The First To Go Is...

It's sad but true: The Top 13 has become the Top 12. The guys competed against the girls this week, and for one contestant, the Idol journey came to a bittersweet end.

First, the Top 13 sang Stevie Wonder's "As" in their first group performance of the season. Then we saw their first Ford music video, set to Peter Gabriel's "Big Time." But before Ryan could reveal the bottom three guys and the bottom three girls, resident mentor Jimmy Iovine had a quick message:

"God mass-produces billions of people — in my opinion, too many. In the case of Whitney Houston, he stopped everything and made one by hand. He made an extraordinary human being, and that's why it's so difficult for these girls to sing these songs," he said. It was a fitting tribute to one of music's all-time brightest stars. "As far as Stevie Wonder is concerned for the boys, that's no walk in the park either," Jimmy added.

Back to the contestants: Ryan got things started by calling Jessica, Elise, and Hollie to center stage. Elise sang "I'm Your Baby" tonight on Wednesday, and the judges agreed that it wasn't her best performance. So did Jimmy.

"I think Elise got hit with the Whintey Houston stick," he said. "These songs were really not in her genre of music. She didn't rise to the occasion." Then he predicted, "I think she's in trouble."

Hollie sang "All the Man That I Need," and Randy said that she "nailed" it. Jimmy agreed. "Hollie had the advantage tonight with Whitney songs, but she delivered on the promise," he said.

Jessica sang Whitney's opus, "I Will Always Love You," and Steven said that she "made 40 million people cry." Jimmy was blown away. "Jessica's performance of 'I Will Always Love You' is probably the best performance I've ever seen of anyone on American Idol. My only concern for her is that she believes the applause too early and gets overconfident."

So what did America think? After a nationwide vote, Jessica and Hollie were safe. Elise was in the bottom three girls.

Next up were Heejun, Jermaine, and Colton. Heejun sang "All in Love Is Fair," but Jimmy didn't think that he was in his comfort zone with Stevie Wonder. "If I were making a record with Heejun, the last thing I would do is take a Stevie Wonder song. This shows all of his flaws," he said.

Indie rocker Colton Dixon sang "Lately," and Randy thought there were notes that were a little flat and a little sharp (especially in the softer parts of the song), but it all came together at the end. Jimmy said that he "took great direction," but he worried that Colton doesn't know who he is as an artist yet. "Is he a pop singer? Is he a rock singer? I don't think he's really found his truth yet," he said.

As for Jermaine, Steven thought his song, "Knocks Me off My Feet," fit him "like an Armani suit," but Jimmy disagreed. "Last night I believe that Jermaine had an internal battle going on between tuning and feel, and I believe he lost both," he said. "Jennifer was right: he was thinking too much."

After a nationwide vote, Colton and Heejun were safe, but Jermaine was in the bottom three. Then the contestants took a break as last year's runner-up Lauren Alaina performed "Georgia Peaches," a track off her debut album, "Wildflower."

Then it was back to the results. Ryan called Erika, Shannon, and Skylar to center stage. The judges enjoyed Erika's performance of "I Believe in You and Me," and so did Jimmy. "Here's a case where someone is not really made for this song, but yet she took it, enhanced it, and did a really believable job," he said. However, he questioned if Erika knew how to "present herself."

Shannon had a rough night on Wednesday, with the judges saying that her nerves got the best for her during her performance of "I Have Nothing." Jimmy agreed, saying, "Nerves got the better of Shannon; they tightened her vocal cords. She has a lot of talent, but she needs a lot more experience."

The judges got a kick out of country cutie Skylar, even though Jennifer thought her performance of "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" was "nasally." Jimmy disagreed. "Don't punch me for this Jennifer — I like that in her voice. If you don't like that nasal aspect of that voice, you may not like Skylar in the end. I like nasal," he said.

Then Ryan announced the results. After the nationwide vote, Skylar was safe, but Erika and Shannon were in the bottom three.

Finally, Ryan called up Phillip, Jeremy, Deandre, and Joshua. Like the judges, Jimmy enjoyed Joshua's uptempo performance of "I Wish," calling him "very, very good." However, he's concerned that "you get bored of his voice after a while."

The judges liked how Deandre showed a different side of himself on "Master Blaster (Jammin')," and Jimmy agreed it was a "pleasant surprise."

Phillip Phillips gave a rocking performance of "Superstition," and Randy loved how he "drives his car in his own lane." Jimmy agreed, saying that Phillip is a "great musician vocally and instrumentally," but he thinks that the girls could outshine him in the weeks to come with their "vocal fireworks."

Jeremy sang "Rhythm in the Sky," which Steven called "velvety smooth" and Jennifer described as "really beautiful." Jimmy said he disagreed with Jennifer and Steven: "Wonder's ballads are custom-made for Jeremy's voice, and he did not deliver at all." Jimmy then predicted that Jeremy would be in the bottom three, and that he would go home.

After a nationwide vote, Phillip was safe, and Jeremy was indeed in the bottom three. Then Deandre was announced safe, while Joshua was voted into in the bottom three. But wait! Ryan announced that Erika and Joshua were safe, leaving Jermaine, Jeremy, Shannon, and Elise's fates uncertain.

The contestants took another break to enjoy guest mentor Mary J. Blige's performance of her latest single, "Why." When it was back to business, Steven predicted that Jeremy was in the most trouble.

Turns out, Jermaine was safe, and so was Shannon, leaving Elise and Jeremy in the bottom two. Since the theme was boys versus girls this week, the judges took a few minutes to discuss the two left standing. Then Jennifer announced that they were saving Elise!

That meant the end of the road for "Jer Bear" Jeremy Rosado. The contestants became visibly emotional as Jeremy's tribute video rolled, set to Idol champ Scotty McCreery's cover of "Please Remember Me." As for sweet, kindhearted Jeremy, he said that he'd miss the experience of being on the show. "This is awesome," he said. We thought he was awesome, too.