Phillip, Jessica and Joshua of "American Idol"

Credit: FOX

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I couldn't make a prediction.

At least not in the picture accompanying this recap.

Since the season began, each week I've been putting a picture with my Thursday recaps of one singer I was certain wasn't going home and every week I'e been right. That's not saying all that much, but still... 

This week, though, I can't do it. Either Jessica Sanchez, Phillip Phillips or Joshua Ledet is going home and I don't have a clue who it will be. So I made a handy triptych. I'm confident one of those three singers will be voted out.

Yup. See that limb? I'm way out on it.

Click through for the full recap of the unpredictable (or unpredicted) results...

8:02 p.m. Jennifer Lopez is billowy and summery and nobody's talking to her about whether or not she's leaving the show.

8:03 p.m. We've got Adam Lambert tonight. And, for some reason, Lisa Marie Presley.

8:03 p.m. Ugh. Why are we doing tonight's Group Sing to a jazzed up "Got To Get You Into My Life"?

8:04 p.m. Home run Cody Ross!

8:05 p.m. It's like The Beatles by way of Chicago, with a helping of freshly shredded cheese.

8:06 p.m. Do you realize that next week at this time, this whole shebang will be over? Impressive, right?

8:09 p.m. Tonight's Ford Commercial is a silent movie. Jessica is a cat burglar. Joshua is a keystone kop. And Phil-Phil is missing in action. His absence in moments like this becomes more conspicuous each week.

8:10 p.m. "I'm nervous but excited," Jessica says. "It's such a blessing to even be here right now," Phil-Phil says. "I just feel like we're all winners at this point," says Joshua, who vows to vote for the other two if he's sent home tonight.

8:11 p.m. First to face judgment? Joshua. i'm betting he's in the Bottom Three.

8:11 p.m. Jimmy says Wednesday was good for Joshua, but it wasn't his best night and that the judges were too generous to his Etta James cover. Jimmy thinks Joshua is a great showman, but that in "Imagine," he picked a song that didn't showcase that showman side. "It was not the right song for him," Jimmy says. But will Jimmy have kinder words for Joshua's performance of the Mary J. Blige song that Jimmy selected for him? Why... No. Jimmy admits that he gave Joshua a song without enough melody. "He did really well because he's that good," Jimmy says, before adding that Joshua should 100 percent be in the finale. We'll see if his math is different from Jessica and Phil-Phil's finale hopes.

8:19 p.m. Ugh. "Ice Age 3" commercial interwoven with the episode. Poor J-Lo is fielding calls from the animated characters from the upcoming film. They all want tickets to the "Idol" finale. Oh God. This is so painful. And then they all go in a FORD to the Fox Lot to sing on a song for the upcoming "Ice Age" sequel. Somehow Phil-Phil was able to make it out of bed for this field trip, while Hollie Cavanagh was still alive when the visit occurred.

8:23 p.m. Yup. That was horrifying.

8:23 p.m. Lisa Marie Presley has a new single. Is the gimmick that she's a character on "True Blood"? It's not ungroovy, but I'm certain I'll never hear this song ever again. Unless it appears in an episode of "True Blood."

8:29 p.m. Jessica Sanchez is up next for judgement. I'm betting she's in the Bottom Three.

8:30 p.m. Jimmy didn't think that Jessica's first Mariah Carey cover came together, disagreeing with Steven Tyler's adoration. Jimmy also didn't think it all came together for Jessica on her Aerosmith cover. Why do I get the feeling Jimmy just wasn't having fun last night? He hasn't loved any of the performances he's evaluated this far. Amusingly, Jimmy admits that he also didn't make a great song choice for Jessica. Asking himself about her finale hopes, Jimmy just says that she'd be worthy, but that's not the same as his "100 percent" endorsement for Joshua.

8:37 p.m. We're asking Rita Wilson to pay tribute to Donna Summer. I'm... confused. Jimmy Iovine's opinion makes more sense and seems more heartfelt. 

8:38 p.m. Glambert time! 

8:40 p.m. Seizure time!

8:46 p.m. Phillip Phillips is up for judgment. I'm betting he's in the Bottom Three.

8:47 p.m. Jimmy found Phil-Phil's cover of "Beggin'" to be "very good" and praises Phil-Phil increasingly becoming less derivative as an artist. However, Jimmy thought Phil-Phil's cover of "Disease" was "a total snoozefest." Jimmy did, however, love Phil-Phil's performance of the song he chose for him. "He was flawless," Jimmy says of Phil-Phil's Bob Seger. Yup. I agree on that.

8:50 p.m. Jessica and Joshua join Phil-Phil at center stage. Your Bottom Three, America!

8:50 p.m. Randy wishes them all luck and calls them "three of the best we've ever had." "To lose any one of you tonight is heartbreaking to me," J-Lo adds. "I love you guys so much because you have the courage to have a dream," Tyler tells them all.

8:52 p.m. Results... After the break.

8:55 p.m. REAL RESULTS...

8:55 p.m. After nearly 90 million votes... the first person in the finale is... Jessica Sanchez. She's surprised. J-Lo is very pleased. 

8:56 p.m. Going against Jessica is... Phillip Phillips.

8:56 p.m. That means that we're saying farewell to Joshua Ledet. On a personal level, I'm disappointed, because Joshua was my favorite contestant this season. But what can you say? Phil-Phil is, realistically, unstoppable. And Jessica is extremely talented and I can't dispute that.

8:58 p.m. It was a great run for Joshua. And I insist that if he finds a time machine, he could become the biggest star of 1966. I'll root for him to find a time machine.

9:00 p.m. I love Joshua's "Man's Man's Man's World." And it's darned sweet of him to bring his mom out for this particular number. I wish they hadn't cut it off so that we could see "Previously on 'Touch.'" Oh well.

You OK with the results? And does Jessica have any chance at all against Phil-Phil next week?

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

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A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.