At the start of Tuesday's performance show Ryan Seacrest pointed out that it was a night of 3's. 3 contestants, 3 songs, 3 judges... but of course only 2 make it to next week's Grand Finale at the Kodak Theater! Jordin, Blake and Melinda all gave it their all and proved how much they really want their Kodak moment.

The high points we'll remember are Blake Lewis' Jamiroquai-esque rendition of "This Love" by Maroon 5. Little Miss Melinda Doolittle strutting around the stage like Tina Turner with her attitude on turbo-charge as she sang "Nutbush City Limits". And then there was Jordin Sparks' heart piercing rendition of "I Who Have Nothing" which nasty Simon Cowell had the audacity to criticize!

All three are worthy contenders for the Idol crown, but still, Wednesday's result was a big shock. When Ryan told Melinda Doolittle that she had reached her journey's end, even Simon Cowell, usually so impervious on these occassions, covered his face in dismay.

Simon spoke for everyone when he told the tiny Tennessee titan "My commiserations, Melinda, 'cause you are one heck of a singer."

We know we'll see a lot more of Melinda in the future because, we, like everyone we speak to, want to see a lot more of Melinda!

The great news is that 2 very different performers will contest the Idol crown at the Kodak grand finale. Blake will Blakeize it, Jordin will vocalize it and as Melinda's exit proves, nothing in this competition is a done deal!

For an Idol refresher check out our Gallery links for the Final 3 Performance and Results Shows below...

Oh, and don't forget to cast your vote in our American Idol Polls and check out how your Idol favorites have been ranked by visitors to our site!

Barry Gibb week turned out to be a challenging one for the Idols. Overall we think they each did pretty good, but nobody quite hit their best form.

Jordin Sparks hits the top slot after deliviering 2 great vocal performances. However, our 2nd placer, Melinda Doolittle showed a little more adventure in her song choices.

Sharing 3rd on our chart are LaKisha Jones and Blake Lewis. LaKisha was sassy and entertaining, but her voice box showed signs of wear and tear, which is perhaps why she didn't seem to be 'feeling it' as much as she usually does.

Blake's performances were interesting and innovative. However, stepping up his beatboxing profile could well cost him votes from the anti-beatbox brigade!

Never mind our charts it's the public vote that counts and on Wednesday night's results show it was LaKisha they sent packing. Crying, despite trying hard not to, LaKisha was visibly upset as she embarked on her exit song. She headed into her post Idol career singing 'Stayin' Alive'. We're confident for LaKisha that her musical future will stay very much alive. Talent like hers is just too good for America to pass on!

For an Idol refresher check out our Gallery links for the Final 4 Performance and Results Shows below...

'Idol Gives Back' gave us back all our idols last week when Ryan shocked Jordin Sparks by telling her she was safe! Ryan reveals an even more important result this week. The Idol Gives Back initiative has raised nearly $70 million so far! Hooray!

This Tuesday Idol gets back on track with a Bon Jovi themed night. Gina Glocksen is in the audience, wishing she could be up their doing her rock thing. However, the 6 remaining idols all know they need to step outside of their comfort zones to avoid Wednesday's double elimination.

Mentor Jon Bon Jovi gets the best out of every Idol except, surprisingly, Jordin Sparks, who struggled with the low notes and was the first to admit she found 'Living On A Prayer' a toughie. Top of our rock chart is a 3-way share between LaKisha's emotion, Melinda's attitude and Blake's beatboxing. Oh, and if this were a Kiss themed night, Simon would be up there with Miss La-kiss-ya!

As the results roll in on Wednesday after a record breaking 135 million combined 2 week vote, it's Phil Stacey and Chris Richardson who fail to make the final 4. Phil goes out 'In A Blaze Of Glory' and Chris hands over the last slice of Idol cake to Blake. Both guys make happy exits, after delivering some of their best performances.

So 6 become 4, that's Blake, Jordin, LaKisha and Melinda. The endgame begins next week when Barry Gibb will be mentoring Idol's fab four for a Bee Gees themed night. Sounds challenging! Hopefully it won't turn into a 'Tragedy' for any of the contestants!

To make 'Idol Gives Back' credit card donations phone 1 877 IDOL AID or 1 877 436 5243

To donate online to 'Idol Gives Back' go to the official American Idol website at http://www.americanidol.com

Final 6 night marks the start of the 'Idol Gives Back' charity initiative. Fittingly, the theme is 'Inspirational songs' and it brings out some inspirational performances too!

All 6 Idols give a decent account of themselves, but top honors go to Melinda Doolittle and Jordin Sparks.

It seems a shame that someone has to leave, but ominously, at the top of tonight's results spectacular Ryan Seacrest announces "We've got the most shocking result in our history".

Things are shaping up that way, when after 2 hours of great entertainment interspersed with soul searching video clips Chris Richardson and Jordin Sparks are the only Idols who have not been declared safe.

When Ryan declares Chris safe it looks as though Jordin is going home, but he then drops this week's real Idol bombshell... everyone is safe for one more week! The record 70 million votes cast will carry forward to next week's results show when the bottom 2 contestants will both leave!

It's a nice touch that allows Idol Gives Back to close out its charity extravaganza on a positive note by extending that charity to tonight's bottom placer!

For an Idol refresher check out our Gallery links for the Final 7 Performance and Results Shows below...

With a little help from Martina McBride, most of the final 7 Season 6-er's acquit themselves well on Idol's Country Night.

Jordin Sparks soars with her 'Broken Wing', Phil Stacey finds his Nashville niche and Melinda's 'Trouble Is A Woman' keeps her out of the trouble zone.

Ironically Sanjaya Malakar, who has given us all so much to talk about, sings himself out of Idol this week, tweaking his country lyric to 'Let's Give 'Em Something To Talk About... Other Than Hair!'...

For an Idol refresher check out our Gallery links for the Final 7 Performance and Results Shows below...

The Latin theme turns out to be a challenging affair even for frontrunning Idols like Melinda Doolittle.

Jennifer Lopez hands out plenty of constructive advice during her rehearsal sessions and her top masterclass pupils turn out to be Blake Lewis and Sanjaya Malakar! Her other 6 pupils only manage to attain varying shades of 'okay'!

Sanjaya continues to confound the judges and he forces Simon to acknowledge that he is 'not horrible'. Priceless! So, Idol's Sanjaya saga continues! Can he win this? Well, if he can continue performing like this, then why not? The same of course is true for every one of the final 8.

Well, not quite, because we're down to 7 already. On tonight's results show it's Haley Scarnato who leaves as the 8th placed contestant of American Idol Season 6.

As her exit performance shows, Haley really can turn the beat around, but turning the public around after last night's harsh comments from Simon and Randy was too tall an order.

Hopefully the Idol experience will be a launch pad to bigger and better things for this San Antonio rose. Meanwhile, we look forward to catching up with Haley this Summer on the American Idol Top 10 Tour.

For an Idol refresher check out our Gallery links for the Final 8 Performance and Results Shows below...

High octane octogenarian Tony Bennett did just fine with Idol's top nine this Tuesday. His advice and encouragement really helped them swing it with those Big Band numbers.

Vocally the trio of Melinda Doolittle, Jordin Sparks, and LaKisha Jones stood out on the night, followed by Phil Stacey representin' the boys. Performance-wise every Idol brought their own little somethin' to the stage and entertained us.

The judges were less impressive and a little weird we thought, especially when critiquing (or do we mean trivializing?) Sanjaya Malakar and Haley Scarnato. Hey ho! This is Season 6, so I guess we're not shocked... more disappointed.

On Wednesday's results show contemporary crooner Michael Bublé filled Tony Bennett's spot and performed Call Me Irresponsible. Unfortunately Tony had to opt out due to a bout of flu. Results night is of course enough to make anyone sick, particularly the bottom placer!

Sadly, it was Idol's 'rocker-girl' Gina Glocksen who sang herself out of the contest with the bittersweet lyric of 'Smile', feeling every word of it. Bubbly Gina is more used to making people laugh, but many cried as she left the show. We will miss her witty persona and we hope the Idol experience helps rocket this rocker to stardom.

For an Idol refresher check out our Gallery links for the Final 9 Performance and Results Shows below...

We were expecting Gwen Stefani night to be a straightforward pop theme, but the genre turned out to be... (take a deep breath) ..."'No Doubt' songs and songs from the artists and bands who inspired Gwen Stefani!"

Wow, who thought that one up? They must be a genius or something.

Anyway after a night of up and down performances it's Chris Sligh who booked his ticket home after missing the beat on his Police number. Happily, something that Chris won't miss out on is this year's Idol top 10 tour.

Speaking of being booted, Tuesday's main show was packed with plenty of booties, plus the unforgettable Malakar ponyhawk. Randy spotted Sanjaya's potential on final 12 night "Dude, Hair Idol, you got it jumpin' off man!"

For an Idol refresher check out our Gallery links for the Final 10 Performance and Results Shows below...