The Last Goodbye

America spoke up, casting over 52 million votes, but still one of the Top 7 had to head home by the end of the night. Ryan Seacrest introduced the Top 7 as a group one last time, and Haley Reinhart was ready for spring in pink and green, and Lauren Alaina rocked a new 'do.

We got more mini group performances this week! Up first were Lauren, Haley, Stefano Langone, and Jacob Lusk with Train's "Hey Soul Sister." They harmonized pretty well and no one tried to out-sing the others. I have no idea how Haley walks up and down the stairs in those high heels. I wondered how the results would play out and who from this group would be in the bottom, but I'd have to wait longer. C'mon, Ryan!

After this week's music video, Casey Abrams, Scotty McCreery, and James Durbin sang Coldplay's "Viva La Vida." They all play string instruments, but instead of playing them this evening, they moved all over the stage without their strings. When Casey Abrams sat cross-legged on top of a table, he looked more like a grown up version of Nolan Gould than ever before! Ryan shared that both numbers were choreographed by Robin Antin, but I saw no traces of Pussycat Doll movement in either piece. Thankfully.

After some small talk with the Idol finalists, Ryan had Casey and Jacob stand. The host questioned Casey about his previous night's kiss with Jennifer Lopez, and Casey said his original intention was not to kiss her, but he "was just gonna breathe in her face." Jennifer replied, "I liked the kiss better."

A sharp-looking David Cook returned to the American Idol stage to sing "The Last Goodbye," which is the first single off his newly announced sophomore album, "This Loud Morning." The only safe finalist, Casey, was jumping and head-banging in the stands. David's mom, Beth, was in the audience, and David said she came to the show mainly to see Steven Tyler. David used his Idol stature as our seventh champion and asked if his mom could meet Steven. Ever the charmer, Steven gave Beth a kiss, which freaked David out. Beth waved rock hand signs at David, who shook his head and said they're going to have a talk when the cameras stop rolling.

The Idols seemed to have a lot of free time this week. They went to a Dodger's game, went bowling in Hollywood, and got spa treatments. I wondered if spa concierge Jacob hooked up the finalists with the treatments, and none of the guys were ashamed to be pampered. An added bonus was seeing Stefano with his shirt off.

The fun was over, and it was back to reality. Lauren, James, and Stefano met Ryan to find out their fate. Lauren and James were safe, but Stefano was joining Jacob in the bottom three. Both guys have been there before.

The final spot in the bottom three belonged to either Scotty or Haley. America voted Haley into the bottom three and just as she walked over and sat down on the third stool, Ryan told her to get up and take a walk with him. Halfway across the stage, he whispered in her ear that she was safe. It's better than breathing in her face a la Casey Abrams, but that was a lot of unnecessary walking in those heels!

Next, we got an out-of-this-world performance from Katy Perry, who was dressed in some space garb for her performance of "E.T." She was carried onto the stage by muscular space alien dancers, much like Lady Gaga at the Grammys, sans egg. Halfway through the performance she got into an exoskeleton spaceship and Kanye West took the stage to rap his part. Well that was unexpected!

When it came down to Jacob and Stefano, I wondered if Stefano would escape by the skin of his teeth yet again. No such luck: Stefano received the fewest votes. So long, Casanova. Steven stood up and held his belt buckle, which either means he was about to make a mad dash to the restroom, or it could be a shout-out to Stefano who entered his audition with a piano belt buckle he showed off to the judges. Stefano paced as his farewell montage rolled, and I don't know how the cameraman was able to keep Stefano in the tiny picture-in-picture box. The goodbye package contained more clips of Casanova in a tank top, which I'm sure many women won't complain about. James was devastated in the stands and ran over to his Idol BFF and spun him around. This bromance could rival Andrew Garcia and Lee DeWyze's 2010 bromance.

Who will survive next week's niche theme of "Carole King Songs?"