Yesterday, I predicted David Archuleta would fall by the Idol wayside, the victim of a fourth-place shocker. You know, the kind that took Tamyra Gray and Chris Daughtry from their respective seasons.

Simple reason why: Archuleta's support had waned, and it was Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame week. Some of you believe this is a true talent competition, and it's not. Idol is a hybrid talent competition, prom-king/queen vote. That means the most talented vocalist doesn't always win.

David Archuleta crushed 'em tonight, and he's still in second on DialIdol.com as of 10 p.m. CDT. For those of you not familiar with DialIdol, it's a software application that measures phone business to determine probability of elimination. It's been a pretty accurate (generally) predictor of things to come, and it absolutely predicted both Daughtry and Melinda Doolittle's surprising eliminations in years past.

However, for as good as Archuleta was singing Elvis' "Love Me Tender" and Sam Cooke's "Stand By Me," with a brilliant choice to invoke a little Sean Kingston in there -- Jason Castro was as bad as could be.

If Archuleta was the "crusher" tonight, Castro was the "butcher."

He slaughtered Bob Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff," and then sliced and diced The Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man." And America has voted -- er, not voted appropriately.

Castro is a goner, but I am here to tell you that Syesha Mercado has her "A" game going right now, and neither Archuleta or David Cook is a lock for a finale at her expense. After singing "Proud Mary," she was brought to tears after her version of "Change Is Gonna Come."

After Randy Jackson trashed her, Paula gave her one of those uncomfortable standing ovations and just clapped. Syesha turned to pudding, the tears flowing -- and compassionate Simon made an appearance, noting that he agreed with Paula, who noted that the song was an appropriate choice for Mercado given her progress throughout the season.

I concur. I am having a hard time not getting behind Syesha, who I hated at the start of the year particularly given her experience with "The One," ABC's terrible Idol copycat. However, she's the type of contestant I particularly respect on this show.

She starts the competition OK. Gets better, and then brings it at the end. Nothing peeves me off more than somebody with an opportunity like this half-assing it, not going for it 100 billion percent.

For those of you who have followed my blog for some time, you know that my favorite reality contestant of all time is Kendra Todd from "The Apprentice" a few years back. She laid low and then turned into an axe murderer at the end, leaving bodies strung about.

Syesha has a hard time matching the fan base of Cook and Archuleta, and I do NOT think she's more gifted vocally than "The Kid." But could she sneak into a finale?

You bet.

David Cook was alright tonight, doing a fair job with Duran Duran's "Hungry Like The Wolf" and then bludgeoning (my opinion) The Who's "Baba O'Riley." He's unique, cool, hip, whatever. However, to me it's all about the vocals, and Archuleta kills him.

Make that "he crushes him."

In my previous post, there was a predicate all Idol fans had to accept as fact. That is: It mattered not what WE think. It matters who votes and how often. And I thought Archuleta was particularly vulnerable tonight.

Color me dead wrong. However, given that Simon said he "crushed" the competition, it renders me quizzical that he's only in second place, according to DialIdol. That spells trouble next week or in a finale, in my humble opinion.

But one thing is for certain. Jason Castro made his own bed tonight.

He shot the sheriff and killed the deputy and, for that matter, the tambourine man. He's a sure bet to be gone come Wednesday night.