then David has a real shot at making it all the way.

Seventh on American Idol was Brooke White with a beautiful rendition of "Let it Be." She started solo playing piano and singing a soft, slow melody, changing notes here and there but overall staying true to the song. The judges felt that it wasn't her best performance, but it was strong, and the emotional connection she had with the song really shown through in her performance. After Brooke in the Top 12 came the controversial David Hernandez. In his interview before singing he talked about working at a pizza place (not sure if that is true or not!) and for his performance he sang "I Saw Her Standing There" and unfortunately the judges weren't too impressed. Simon thought it was all wrong and even called it 'corny on the verge of desperate'. David has been consistent throughout the show thus far, but we'll see how this week's performance affects that.

Ninth and Tenth were Amanda Overmyer and Michael Johns. Amanda chose to sing "You Can't Do That" which was a completely new song to her. True to Amanda's rock roots, she added a rock twist and got mixed reviews from the judges. Randy and Paula absolutely loved it and while Simon confessed to not being able to understand the words she was singing, he didn't absolutely hate it; which is always a good thing on Idol. Michael Johns, the tenth singer for American Idol's Top 12 chose "Across the Universe." His interview before singing told the audience that a line in the song had very deep meaning to him; it got him through a tough time in his life, and that really showed in his performance. It is great to see singers emotionally invested in the song they are singing. The judges didn't go crazy over it, but they didn't hate it either.

Second last on Idol was Kristy Lee Cook. In previous weeks the judges told her that Country is definitely her niche, so she took the song "Eight Days A Week" and made it country; it bombed horribly. Kristy believed she was taking a risk but Simon told her there is a difference between a risk and foolishness. Even Paula agreed that it was a bad choice to make The Beatles go country. Unfortunately this might mean bad news for Cook. The final performer on American Idol's Top 12 was fan favorite David Archuleta. The past two weeks David has performed last and many believe this is due to the fact that a lot of people are watching the show to see him. Well the young one may have felt that pressure because despite stellar performances thus far, his Stevie Wonder rendition of "We Can Work It Out" was, as Simon puts it, 'a mess'. David forgot the words in at least three different places and had trouble keeping up with the band at times. It's very difficult to see a favorite like that have a bad week but the truth is David has a huge fan base so there's no doubt that he'll continue on in the competition.

American Idol's Season 7 Top 12 brought some surprises and some disappointments but honestly, the singers who have been consistent throughout the show really shown through last night. So the big question on everyone's mind now is...who's going home??