Paula Abdul Left 'Empty' By 2nd Song

On a night when "American Idol" switched up the judges' format by making them hold their appraisals until every contestant had a turn, Abdul offered feedback for two songs sung by Jason Castro - except that he'd only sung one.

Unlike the usual format, in which each "Idol" performance is judged immediately, Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell were made to take notes, then offer individual critiques in rapid succession at the end of each round. The reason, Seacrest offered, was because "this show is so tight."

So after each of the final five contestants sang one Neil Diamond song, Jackson zipped through his appraisals, offering a few terse words for each before kicking it to a visibly flustered Abdul.

"Oh gosh, we've never had to write these things down _ I'm not fast enough," she began, shuffling through her notecards. "Jason, first song, I loved hearing your lower register, which we never really hear, um ... ."

And that's where it started going off the rails.

"The second song, I felt like your usual charm wasn't _ it was missing for me. It kind of left me a little empty."

Indeed.

All six people on stage, including Seacrest, stared blankly (except Syesha Mercado, who wore the furrowed brow of mystification).

"The two songs," she continued, "made me feel like you're not fighting hard enough to get into the top four."

After a smattering of nervous crowd laughter, Jackson finally broke the tension.

"That was just on the first song," he said sheepishly, pointing up to Castro. "Just on the first one."

Simon Cowell closed his eyes and shook his head, and began to guffaw as Abdul's confusion mounted.

"Oh my god, I thought you _ I thought you sang twice!" she said.

She then tried to explain that she got confused by looking ahead at the notes for David Cook.

At that point Seacrest, who makes his money by smoothing over situations just such as these, pointed to Abdul, saying: "You're seeing the future, baby!" before cutting her off and throwing it to Cowell.

Even Cowell gathered himself to help patch up the moment, patting Abdul on the shoulder and asking, in an effort to speed things along, "Paula, who was your favorite?"

Her reply: Cook (the same contestant whose performance she supposedly noted as having left her "empty").

Pressed for time, Cowell then put an end to the awkward-fest by bursting into his own rapid-fire valuation: "Jason, forgettable; David Cook, just above average; Brooke (White) a nightmare; David Archuleta, I thought it was amateurish; and Syesha, I thought it was old-fashioned.

"So guys ... I want to see the performance of a lifetime coming up," he said, as if to ensure absolute clarity, "the second time around."

American Idol - No Superstar Treatment for Carly

Although she positively rocked the title track from Jesus Christ Superstar on an evening dedicated to the work of musical-theater titan Andrew Lloyd Webber, Carly Smithson was eliminated from American Idol Wednesday, leaving five aspiring popsters in the mix to become the next big thing.

"I'm very proud of myself—I'm not upset that I'm going home," said the Irish-born songstress, who earlier in the competition was told more than once that she needed to lighten up.

To which Simon Cowell, always the antidiplomat, replied "Well, you should be."

Despite being one of Smithson's more vocal critics, Cowell was ultimately a strong supporter of the 24-year-old singer, who was on her second Idol journey after a visa complication prematurely ended her first run in season five.

But sometimes all that turning in one of the best performances of the night gets you is a ticket to nowhere, as Syesha Mercado knows all too well. It was almost "One Rock 'n' Roll Too Many" for the sprightly 21-year-old, who joined Smithson in one of the least-deserving bottom-twos in recent memory, even though 24 hours before she had hit the jaunty tune from Webber's Starlight Express out of the park.

Maybe the low quality of Jason Castro's performance caused a temporary stupor that prevented people from picking up the phone.

But while everyone was trying to forget Castro's rough, albeit doe-eyed, manhandling of "Memory" from Cats, one of the most famous stage ballads of all time, no one could stop buzzing about Brooke White.

Webber had been especially psyched for White's performance, expounding on how connected she was to the music and how lovely her voice sounded.

"In the dress rehearsals, she was flawless," the composer told Idol host Ryan Seacrest.

And upon further review, White's take on "You Must Love Me" from Evita did evoke the big-screen Madonna version, but her composure never recovered from her start-stop opening hitch—a misstep similar to the one that plagued her on '80s night when she performed the Police's "Every Breath You Take."

But both Cowell and Randy Jackson said they probably would have done the same thing and maybe the voters agreed.

So even though her faux pas turned "You Must Love Me" into a literal plea for acceptance, the sweet-natured nanny from Arizona gets the chance to start again. Literally.

Also golden were David Cook and David Archuleta, polar opposites in style yet currently Siamese twins as far as the fans' love is concerned.