Three contestants left, only four episodes remaining of one of the most popular reality TV shows, and thankfully, only one more week of Ryan Seacrest….that is, until he pops up somewhere else. I’m guessing the folks at “Wheel of Fortune” are waiting for Pat Sajak to retire already so they can stick someone like Seacrest in his place.

Anyway, last night the final three performed, and each did three songs chosen by different people. Legendary music industry executive Clive Davis was on hand and chose the first song for each of them. Then each judge chose one song for one designated Idol. Finally, they each were able to choose their own song. So how did it shake out? Let’s go to the Marley Videotape……

Elliott Yamin

I’ve been writing this blog for four months and I still don’t know for sure if Elliott’s name has one “t” or two. Do I care? No. If I did, I’d probably be wearing a suit and telling people what to write in this blog instead of writing it myself. But anyway…

Elliott started out with Journey’s “Open Arms,” the Clive Davis choice….it was a pretty good selection but Elliott seemed to try a little too hard. Simon even suggested that Elliott needs to loosen up a bit. Paula Abdul got to pick Elliott’s second song, which was Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do For Love”…and what I thought was the perfect song for Elliott. Randy said it was sharp in spots, but Simon declared it as “really good.” His last selection was “I Believe in My Soul,” the old Ray Charles song that was re-cut by one of Elliott’s heroes, Donny Hathaway. Randy said it wasn’t perfect but that there is not doubt Elliott can sing well. Simon said it was good but predicted that this would be the end of the competition for Elliott.

Katharine McPhee

Katharine started out with Clive Davis’ choice, R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly.” For some reason it seemed a bit disjointed but we all know Katharine can sing her ass off. Randy even said it wasn’t quite right and Simon made mention that he’s still waiting for Katharine to create a special moment on the show. Paula Abdul was once again drunk. Katharine’s second song was “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” which Simon Cowell chose for her. Simon wanted his moment, and Katharine delivered it. Holy crap, was that awesome. Randy and Simon both said it was the best vocal so far of the entire competition….that’s a stretch, but it was damn good. Katharine finished with Ella Fitzgerald’s “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But the Blues” and while it was a bit of a reach, she pulled it off okay. Look for Katharine to make it to the final based solely on her second performance last night.

Taylor Hicks

Taylor started out with Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” and you could almost see the expression on his face toward Clive Davis, saying “Come on, old man, that’s the best you could do?” Instead he did the right think and respectfully thanked him, then went out and did the song and Davis proud. He had a lot of fun, as always, and even dragged Paula up to dance ala Springsteen and Courtney Cox in the video. Did I mention Paula was drunk? Randy Jackson chose Taylor’s second song, Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful,” and it was the perfect song for him. Simon said it was his best performance yet. He closed with “Try a Little Tenderness”…..which Paula said was incredible and to which Simon declared, “See you next week.”

So there you have it….it appears, at least on paper, that Elliott Yamin will finally be exiting “American Idol” after hanging in there for so long. But we’ve all been wrong before, so you really never know. Let’s remember that we all thought Chris Daughtry would surely be in the finals and got booted off last week. Mrs. Marley kept reminding me of that during the show, just in case I had forgotten.

I still think Taylor Hicks is going to be the next American Idol, but if he doesn’t stop that “Soul Patrol” thing, I’m going to drive Buffybot to the river to drown those kittens. Dude, is someone pulling a string every time you finish a song? “Soul Patrol, Soul Patrol, Soul Patrol!” Okay, we GET it.

See you all tomorrow, and till then,

Marley, OUT.