American Idol hopefuls Lee Jean and Avalon Young went crashing out of the competition as the field for the Top Six was set.
Lee, Avalon and Sonika Vaid were forced to sing-off for the final place in the next round of the show and the judges decided to keep faith with Sonika and kept her dream alive for another week.
‘It gets harder and harder every week and I have to say that this group is phenomenal but the save goes to Sonika,’ said Harry dramatically as she mouthed her thanks to the judges.
Wow factor: Jennifer Lopez wore a racy number on Thursday night’s episode of American Idol
Jennifer Lopez kicked the show off with another stunning outfit, this week a cleavage-baring hot pink dress with cut-outs, accessorizing with Vhernier rings, before the contestants teamed up for a round of duets.
First La’Porsha Renae and Trent Harmon performed ‘See You Again by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth.
‘It was the perfect song and played to both of you strengths and you worked really well together, it was collaborative and great,’ said Keith Urban.
Jennifer Lopez called the performance ‘Magical’ and Harry Connick Jr. told them their voices had blended very well.
What an entrance: She may have walked out with Harry Connick, Jr and Keith Urban but no doubt all eyes were on the 46-year-old beauty
Lucky fans: She shook hands with many of her followers while heading to the judges table
Roommates Sonika Vaid, 20, and Avalon Young, 21, teamed up to perform ‘Rise Up’ by Andra Day.
Jennifer told them that their voices were ‘So Angelic’ and that they had pushed each other to a high level of performance but told each of them to loosen up on stage.
Harry said that Avalon had the advantage in the rhythmic song but praised Sonika’s ‘Breathtaking’ voice, while Keith praised Avalon as an ‘Effortlessly natural’ singer.
Dalton Rapattoni, 20, and MacKenzie Bourg, 23, then got together to sing ‘I Want It That Way’ by the Backstreet Boys.
Va va voom: The hot pink cutout dress showed off plenty of her cleavage
Gorgeous: She absolutely stunned on the reality competition show
Nearing the end: No doubt the three judges are savouring their final few episodes together
Harry told the duo that it was a poor song choice and told them that they should have pushed back against the producers and rejected it.
Keith completely agreed and told both singers that neither had benefitted from doing a ‘cover’ of the pop song.
Jennifer was also critical of the song choice and the fact they did nothing original with it and told them they should have recognized that it was not right for them.
Talented: The field of eight were turned to just six by the end of the night
Tristan McIntosh, 15, and Lee Jean, 16, were paired together to sing Aerosmith’s ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.’
Keith told them he loved the song but that it was hard to find a song to successfully fit both their keys and bring the best out.
Jennifer told Tristan her voice ‘shined’ and that Lee had been forced to ‘Hang in there’ but it was not a great fit for him.
Harry bluntly told them ‘there was nothing special’ about their song and that the results had been ‘Boring and bland.’
Oops: Sonika, Avalon and Lee – pictured from left to right – were in the bottom three and only one could advance
‘I was back there wondering what Steven Tyler would have made of that if he were still here,’ chipped in Ryan Seacrest.
‘Im guessing everybody wants to start the individual round.’
Ryan Seacrest then revealed the voting for the Top Six.
The first contestant through was La’Porsha Renae, who was shown emotionally meeting up with a teacher who had convinced her it was okay to be different.
La’Porsha, clad head to toe in black leather, then performed ’Come Together’ by The Beatles to a huge crowd reaction.
Sad song: Avalon and Lee were the ones ultimately eliminated
Lucky lady: Sonika was lucky enough to receive the judge’s save
‘You are giving us full diva overtime you are up there and I love it,’ said Jennifer as she told La’Porsha that she made everyone watching ‘Feel cooler.’
‘You are absolutely incredible and you have been since the first day we saw you,’ Harry told her.
Keith told her that any song was a ’Terrific song’ for eh and that she ‘Had it going on baby.’
Next into the Top Six was MacKenzie Bourg, a 23-year-old musician from Lafayette, Louisiana.
MacKenzie told the cameras he was more into sport than music growing up before performing Joe Cocker’s ‘You Are So Beautiful.’
Dynamic duo: In addition to their individual songs, the remaining contestants had to pair off as La’Porsha and Trent received praise for Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth hit See You Again
Roomies: Avalon and Sonika did an Andra Day hit
Heartthrobs: MacKenzie and Dalton sing I want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys but the judge’s did not like the song choice
Beautiful music: Lee and Tristan performed a nice version of Aerosmith hit I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing
Harry told him that this time he had made a perfect song choice and called the performance ‘Fantastic.’
Keith praised him for the song choice and that Mackenzie had made it ‘Sound brand new.’
‘When you sing we really feel like you are singing to us,’ said Jennifer.
American Idol 14 winner Nick Fradiani returned to sing his new single ‘Get You Home’ with his band.
Next to get through to the Top Six was Trent Harmon, a 25-year-old waiter from Amory, Mississippi.
Farm boy Trent told the cameras he had not invited his family to Los Angeles as he was superstitious and also treating Idol like a job.
Beautiful: La’Porsha was the first one saved and showed why as she gave a riveting performance of The Beatles hit Come Together
High-praise: Harry commented: ‘‘You are absolutely incredible and you have been since the first day we saw you’
He ditched his hats and scarves as he took on ‘Stand By Me’ by Ben E. King.
Keith told Trent he was growing as a singer each week but warned him not to overdo the stylistic moments in his performances.
‘I always you knew you were bad from the moment you walked in. I love him and what you do with your voice. I don’t know if the audience is getting what a badass you are, I am definitely getting all of it,’ gushed Jennifer as she told him she missed the scarves.
Tristan McIntosh, a 15-year-old student from Nashville, Tennessee, was then told she was through to the next round.
She told the cameras that her unwell grandfather had always wanted a singer in the family and that he had been her inspiration.
Tristan then performed ‘A Broken Wing’ by Martina McBride, a song she has been doing for several years.
Nice: MacKenzie did Joe Cocker’s You Are So Beautiful as J-Lo commented: ‘When you sing we really feel like you are singing to us’
‘You have such a perfectly suited country voice and that was just beautiful. That is exactly what you need to be doing,’ Jennifer told the youngster.
Harry told her he loved hearing her sing county music and the emotion she had put into the song, while Keith called it the ‘Perfect kind of song’ for her voice.
Keith said his father, who passed away in December, had introduced him to country music and the performance had made him emotional.
The final guaranteed place in the top six went to Dalton Rapattoni.
The 20-year-old vocal coach from Dallas, Texas, told the cameras how his punk-loving mother had influenced his musical tastes before he delivered a theatrical version of ’Eleanor Rigby’ by The Beatles.
Harry told him he loved the arrangement and performance and that he did a great job introducing a new generation to the song.
Cleaned up his act: Trent looked dapper as he did Stand By Me by Ben E. King
Emotional: Tristan talked about her grandfather before performing A Broken Wing by Martina McBride
‘That was such a great song for you and the theatrical part of you brought out a dark undercurrent in that song and like a good waffle iron you made a good impression,’ said Keith.
That left Lee Jean, Avalon Young and Sonika Vaid singing for one remaining spot.
Avalon Young, a 21-year-old server from San Diego, California, performed ‘Pretty Young Thing’ by Michael Jackson.
She told the cameras that she was diagnosed with OCD at seven-years-old and that her involuntary tics go away when she sings.
Keith told her she was was confused as she connected with the audience but not the viewers at home.
Passionate: Dalton did quite the theatrical performance of The Beatles track Eleanor Rigby
Jennifer complimented her as a ‘Natural performer’ but told her if she got through to go out of her comfort zone as the audience at home was but buying into her.
Harry told her she had an ‘incredible’ voice but complained that her performance was too laid back and lacked urgency.
Lee Jean, a 16-year-old student from Bluffton, South Carolina, told the cameras he was shy growing up and became popular through singing.
Lee performed ‘Let It Be’ by The Beatles and got mixed reviews from the judges.
Jennifer told him he has a lot going for him but that she was not sure he had done enough and it had been ‘A tiny bit shaky’ when it mattered most.
Fighting to stay alive: Avalon (left) did Michael Jackson’s PYT as Lee (right) sang Let It Be By The Beatles
She has everything: Sonika blew judges away with her performance of Whitney Houston’s I Have Nothing
Harry told him he had pitch issues and Keith felt that nerves had got the better of the teenager and that probably impacted his pitch and breathing.
Sonika Vaid, a 20-year-old student from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, told the cameras she comes from a music family as her mother had performed in Bollywood.
Sonika performed ‘I Have Nothing’ by the late Whitney Houston and Harry told her it was a ‘High risk-high reward’ song to chose but he loved it.
Keith told Sonika her voice was gorgeous but that she needed to let go when she performed, while Jennifer told her she did a ‘Good job’ with a hard song.
And in the end it was Sonika Vaid who was saved and sent through while it was the end of the road for Avalon Young and Lee Jean.
Nearing the end: American Idol will return with a field of only six next Thursday at 8pm on Fox