'American Idol' Recap: The Mo(town), the Merrier

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7. Contestants need to study their Idol history before they go picking their songs. Lil Rounds, please face forward and pay attention! Back in season 2 of Idol, during top 12 week, Kimberley Locke found herself in the bottom 3 after tanking with ''(Your Love Is Like a) Heatwave.'' In season 3, Jennifer Hudson landed in the bottom 2 during top 10 week after performing the same Martha & the Vandellas cover. And Lil, as someone who's obsessed with Idol, you are no(t yet) Jennifer or Kimberley. Granted, your gams were so scorchin' tonight in that fringe-y flapper dress that you could've caused a heatwave of your own, but you performed the song as if you were standing at the crossroads of Frantic and Manic, and almost every note of the chorus fell just a little flat. But golly gee, how nice of Simon to finish his generally negative critique by declaring, ''let me remind everybody — you're one of the best singers we've got in the competition.''

8. There's at least one place in the world where you really don't want to get complimented for your looks. Best exchange of the night:
Paula to Megan (Joy) (Corkrey): ''Your stunning beauty takes my breath away.''
Simon to Paula: ''It's not Top Model.''

Listening to Megan's rendition of ''For Once in My Life'' tonight, though, , I realized something strange: In theory, I like Megan. The tone of her voice (on the occasions she hits a note, and isn't taking a pick-axe to the tempo) is undeniably groovy. But in practice, she rarely gets it right, because she overestimates what she can do with her instrument, thinks she can belt her big notes like she's Melinda Freakin' Doolittle, and then veers into uncharted (and unpleasant) areas of pitch. And while I'm sure that somewhere, on some level, having Kara sing a few bars of ''My Guy'' is exactly the kind of constructive advice that can help Megan improve in the competition...oh, come now, you know there are no words in the dictionary that can help me finish that sentence in a serious fashion. I did, though, enjoy the sight of Paula cradling Simon's face in her hands toward the end of Megan's performance.

9. No one's going to be outraged by this week's elimination — except for maybe the evictee's next of kin. Apologies to Scott MacIntyre's parents and Michael Sarver's wife and kids, but I'm talkin' about y'all. The question of who should/will go home (unless Megan is reeeeeally wrong about her ''fans'' standing by her) comes down to this: Do you prefer the music that plays in your dentist's waiting room or the sounds of a raucous, middling karaoke bar?

I'd say that Scott's ''You Can't Hurry Love'' falls into the former category — except I wouldn't want to insult Kenny G, Michael Bolton, and the Manhattan Transfer. Yeah, Scott made me chuckle when he pleaded with the audience to ''vote for the pink pants.'' And I laughed even harder at his response to Ryan about how he knew the color of his jeans despite his visual impairment: ''They didn't tell me till 10 minutes before. So my apologies.'' But there's no award for congeniality on Idol, and Scott's losing battles with pitch and relevance — punctuated by the fact that I always have to check my notes to remember what I heard him sing just a few hours prior — make me wish he wasn't holding the spot that should've gone to Ricky Braddy or Ju'Not Joyner or Kristen McNamara.

Michael, meanwhile, is the better vocalist of the two likeliest evictees, but he lacks Scott's inherent charm and sense of humor. (Also, he wore flip-flops to meet Smokey! Scandale!) It's not really worth delving into the technical aspects of Michael's ''Ain't Too Proud to Beg,'' except to say that from beginning to end, it seemed each passing note was less successfully supported and sung with less conviction than the one before it. But his half-defeated, half-defiant response to the judges critiques may end up costing him an added week in the competition. After all, when Paula starts cheering about the fact that the audience is booing her critique of your performance, you know you're operating on borrowed time.

Yes, I know, I promised you 10 take-home messages, and only gave you nine, but I'm just channeling my inner Kara. But since you just got gypped, let's throw in a moment of pure, unadulterated lunacy from Ms. Abdul: ''He could have the pirate or the daisy and the pickle.''

WHOA! Add that to our ''Poetry of Paula Abdul'' gallery — stat!

And finally, my letter grades for tonight's performances:
Adam Lambert: A
Allison Iraheta: A-
Kris Allen: A-
Matt Giraud: B+
Danny Gokey: B
Anoop Desai: B
Lil Rounds: C+
Michael Sarver: C-
Megan Corkrey: D
Scott MacIntyre: D

What did you think of Motown Night? Who will and should go home? And what did you think of Smokey's noncommittal mentoring style? Before you comment, go forth and play EW.com's Idol Prediction Challenge. Polls close at 8:59 p.m. EDT, but don't get caught napping; go and vote now!