Phillip Phillips will be doing Ben. E. King’s “Stand by Me”. He’s got the acoustic guitar and he’s Phillip Phillipsing it (ie turning it into a Dave Mathews cover). I like his take on it though, it’s at a different, slightly groovier tempo than the original, a bit slower. Cool version Phil Phil.

Randy gives round one to Jessica. Not sure if I agree with that. Neck brace guy comes out for a song, sans neck brace. Next we revisit the finalists’ favorite performances from this season.

Jessica is doing “The Prayer”. Odd choice, you need to go with a more popular song. It’s soft and gentle and she’s kind of all over the place, up high, down low, here and there, vocally. I don’t know if this was a good idea for her, just weird. Nice song but weird.

Double P doing Billy Joel’s “Moving Out”. Now that’s a good choice, his last performance of this was great. He puts his unique spin on it, revamping the song, original and unique. He’s smiling, loving being up there singing for the crowd. Solid.

Steven says Jessica took it again. The crowd 100% disagrees. Randy calls it a dead heat, the crowd doesn’t really agree there. JLo calls it for PP and I agree there. Next round is the single they would release if they won.

Jessica is doing a song called “Change Nothing”. It’s a slow ballad, pretty well suited for her vocal range. A bit upbeat in the middle with a part that sounds like she’s screaming. She looks happy singing the song, not sure how much I like it, the chorus was a bit kinda not there. Randy didn’t love the song but loved the performance. JLo said that a pop ballad isn’t right for her but she sang it well. Steven didn’t feel like that was the proper song for her.

Phillip Phillips doing a song called “Home”. Starts off a bit bluegrass folk style. Very rootsy with a building beat, going a bit more uptempo. Nice little oh-oh-oh bit in the end there, almost U2-esque. Wow great song, great performance, a very well deserved ovation. Randy loved everything about it. Steven heard Paul Simon in there and says he was perfect.

I think without question, based on tonight’s performances Phillip Phillip deserves to win American Idol.

Back from last week Arsenio is totally screwed with Magic Johnson’s video of him talking but not facing the camera. Luckily a second clip comes in with Magic facing the camera the right way. Crisis averted.

On Clay’s team, Debbie Gibson is trying to get sketches of the mural her cousin will paint so Clay will approve them. Debbie gets on the phone with her cousin.

Both teams are at the venue now, trying to come up with a live show. Adam Carolla is trying to dominate a bit with Arsenio’s variety show, Arsenio sets him straight that he doesn’t want a roast type thing.

Clay’s got his whole team helping out to paint the mural, self included in a hefty bag over his clothes.

The events are getting read to start and Clay’s got a huge line, nobody’s there for Arsenio just yet. One of the Claymates brings a $20,000 check. Kelly Clarkson drops 10g’s. Orel Hershheiser shows up! With $20k for Clay. I guess he knows Debbie Gibson.

Leno brings Arsenio $5k as does Chris Rock. Eddie Murphy brought $10k, George Lopez $5. ANother check from Jay Leno?! Jimmy Kimmel drops ten grand. The Andrettie family does the same too.

Lisa Lampanelli hires a look-a-like drag queen to donate money to Clay’s team. Classy.

Trump shows up for the show. Arsenio’s got Whoopie Goldberg as his date tonight. They pull the curtain and it switches from two parties to one big party and it’s time for the performances.

Clay presents his video, which is pretty good. The wheelchair outside the circle of children is pretty powerful. Arsenio’s video works too, the Magic part fits in nicely. Now Arsenio’s team does the live presentation, a comedy thing. Lisa and Adam kinda roast Donald Trump a bit. Arsenio does a stand up bit. Clay’s team is doing some musical numbers starting with Dee Snider and Debbie Gibson doing Baby Love, then Aubrey O’Day with I Will Survive. Penn does a magic bit with Teller. Then Dee and Debbie duet on We’re Not Gonna Take It before Clay closes it out with Time of My Life with Aubrey and the others.

Off to the Boardroom. Adam Carolla is shocked that Lisa made a “Clay-tribution”. Arsenio’s team raises 167,000 bucks. Clay’s team raised nearly double that. But it’s not just about the money in this task. In the end both did well but it’s up to The Donald and he chooses…. Arsenio Hall. Arsenio is the Celebrity Apprentice 2012.

Tonight they are doing judges choice, their choice and Jimmy’s choice. 3 songs each, 3 singers.

Joshua Ledet kicking off the night with judges choice, an oldie. Kinda sultry, for a dude. He starts going off into the screaming thing, doing a scat type ending. Judges give him a standing ovation. I wasn’t too excited by it though, it was good but just not spectacular for me. Steven says it’s like a dream come true and he sang like the winner tonight. JLo says he brought down the house, again. Randy says his style is so classic the song fit him like a glove.

Jessica Sanchez next, the judges chose a Mariah Carey song for her. It’s definitely a different type song for her, her voice seems uncomfortable actually as if she’s straining to sing in this upper register. Randy said that was just beautiful and one of the best times a Mariah song has ever been done on TV. JLo says hard song but she did it her own way. Steven says when she sings people hang on her every note.

Phillip Phillips is doing Beggin by Madcon. Who? What? This song is pretty upbeat actually and he’s making it sound good. Good energy on stage, getting the crowd into it, he’s a true performer. Slows it down at the end before building it back up to a crescendo to finish. Round 1 goes to Phillip in my eyes. Excellent. JLo says it was great. Steven says the spotlight belongs in his face and he can be the next Springsteen. Randy says another incredible performance by you.

The contestants are going home now. Joshua on a plane almost shitting his pants.

Joshua is doing his own choice- John Lennon’s Imagine. It’s nice to see him out of the R&B soul type genres. He’s taking it nice and slow, really cherishing the performance and showing off his vocal power in a slow controlled way. He’s singing it pretty straightforward, adding a little bravado here and there, but not over the top. JLo is singing along, Randy bopping his head diagonally. Nice big ending. Wow, just wow. JLo says it was pulled back and controlled and that’s hard to do. Randy says he dug deep and we felt it.

Jessica Sanchez heads home to San Diego…via helicopter. Sweet.

Jessica is doing Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing. Ballsy to do it right in front of Steven Tyler. This is more in her sweet spot, vocally than the last one. Very nice to start off, with big drawn out vocals that is right for her. Great performance, great voice. Steven gives her a standing ovation. He says she took a great song and made it greater. JLo says that note at the end sent everyone to the heavens. Randy says that was bold, it was a little slow but she delivered on the big note at the end.

Phillip Phillips heading on home. Heads back to the pawn shop, sees his parents.

Now he’s doing his choice of songs, Rob Thomas something or other. Again with the sexy female saxophone player. He’s rocking out, slowly, putting some passion into this one. Kinda cool. Not really a showstopper but solid overall. JLo says it was good but lacked the wow factor. Steven agrees, says it wasn’t over the top but good. Randy didn’t really like it either- too subdued.

Now it’s Jimmy Iovine’s round of picks.

Jimmy picked a Mary J. Blige song for Joshua Ledet- No More Drama. Good choice Jimmy, he’s kinda rolling with it here and here comes the big ending where he can just go nuts. Strips the jacket off and oh yeah, he’s like a man possessed speaking in tongues and shit like a preacher on crack. Randy says he’s an amazing performer with true star potential. JLo says he knows what to do and when to do it and he’s spontaneous and exciting. Steven Tyler says it was over the top.

Jimmy has chosen I’ll Be There by the Jackson 5 for Jessica Sanchez. So yeah it’s sort of 2 Mariah songs for her tonight. You can tell she’s happy to sing this one, very sweet and tender and beautiful vocal. Her singing is spot on and it really actually is more Michael Jackson than Mariah I guess. Can’t go wrong either way. Big ending before bringing it back around softly. Well done JS. Steven says perfect voice, perfect song, she nailed it. JLo says it was a good song choice and perfect tone in her voice and she killed it at the end. Randy liked it but didn’t love it (really Randy?!)

Closing out the night is We’ve Got Tonight by Bob Seger, as performed by Phillip Phillips. No guitar for this one. That raspy tone is ideal for this song. He looks like he doesn’t know what to do with his non-mic holding hand without his guitar. Real slow and subdued but he’s putting some real feeling into it at the end. Very solid. Standing ovation from the three judges. Randy calls it the perfect song for the perfect time and his best of the show ever. He had a moment. He’s in it to win it. JLo says it was really sweet, like a lullaby. Steven drops a few bleeped out words to describe this one.

Uhm tough call, they were all pretty good for the most part. I flipped a three way coin and am predicting Jessica Sanchez goes home base on that.

So with Arsenio Hall and Clay Aiken as the final two, it’s game on. Clay seems to think that if he wins he will no longer be referred to as the American Idol runner-up but as the Apprentice winner. Uhmm no Clay.

The Donald brings the two back to Lincoln Center to present them with their final task. They have to produce, host, and sell tickets to a celebrity charity event with a commercial and a variety show. Trump brings back in the ousted celebrities to help out.

Arsenio chooses Adam Carolla, Lisa Lampanelli, Paul Sr., and Teresa Guidice. Clay takes Penn, Debbie Gibson, Dee Snider, and the last person standing- Aubrey. Arsenio’s got the comedy and Clay’s got the music.

Clay briefs his team about his charity which helps kids with disabilities go to camp. Aubrey comes up with a carnival type theme. Clay has an idea to film a disabled kid for the project but Penn is shooting it down for some reason, not being a team player. He comes up with a better way to shoot it to show compassion without pity.

On Arsenio’s team, Adam suggests doing a kids theme at first- Arsenio says no to that but his second idea is to have everyone dress up like 80′s. Arsenio calls up to try to get Magic Johnson to talk on camera about his charity- Adam says he will use his camera crew to film it, if Magic can do it. Teresa and Adam take a hysterical trip to the costume store to pick up some 80′s gear.

Arsenio’s team is raising some big money early- Lisa had $50k already lined up before the challenge and Teresa pulls in $5000 too. They start calling some big names- Eddie Murphy, Seinfeld, Whoopie, and more.

Clay’s team is hard at work on the charity event but haven’t started anything with the raising money part but they get started on it.

Arsenio’s team arrives at the event space and it’s a huge long room, totally empty. Lisa works with the decorator, Teresa with the caterer. Arsenio is pretty hands-off on this part.

Aubrey is all over Clay’s team’s space setup. Aubrey says they should each call in 5 people and paint the whole room. Clay’s like no. But Debbie Gibson has a cousin who is a muralist, she gives her a call.

Arsenio’s team heads to a studio to do the commercial shoot. They all get dressed up in the 80′s clothes. Arsenio is pretty hands-off, letting everyone do their thing without micro-managing.

Clay is trying to find a spot to shoot his outdoor scene but they can’t seem to find any parks with grass. They are wandering around the city looking for a spot to shoot. Finally they find a patch of grass in front of some housing projects.

Everyone’s editing their commercials now and Magic’s part isn’t there yet, it’s uploading. Finally it shows up. There’s a major screw up- Magic is delivering the information while facing sideways. This is a huge problem. It’s almost unusable.

Debbie Gibson and Clay are clashing over the music and now the mural. Clay doesn’t want the mural done unless he can see a sketch, but Debbie has already had her cousin hire 15 workers and clear her schedule and can’t provide the sketch.

Ooooh drama. And cut.

Treemail- it’s a challenge for a guaranteed spot in the final four. Come on in guys. It’s a balance beam maze, followed by a rope net where they have to pick up puzzle pieces. The puzzle gives them numbers to solve a combination lock and immunity.

Survivors ready… go! It’s a challenge just to get into the challenge, they have to untie knots to open the gate. Christina somehow is out to an early lead and gets on the balance beam maze. Kim and Christina both fall off and have to start over. Kim hits a dead end. Alicia and Chelsea finish the maze first and go to untie their bags of puzzle pieces. Alicia stupidly unties other people’s bags! Chelsea gets her bags first and starts working on the puzzle, followed by Sabrina.

Now all five are working on their puzzles. Sabrina is stuck on the puzzle, Christina not doing much better. Alicia, Chelsea, and Kim working fast on the puzzle. Kim reads the puzzle to get her clue to the combination and she doesn’t have the combination right. Looks like she didn’t count all the skulls on the puzzle. Kim trying every combination of the numbers she has to no avail. Kim and Alicia aren’t getting it, they climb back down to the puzzle to try it again. And Kim gets and Kim wins Immunity!

Kim and Chelsea talk about getting rid of Alicia. Kim still has the Idol and Chelsea asks her to play it for her. Kim assures Alicia that Chelsea is going tonight. It could go either way.

Bring ‘em on for Tribal. Nothing new revealed at Tribal, time to vote. Jeff Probst reads the votes- 2 votes Chelsea, 2 votes Alicia.. final vote is Alicia. The tribe has spoken.

Next day and Christina thinks she needs to win immunity. No you don’t, everyone wants to take you because you haven’t done crap all game. The final four do the traditional stroll through the torches of their “fallen comrades” and recall each one. This is taking way too long, Survivor producers. Just saying.

Final Immunity Challenge. Survivors have to use a pole to move bowls through a giant puzzle thing. Kim gets the the first bowl balanced. Christina close behind and she closes the gap as Kim drops a bowl. Sabrina is crapping it up again, she’s totally out of it. The whole structure shakes on a giant spring as they place more and more bowls in a stack on the top. It’s tied between Christina and Kim with 8 out of 10 bowls. Here comes the wind. Kim’s 9th bowl is barely hanging on, the whole thing is leaning as she starts on her 10th and final bowl. Kim places her final bowl and it balances and she wins Immunity and a guaranteed spot in the final 3. Kim is dominating at the end here.

Back at camp Kim tells Christina that she’s going. Christina is ok with that, not going to fight for it? Now Kim is waffling but of course they’re not showing us any discussions, so who knows what’s really happening there.

At Tribal Jeff is astonished why Christina didn’t even try to talk to anyone to convince them out of voting for her. Christina tries to defend herself a little bit now and say Sabrina should go, but why didn’t you do that before Tribal? Well Christina votes for Sabrina, and vice versa. And no surprise to anyone, Christina is voted out. Sabrina, Chelsea and Kim are your final three.

Day 39 and they made it! Sabrina is crying for no apparent reason. Keep it together girl, you have to convince a jury to vote for you soon. The last three Survivors get the traditional picnic at the end before heading to meet the jury.

Chelsea bizarrely decides to stand up to give her little speech. She talks about how she and Kim were a pair the whole time. Kim says she strategized the entire game. Sabrina says she was laid off and she didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

Christina gives Chelsea a hardball question- why do you hate people? Lol. Mike says Kim might have been stupid for taking the blame for every blindside she did. Tarzan is in outer space, going off about his wife in poetry and thanking everyone- no questions. Leif still seems upset he was voted out. Alicia is totally full of herself and doesn’t ask any questions either. Troyzan is pissed at Kim, asks her one question and is done. Cat says she has to have open heart surgery next year so she’s not going to be angry at them, so she forgives all of them. No questions.

Time to vote, Troyzan votes for Sabrina, Cat votes for Kim. This could go any way. Jeff takes the sealed votes back to the Reunion Show in New York City.

Who will win the million dollars? They show the two votes already shown. Now it’s 2 votes Kim, 2 votes Sabrina. Another for Kim. Kim up 4-2 now. And Kim wins Survivor: One World. Congrats Kim.

Phillip Phillip leading off, showing his journey to this point. He’s rocking Creedence’s Have You Ever Seen the Rain. Good band for his growl style. Interestingly, no guitar tonight. He looks pretty comfortable without the guitar actually, dancing around the microphone stand a bit. He’s adding his little flare to the song, fun song to do, very upbeat. Steven Tyler says he’s something else. JLo liked his Joe Cocker style quality. Randy thought it started off rough but then his vibe lightened up and the pitch was there.

Hollie Cavanagh next up with Journey’s Faithfully. Nice slow ballad for her. She seems more relaxed on stage tonight. The performance is good, it even seems like she’s putting a little bit of emotion into this one and is not so robotic. Big ol’ note at the end. She’s talented obviously but I just don’t find her that likable. Randy Jackson says she’s peaking at the right time. JLo felt the confidence and growth. Steven says her creativity is blooming.

Joshua Ledet is doing Josh Groban’s You Raise Me Up. Forget about it. I’m out of superlatives for this guy, you just know this is going to be ridiculously good and it is. An inspirational song that he doesn’t need to scream the whole time. Huge performance. Nice little flourishes at the end before just taking it big and powerful. Just awesome dog. Just give this guy the title already. JLo loved the drama. Steven says he sang his ass off. Randy in his bizarre suit jacket loved the vibe.

Jessica Sanchez is doing Etta James’ Steal Away. Is this too old fashioned for her. Not sure about this song choice, this jazzy lounge style. She’s really using the lower register of her voice and kinda screaming it. This is just not right. She needs to be doing a song more like Hollie did, not this. Ehhhh. Jennifer Lopez says she’s one of the best. Steven says she nailed it and showed off another side of her voice. Randy loved the vibe and says she can sing the phone book.

Phillip Phillip’s second song is Damien Rice’s Volcano. Jimmy Iovine says he finally doesn’t sound like another artist (uhhhmmm Dave Mathews?). Don’t know about that. Slow song, he’s seated with his acoustic guitar. It’s pretty good, right in his range, no screaming. It’s really showing off a depth to his voice. Very nice. Steven says he never heard him sing like that before and he could listen to that on headphones over and over again. JLo says very few people could pull that kind of thing off and it was one of the most poignant moments of the show- ever. Randy says this is what it’s all about, one of his best performances of the season.

Hollie is following up with I Can’t Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt. Let’s hope the robot doesn’t show up. She’s really trying to put some feeling in it, but it takes more than just some hand gestures to be “feeling it” Hollie. It just doesn’t seem like it has emotion. It just feels like an audition and kinda forced. Steven says it felt short dynamically. JLo says she tried to bring emotion and it made her vocal off. Randy says it didn’t have any moments.

Joshua Ledet with “It’s a Man’s World”. Joshua Ledet doing James Brown, oh wow. Joshua is powering through this one. It’s like a showcase for him. He has a full string and brass band with backup singers, an entire orchestra’s worth and he’s overpowering them all, not an easy task. He’s growling and pausing. Rinse and repeat, oh nuts he’s got a falsetto too? Standing O in my living room, standing ovation from the judges. Steven says nobody has ever sung with that much compassion on this show, ever. JLo says she thought she had seen everything from him, but she hasn’t. Sickening. Randy says he delivered.

Jessica Sanchez is closing out the night with Jennifer Holiday’s “And I Am Telling You”. Lesser known song from Dreamgirls. She’s really putting her all into this, running the range. She looks like she’s pissed off or something. Big moment at the end but I just don’t know about that. The judges are all over it, giving her the standing ovation. Steven says it was over the top, another winning performance. JLo says there’s nothing to say, her vocal ability is off the charts. Randy says it’s one of the hardest songs in the world to sing

Well with only four left, the bottom three are pretty obviously going to be everyone except for Joshua Ledet. I think Phillip will be safe, leaving the two ladies. Everyone but me seems to like Jessica Sanchez’s first song so that leaves Hollie as the weak link tonight and we’re predicting (for what I feel like is the fifth time) that Hollie will go.

Christina reveals to Kim and Tarzan that Chelea has an alliance with Kim and Sabrina. Kim is pissed that it reveals she’s playing both sides. Dangerous spot for her if everyone figures it out.

Reward challenge. Survivors have to spin around to unlock a series of discs which gives clues to a decoder to solve a puzzle. Prize is a trip on a yacht! Sabrina off to an early lead as they spin around and get dizzy. Kim catches up and everyone’s close as they try to solve the rotating decoder. Alicia and Chelsea are quick to solve the first part but struggle with the second decoder lock box and Chelsea pulls it up and wins reward! She gets to choose one person and she goes with Sabrina. For her other choice she goes with Kim.

Back at camp Christina and Alicia are pissed. Chelsea told Christina she would take her on reward and didn’t. Christina, Alicia, and Tarzan are set on voting for Chelsea, and need to convince Kim to go along with them otherwise it will go to rocks.

Back from their reward, Kim tries to convince Alicia that Tarzan is playing everyone and is the mastermind. Alicia says if Chelsea wins immunity, Tarzan is gone, she thinks she’s the most powerful player and he’s trying to dupe her in some way.

Time for Immunity Challenge. Immunity is back up for grabs. They have to use arched fishhooks to pick up puzzle pieces to make a fish skeleton. With one hand behind their back. It’s neck and neck for the first section with Kim and Alicia off to a slight lead. They both increase their lead with Kim out front. But Kim struggles a bit and lets everyone but Chelsea catch up. Kim and Alicia still in the lead. Alicia is close but her pieces start to fall out of the puzzle. Kim drops a piece and Alicia wins Immunity.

Tarzan has a lizard in his hand now? And he’s calling Alicia a bitch? What is he doing? Chelsea’s feeling down that she might go next especially when Christina hasn’t done crap the whole game. Kim is sort of the swing vote, but it’s sort of Alicia’s decision.

It’s Tribal Council, we’ll see how this goes. Jeff gets everyone to air it all out and they just repeat what they’ve been saying all episode. First vote: Chelsea. Then Tarzan. And the votes go to Tarzan. Alicia didn’t trust him I guess. Stupid for playing into Kim’s game. Tarzan, the tribe has spoken. All girls left.

At the Hearst Tower, Donald Trump presents this week’s task, sponsored by Elle Magazine. They have to create a four page print campaign to promote a Chi touchscreen hair dryer. It’s Lisa and Clay vs. Teresa, Arsenio, and Aubrey. Lisa and Teresa are project managers this week with a $100,000 prize.

The executives come in and Faruqe promptly flirts with Aubrey. If they use her in the copy, they win. Aubrey of course has a million ideas, something about the future and yoga.

The two teams have to negotiate for models for the ad. So they can’t use Aubrey- they do however want to use the model with the red hair. Clay and Lisa don’t really care who they get in the negotiation. Lisa plays hardball and says she wants the redhead, only because Teresa says she wants her. Lisa is totally playing her. Lisa manhandles her into taking 2 dude models out of four.

The models come in and Clay and Lisa have specific personality picked out for each model to represent. Clay sends Lisa and a model out to pick out outfits.

Teresas is obsessed with how duped she got by Lisa.

Clay is with the makeup and stylists and he can’t make any decisions without Lisa. Lisa shows up with the models and Clay starts the photo shoot while Lisa eats a sandwich.

Aubrey decides that she will be the redhead model. Smart decision, the executive loved you. The “redhead” model shows up, blonde, and Teresa sends her home. You should have kept her to avoid using the 2 dudes Teresa.

Teresa’s team does her photo shoot and interestingly her shots all have the product in them, whereas Clay’s didn’t.

Presentation day and Teresa’s team is decked out all in red. Teresa is a terrible reader- she reads like a 5th grader. Ugh. The other two help out with their parts though.

Lisa and Clay do their presentation next and it’s way more polished than Teresa’s part. Their presentation and pamphlet are both much wordier.

Bring on in to the boardroom. Lisa rubs it in how she duped Teresa. Everyone’s slamming Teresa. Trump checks out the ads. The executives like Lisa and Clay’s team better, so they’re safe. Arsenio and Teresa start going at it, Teresa says Arsenio didn’t do anything. It doesn’t matter because it’s pretty obvious that Teresa is the weak link and Trump recognizes that and Teresa, you’re fired.

Trump brings the final four back in to tell them about the interview they have to do- interview with last year’s winner John Rich and runner-up Marlee Matlin. After that, two people will be fired.

Trump discusses them with Rich and Matlin and then they flashback to the interviews. Marlee kinda grills Aubrey about her sincerity. John Rich grills her on the amount of money raised. Marlee wonders if Clay if playing it safe the whole game. John wonders if he’s tough enough to win and questions why he wasn’t project manager more often. Marlee questions if Arsenio got along with everyone. John and Marlee like Lisa’s toughness and passion.

Trump has to decide between the four and says Lisa can’t keep her emotions in check and Lisa, you’re fired. Wrong decision Trump, she was great. And for the next person fired it’s….. to be continued. Argh. See you next week.

They land and Art and JJ and Vanessa and Ralph pick up tickets at the machine and get on the bus. Brendan and Rachel miss the bus by not getting tickets right away; they’re on the next bus, fighting with each other.

First bus arrives and they’re all trying to figure out how to get train tickets to get to the island where their next clue is. Brenchel befriended someone on the bus who gave them all the info on how to buy tix and they actually bypass all the other clueless teams struggling to figure it out. Dave and Rachel miss the train, the other three are all caught up on the first train.

The train arrives and now they’re buying ferry tickets to the island. The first three are on the last ferry for the night and it leaves before Dave and Rachel get on the boat! Huge advantage for the other three teams! Next ferry is not for 7 hours. They get a room for the night nearby.

The island-bound racers arrive and there’s a sign saying “your clue arrives with the rising sun”. There goes the advantage, especially since it’s still dark at 6:15am when Dave and Rachel finally get a ferry. A man shows up with their clues; they need to go to Hiroshima Peace Park. The teams all pause to take a moment at the sight of the burnt out building. They have to travel to Osaka now via bullet train!

They have to make their way to a TV studio. Vanessa and Ralph and Art and JJ take cabs, the other two teams take the train. The cab is faster. Art and JJ hit the Roadblock and one has to “bring home the chicken” in a crazy Japanese game show. They have to sprint on a treadmill like running track and jump up to grab three rubber chickens hanging from the ceiling. Art is falling all over the place. Vanessa and Ralph are at the wrong place.

Art finishes it, hilariously, and they have to head to the Sky Tower. Vanessa arrives and suits up for the chicken challenge, as does Brendan and Rachel. Bredna breakin rocks the hell out it. Vanesssa’s bum ankle is killing her. Rachels’s doing Ok but having trouble jumping for the chickens. Brendan finishes quickly, followed by Rachel. Ralph is telling Vanessa to take the penalty but she thinks she can do it. She keeps trying it, it looks painful. She’s doing it though! She finally makes it!

Art and JJ arrive at the floating observatory. They have a choice of Detours- either pick up sushi and put it on a bingo card, or take 10 photos with a cardboard cutout. Art and JJ choose sushi. Brenchel chooses sushi too. Rachel and Dave are fighting over his bag being unzipped. Rachel and Dave choose photos, Vanessa and Ralph sushi..

Art and JJ arrive at sushi bingo which looks like a lot of fun even though they have no idea what’s going on. Vanessa and Ralph’s cab driver is lost. Brenchel is getting it, putting sushi on their bingo grid.

Rachel and Dave are having trouble getting people to take photos with the sumo cutouts. But they get it going and start getting some photos and complete the task first, heading to Osaka Castle for the Pit Stop!

Art and JJ finish their sushi, then eat their sushi and take off in a cab to the castle. Vanessa and Ralph finally arrive at sushi. Rachel is crying because Brendan isn’t giving her the right sushi pieces.

Dave and Rachel quickly arrive at the Pit Stop as team number 1! Again. They tied the record for most legs won with 7 first place finishes. They win a trip to New Zealand.

Brenchel gets sushi, eats and leaves. Art and JJ are at the castle but can’t find the Pit Stop. Vanessa and Ralph quickly get sushi and take off. Rachel and Brendan zip past Art and JJ and now they’re all lost at the castle ground looking for the finish. Art and JJ finally find Phil and the mat and are team number 2. It’s a footrace to the finish and Brenchel finds Phil first and are team number 3, the final team racing to the finish for the one million dollars.

Vanessa and Ralph, you are the last team to arrive and are eliminated from the Amazing Race.

Final leg and all teams are heading to Hawaii! On the same flight.

Dave and Rachel’s cab is first, Art and JJ are trying to follow them but the cab loses the other. They arrive at a large building and have to hoist themselves up a rope, look for the clue then rappel down. Art and JJ are lost, they haven’t solved the clue to their destination yet. They stop in to a hotel to get directions, the guy at the hotel gives them total wrong answers. They get to the statue of a boogie boarder and have to ask someone else, who gives them the right answer.

Dave and Rachel make it to the top of the building and quickly spot the clue in a park across the way. They start to rappel down- face first, reverse Batman style. Scary stuff. Brendan and Rachel make it to the top, see the next clue and start to climb down too.

Art and JJ finally arrive and start climging up the building. JJ doesn’t like heights.

Dave and Rachel make it to the Roadblock. They have to use a samurai sword to shave a block of ice. Brenchel shows up close behind. The two men shave the ice. They finish and make their way on foot to some helicopters in the park. Up and away they go.

Oh snap Brenchel takes the car instead of making their way on foot! Penalty ahead! Art and JJ make their way on foot and beat Rachel and Brendan who are lost in a cab they shouldn’t have been in. They now have to drive all the way back to undo their mess-up.

Rachel and Dave land and they are at a beach, they have to ride a waverunner and do a mock rescue in the surf. They quickly rescue the swimmer and drag him back to shore. They jump in a cab to their next clue and their cabbie quickly gets lost and backtracks.

Brenchel is back and now Rachel’s crying as they walk to the helicopter. She’s already given up.

Art and JJ do the rescue task really quickly.

Rachel and Dave arrive at the next task, which is a stand-up paddleboard across a lake.

Art and JJ have to ride a sled down a grassy hill. Multiple tries and he keeps falling off before passing the designated line.

Rachel and Dave arrive at the finish line but UH-OH they didn’t follow the marked path and didn’t do the Roadblock that Art and JJ are now doing with the sled. Epic error! They start heading back to the Coral Kingdom Gate where the Roadblock is.

Art and JJ’s lead is gone. Brenchel just finished the rescue task, they’re not far behind. Art keeps trying the sled over and over. Rachel gives it a try and falls off it. Art keeps trying as Rachel makes it past the line. Now she has to roll stone balls into a goal.

Art’s tries the sled 16 times already. Rachel rolls the ball in. Now they get the clue and have to go to the secret island. They hop in an ATV and make their way.

Big Brother shows up at the sled part and Rachel does the sled on her second try.

Rachel and Dave do the paddleboard across the lake, again.

Big Brother Rachel starts to roll the stones towards the goal as Art finally makes it down on the sled.

Rachel and Dave run down to the beach, again, to Phil on the mat at the finish line and Rachel and Dave are the winners of the one million dollars and the official winners of the Amazing Race. Record win too with their 8th leg won! Art and JJ finish in second, Brenchel in third. Congrats Rachel and Dave, you deserved this one. Great race.

Hollie Cavanagh is starting off the night with River Deep, Mountain High. She’s starting the song in the audience with a parade of instruments behind. It does have a mod 60′s feel I guess. This song is not right for her, she can’t do the low parts properly. Without the lows, there’s no highs. It feels like a showtune, but I just don’t feel like she has command of the stage. Kinda gets good at the end but I just don’t know about this one. Steven Tyler says she used the blues tonight, thank you. JLo liked that she lead the production around her, a different Hollie tonight. Randy Jackson loved it too.

Phillip Phillips is doing The Letter by the Box Tops. He’s putting his Phillip Philips thing onto this song, kinda funktifying it. He’s changing the phrasing a bit, ok a lot. It’s pretty good, sounds totally contemporary I think. Crowd goes bazonkers for this one. Randy says he made it his own, vibes it up, and made it new in a jambandy way. Jennifer Lopez doesn’t know the original song? really? she liked it though, says he’s a dynamic performer. Steven missed the melody but says he can get away with it.

Skylar Laine follows up and she’s singing Knock on Wood but Jimmy and Stevie say hell no how about Fortunate Son? That’s her energy. This is her song, arm raised, foot stomping rock with a country twinge. It’s an angry song and since she sings angry songs like it’s her fucking job, she’s killing it. She’s very expressive with the lyrics, gets the crowd into it at the end and just rocks it the hell out. Energy out the roof. Bam. Killed it. She is a performer 100%. JLo says she attacks every song and it’s so natural and she’s fearless. Steven says he loves when she boot scoots out there, he loved it. Randy says she was born to be on a stage.

Jessica Sanchez is doing Proud Mary. Little Stevie tries to talk her out of it but decides against that. She starts it off nice and slow as she steps through a giant beaded curtain before they step up the tempo and bring in the background dancers and singers. Bring in the big notes, Jessica’s hitting them all, including a big ol’ one at the end. The problem with her, and she’s good, is that her voice is so much bigger than she is, that on TV it looks like she’s lip syncing. JLo says she’s all grown up there and she did a little Tina Turner and Beyonce combo deal. Steven Tyler says she did it again, she brought the blues too. Randy thought it was just ok because the song was big but her voice kinda pulled it out but kinda not.

Joshua Ledet is going for The Temptations’ Ain’t Too Proud to Beg. Starts off with a bang, and he’s adding his vocal soul flourishes all over the place. This is right up his alley, he’s got the energy and the voice and the feeling. Little extra run at the end and stick a fork in this one, he’s done. Steven calls him one of the top 2 Idols of all time, he sings so fine and is on fire. JLo dug it. Randy says he can bring R&B back and he’s got a Terrence Trent D’Arby thing going on.

Brit Pop time now and Hollie is doing Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis. Odd choice maybe. She’s perched atop the piano, singing pretty well but she just kinda feels generic like 200 other American Idol contestants before her. She can do the big notes at the end but it just doesn’t have that feeling to it, it feels hollow and mechanical. Steven doesn’t know the song but she nailed it. JLo says there were some beautiful runs. Randy says it was unbelievable and she’s 2 for 2 tonight and she’s peaking at the right time.

Phillip Phillips is doing Time of the Season by The Zombies. He’s playing it pretty close to the original melody. He tries out a little falsetto on the chorus, which is kinda awkward and doesn’t really work. Other than that part, it’s pretty decent. Randy liked the relaxed subdued Phillip Phillips. JLo thought it was mellow and good job. Steven likes that he sang the melody and he sang it well.

Skylar’s second song is You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me by Dusty Springfield. She starts if off minimally accompanied singing sweetly before bringing us in country style with a big chorus. It’s pretty good, nice big run at the end. Short and to the point I guess. Randy thought it was flawless and amazing and transfixed. JLo says she’s winning over the hearts of America as we speak.

Jessica Sanchez’s second song will be You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker. She’s sitting on the ground onstage for this one? Nice and slow to start, really showcasing those pipes. She’s adding a touch of nuance and beauty to the vocals, kinda adding a little run at the end before holding the final note nicely. Good job. Steven Tyler says she showed America what a great singer she is. Jennifer Lopez says she captivated the audience, again. Randy says she’s top of the leader board for round two right now, unbelievable talent level.

Closing out the night is Joshua Ledet with the Bee Gees “To Love Somebody”. He’s building it up nice and slow, very restrained at the beginning before going the hell off on the chorus. Going the hell off, just taking his voice, here there and out the door and back like he’s walking on coals. Excellent. So patient and then explosive. Standing ovation from the judges. Randy says nobody can do it like that, one of the best ever on the show. Jennifer says he’s one of the best singers of the last 50 years (wow JLo!) Steven says he’s such a great artist.

It’s getting down the wire here and they’ve culled a lot of the bad out, so making our bottom three picks is more a matter of not who is bad but who isn’t as good as the others. I think Joshua Ledet and Skylar Laine both killed it tonight are safe. Phillip was decent and showed a little versatility, he’ll be bottom 3 but safe. That leaves Jessica and Hollie. I think it’s (way overdue) Hollie’s night to go home. She’s just not the performer that the others are. Jessica really isn’t either but she has the awesome voice to make up for that. Hollie is too robotic, still.