'American Idol' recap: Three for the Money Shot

Welcome back to American Idol, where the contestants trip, the pantyhose rips, and it takes four people to tell Ryan Seacrest that they love him. This week, each of the top 3 performed songs chosen by Jimmy Iovine and the judges in addition to one they chose themselves. Beyoncé, who had a video of herself clomping around in multi-faceted gem shoes to promote, wiggled up to the plate as a guest mentor. Let's get to it!

Scotty McCreery might have hit the upper-register notes on Lonestar’s "Amazed," but his voice becomes rather thin up there. It makes me wonder why the judges have been pushing for him to do that. Do we really want to hear higher notes from Scotty? Maybe they've just been asking for it because his "one trick" is getting soooooooo boring. At this point, Randy, the most established of the three Fates, is just weaving up compliments from the loom of the recent past and presenting them as if they're lovely new garments. "You put a period on the end of that, looked into the camera again," Randy marveled at Scotty. But wait…Scotty does that EVERY TIME. "That's money," Randy insisted. "It is money." Scotty should consider using his riches to afford a new jean jacket sans deliberate paint splotches near the nipples. Just an idea.

Esteemed Colleague Email Interlude:

So that's who it is!

NEXT: Nothing says "Wild One" like Lauren's IKEA lamp earrings