As most of you know, I was downright giddy last Thursday night when Ryan Seacrest announced that Paul McDonald was the next contestant voted off American Idol. It was a result that was more than long overdue and, despite what Queen Angie says, was a result welcomed by viewers everywhere.

And Paul’s elimination seems to have rejuvenated the rest of the contestants as well. For the first time in a long time, I enjoyed the performances as a whole. The bad weren’t anywhere near as bad as they usually are, and the good were really, really good. All those weeks of pulling my hair out at the overall refusal of the contestants to bring their A-game to the stage finally paid off. Nice to know they didn’t want to see me go completely bald.

Even though only 7 contestants are left, it was still easy to place them on my Worst and Best Performance of the Night lists. And for the one contestant that didn’t make either list, I will talk about her as well.

Jacob Lusk starts of the Worst Performance of the Night list in third place, a victim of an apparent earpiece mishap. According to Jacob, he was hearing the drum track in his earpiece. It took him a few seconds to find his place as a result, and he ended up taking the earpiece out. Unfortunately, his performance suffered as a result. He struggled to get in key after the earpiece issue, and never quite managed to find the emotional connection to this song (despite what the judges said). Recovering from a mistake like that will come with more experience. But it may result in him landing in the Bottom 3 tonight, and he is on my Bottom 3 list as well.

The Growler, aka Haley Reinhart, takes second place on my Worst Performance of the Night list. And true to her name, she growled through portions of the song, making an already bad performance completely intolerable. In addition, her falsetto was horribly off-key in places. For a few weeks now I’ve felt like Haley is trying to put on a completely different persona when she performs instead of showing us who she really is, and I’ve grown tired of it. Haley has a good voice and, from what I’ve seen, a good personality. So, Haley, please stop putting on these alternate personalities when you perform and just be yourself. If you get to come back next week, that is (not my pick to go home, but it wouldn’t surprise me).

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Stefano Langone takes the top spot on my Worst Performance of the Night list. Stefano’s pick of Ne-Yo’s “Closer” should have been a slam dunk, as it’s one of the first songs he’s picked in which his voice is strong enough to tackle. But he undersang it badly, and that’s before I factor in the fact that he started and ended on very bad notes. In addition, he tried too hard to act sexy. So hard, in fact, that he came across like one of those guys in a bar who thinks they can pick up any woman simply by smiling, winking, and saying hello. I’m done giving Stefano additional chances, and he is my pick to go home. Hopefully, America agrees with me.

The one contestant who didn’t make either list tonight was Lauren Alaina. Of all the contestants this season, Lauren is the only one who has been regressing each and every week because she keeps pulling back. Jimmy Iovine rightly called her on it during rehearsals this week, yet she still didn’t take it to heart. She woefully undersang Sara Evans’ “Born to Fly,” a song that should have carried her to the best performance of the season for her. But she has clearly become intimidated by the other contestants for some reason. I don’t know how much longer her earlier performances can carry her, but this former Top 3 shoo-in may find herself gone long before then if she doesn’t start moving forward.

A very surprising beginning to my Best Performance of the Night List comes courtesy of third place Casey Abrams. I said it was surprising. He hit Maroon 5′s “Harder to Breathe” with some of his best vocals of the season. He clearly had fun with the song, and for one of the first times this season, connected with both the song and the audience. This is the Casey that I enjoyed watching back during Hollywood Week and the Casey I want to see each week. And it’s during weeks like this that I hope his past performances don’t finally catch up with him. While a Bottom 3 appearance wouldn’t be a complete surprise tonight, it would be unwarranted given this performance.

Scotty McCreery lands in second on the Best Performance of the Night list. He took a swing at LeAnn Rimes’ “Swingin” and hit a home run, so I’m baffled at why the judges ripped him a new one afterwards. And I’m also baffled at all the blogs and news articles I’ve already read today roasting Scotty for the performance. The song was upbeat and Scotty clearly had fun with it. And, more importantly, he was vocally amazing. He hit high notes in the song yet still incorporated his trademark lower register into it. Despite the fact that he went first, and despite all the predictions from bloggers that he will be in the Bottom 3 and/or go home tonight, Scotty is in no danger whatsoever.

James Durbin takes home the coveted top spot on my Best Performance of the Night list. His performance of Muse’s “Uprising” was not only the best performance of the night, but it was the best performance of the entire season. The beginning of the song was both outrageous (the drummers) and understated (James’ quiet singing) at the same time. James took his time building up the song, and he delivered with some of the highest notes we’ve ever heard come from a guy in the history of the show. I think it’s going to be hard for James to top this performance, but that doesn’t mean we still won’t be treated to more of his amazing vocals in the weeks to come.

So that’s what I thought of last night’s American Idol performances. By far the best night of the season, and I appreciate the contestants finally listening to my requests to bring it.

What did you think about the performances last night? Do you agree with my picks, or do you think someone else belonged on one of those lists?

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