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.

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?

Syesha Mercado performed A Change is Gonna Come beautifully, but Randy just wasn’t feeling it. His criticism, then Paula’s opposite reaction, and Simon’s agreement that it was a great performance, caused Syesha to break down into tears (video below). She was great, and Syesha is going to be in the top two. Yes she can.