With 3 musical guests, the night didn’t drag like it usually does. It was nice to hear some real talent on this year’s Idol stage.

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In celebration of St. Patty's day, the lighting people gave a brief light show in all green with shamrocks all around. Nice.

After introducing the judges but before presenting the Idols, Season 7 winner David Cook performed "Jumping Jack Flash" in keeping with the week's theme.  He sounded great; it was good to hear a more authentic, rockin' Stones performance.

Afterwards, he says that he will be going to Africa to work with the United Nations Foundation. A segment on his experience will be shown on the Idol Gives Back episode scheduled to air in April.

Coming back from break, we see the first Ford ad of the season set to "Tick Tick Boom". I really only caught the end of it; apparently they were throwing paint on Ford Focuses or Fiestas or something. Casey wasn't in the ad; he had the flu and missed the taping. Awww. Hope you are better, sweet thing.

Enough of the fun stuff now - on to the eliminations. Ryan starts in the back row with Paige. He reviews her judge's comments and has a little conversation with her before telling her that she is in the Bottom 3. I expected she would be in trouble tonight.

He follows this pattern with Lee, and he is SAFE. 

Siobhan is next and they brought up Adam Lambert again, asking Ellen if Siobhan could be a breakout star like Adam is and she says absolutely yes; she is already very unique. Siobhan is SAFE.

Then Aaron is up and I am hoping he is in the Bottom 3, all the while knowing he won't be because he didn't suck last night. And of course he is SAFE (tween texting, remember?).

That leaves us with Andrew and Tim who stand up at the same time. After conversations with each and with Kara, Andrew is SAFE and Tim is the second person placed in the Bottom 3. This isn't a surprise either but I really wasn't sure about Andrew. Andrew has dodged the bullet for now but must up his game.

Our second musical guest is Orianthi singing her hit song "According To You". She was great! Lots of recording artists who appear live just don't live up to the quality of their recordings, but she was terrific.

Back to eliminations and DiDi is up first. Ryan continues as he has been doing and talks with her a while before telling her she is SAFE.

Crystal got the chance to clarify that she never thought she had this competition "in the bag". She is still in the running though, as she is SAFE.

Katie is up next so my first thought was "damn, that means she is not leaving either because there are still 3 more people". And like Aaron, she is SAFE, compliments of the tween texting. I was hoping one of the 2 teenagers would be out tonight but knew in my heart it wasn't happening.

Michael is next and he is SAFE.

That leaves Lacey & Casey (did they do that on purpose? Lacey/Casey). They ask Casey what he might do in response to the judge's comments about stage presence and he said he might spin his guitar around his back a couple of times. A little snarky, that Casey. LOL Hmmm - his song this week was "It's All Over Now"; hope that's not prophetic. Then Ryan draws out his "I'm sorry but ---" then tells Lacey she is in the Bottom 3. I guess he didn't feel the need to talk to her. That doesn't bode well, does it?

Ryan gathers all three of the bottom group at center stage, then sends Tim back to the couches; he is SAFE.

While Paige and Lacey cool their heels, Ke$ha performs her song "Blah Blah Blah". I liked it better than I was expecting to. I do believe it was taped since she was the only one they didn't show Ryan with for some follow-up chat.

And now it's time for the bad news. The lowest vote-getter is Lacey. Paige is SAFE.

For those who don't remember, we now have a judge's save. We are reminded that all 4 judges have to be in agreement. They will deliberate while Lacey sings. What's new? Well - Lacey does not have to sing the song from last night; she can choose another and she does. This is a very good tweak to the rule IMO. Poor Alexis from last year had to reprise her version of "Jolene" that the judges panned. If she would have had the option of singing say ""I Never Loved A Man", she might have been saved and taken a spot on the tour. As it was, she had to stick with the song she was told was a bad choice.

Tonight, Lacey is reprising "The Story" instead of "Ruby Tuesday". I like Lacey a lot but I did not think she sang well enough to save herself, and indeed, they do not save her. Lacey watches her journey tape as the other Idols join her, Katie and Paige on either side weeping.

So farewell to the lovely Lacey. I would have liked to see you stay another 2 weeks so you could have toured, but it's not to be.

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