Tonight Syesha Mercado was voted off American Idol. So sad. I really thought she would make it to the top two, but I was wrong. She’s still going to have a career. I have to give her credit for not crying her eyes out. She did a beautiful job singing her farewell song.

There is a scandal however. At the 3:17 mark in the video you can see Syesha start smiling while you can clearly hear her still singing. Syesha’s song was PRERECORDED and Syesha was LIP SYNCHING. Is American Idol getting desperate to boost ratings by prerecording performances, rather than having contestants perform live?

David Archuleta and David Cook are now in the top two. Watch their performances closely, to see if they are lip synching too.

The American Idol producer, Nigel Lythgoe, who "banned" Jeff Archuleta from being backstage with his son David Archuleta is telling his side of the story. Nigel said:

"Banished is a terrible word, isn’t it? It sounds like we’re in some far-off kingdom. He has been asked not to participate in the choice of music with David or be in the room when David is working out his routines that he wants to sing. He’s fine to be in the studio, nothing wrong with that. We just want David to be able to be free like everybody else to get on and do what they want to do."

When asked about the lyric change Jeff made that allegedly cost Idol a lot of money in copyright fees Nigel said:

"There was a lyric change that happened that was a total misunderstanding. Just another, um, step along the way of us saying, "Okay, this is what we want to happen from now on."

Nigel also addressed concern that David was getting better guidance from his father Jeff than the rest of the contestants:

"No, no, no. It has nothing to do with fairness. We just want everyone to have an equal opportunity, and if that’s fairness, fine. But this is more of just the fact of let’s take some pressure away here, you know? It’s like anybody appearing in front of their mom and dad. Let’s just open up the pressure cooker, release the pressure, and you just get on and do what you gotta do."

Nigel also addressed rumors that Jeff was a pushy "stage dad," saying:

"What is a stage dad, or a stage mom? It’s someone who’s protective. That’s all."

David’s vocal coach, Dean Kaelin, also responded to the "stage dad" rumors defending Jeff by saying:

"David’s dad is just a caring, concerned parent that fortunately has some musical expertise, and some people fear that because of this David receives an unfair advantage."

Tonight Jeff was in the audience, and was very friendly with Randy and Paula. While some stage dads and moms in the past have pushed their kids until their success destroyed them, Jeff seems to just be trying to help David win, so he can have a chance in Hollywood. That’s something most parents would do for their kids if they had the same opportunity.

David Archuleta’s dad Jeff, pictured above left, was officially banned from American Idol Wednesday.

A source says Jeff changed a verse in David’s song Stand by Me to include a verse from Sean Kingston’s song Beautiful Girls. Producers sent an email to Jeff informing him the lyrics could not be changed, but David sang Stand by Me with Kingston’s lyrics included during the live show anyway.

The source says on Wednesday Jeff was forced to talk to American Idol lawyers on Wednesday who informed him that the changed lyrics cost American Idol a lot of money due to copyright issues, so he would be banned from the backstage of the show, although he could be in the audience.

Jeff was also banned from Star Search several years ago for the same behavior.

If David has any chance of winning his dad needs to keep his distance.

David Archuleta gave another great performance tonight on both songs, and the American Idol judges agreed unanimously. Archuleta is looking like he could win Idol, but he’ll have to beat Syesha Mercado. David Cook, in my opinion, will be voted off after Jason Castro, but we’ll see.

Anyone else have a prediction?

After David Archuleta performed the song You’re the Voice by John Farnham. Simon Cowell said:

"I don’t think that is you at all, and I’d be amazed if you chose the song yourself."

Sources say Simon’s comments were directed at David’s father Jeff Archuleta, who was banned from the Star Search lot because he was such a nightmare. Simon said the song sounded like something someone would perform at a theme park.