Tonight on American Idol, the eight remaining contestants performed inspirational ballads. The judges were underwhelmed by Michael Johns' rendition of Aerosmith's ''Dream On,'' and frequent front-runner David Cook was criticized for delivering one of his weakest performances of the season. Syesha Mercado caught some heat from Simon and Randy, not because she elected to sing ''I Believe,'' by former American Idol winner Fantasia, but because they felt her performance lacked emotion. The judges had nothing but praise for Jason Castro, who Randy said was ''molten hot,'' and Kristy Lee Cook, who was applauded for her song choice, Martina McBride's ''Anyway.'' Randy congratulated David Archuleta for having his ''hottest moment'' of the entire season singing Robbie Williams' ''Angels,'' and the judges agreed that Brooke White's performance of ''You've Got a Friend'' was pleasant but unoriginal. Simon warned Carly Smithson that she might be in trouble with voters and called her rendition of Queen's ''The Show Must Go On'' ''quite an angry performance.'' Look for the EW.com TV Watch with Michael Slezak's complete analysis of tonight's show in a few hours; until then, let us know who you think should go home by voting in our poll below.

The Set List
Michael Johns: ''Dream On,'' Aerosmith
Syesha Mercado: ''I Believe,'' Fantasia
Jason Castro: ''Somewhere Over the Rainbow,'' Israel ''Iz'' Kamakawiwo'ole
Kristy Lee Cook: ''Anyway,'' Martina McBride
David Cook: ''Innocent,'' Our Lady Peace
Carly Smithson: ''The Show Must Go On,'' Queen
David Archuleta: ''Angels,'' Robbie Williams
Brooke White: ''You've Got a Friend'' James Taylor

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