Question of the Week: Is There an Idolette Who's a Neil Diamond in the Rough?

Neil Diamond Night rocked "American Idol" to its core -- and not in a good way.

Each of the remaining five Idolettes this week will get to sing not one but two Diamond tunes, show host Ryan Seacrest says. Grandmother viewers tingle with excitement.

To save time, the show's judges, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell, won't give their critiques after the first performances but only after the second ones, Seacrest says.

Round 1

Jason Castro rehearses "Forever in Blue Jeans" with Diamond, only he's brought along the lyrics to his second tune, "September Morn." Even so, Diamond thinks Jason will "do great." Instead, Jason does well enough.

Seacrest asks David Cook how he has prepared to sing "I'm Alive." David C. says he was going to ask Seacrest the same thing. Oh snap! Neil Diamond is seen predicting in a taped bit that David C. will "do great." He's pretty good.

Nanny Brooke will first sing "I'm a Believer" like a Junior Leaguer at a hootenanny, followed by a more introspective "I Am . . . I Said" at the piano with some of the more difficult lyrics -- something about palm trees grow and the rents are low -- written on the palm of her hand lest she forget the words for the third time this season. Diamond suggests that for the second song, she change the reference to being New York City born and raised to Arizona, since that's where she's from, which will make it more "genuine." It's an interesting word to use in connection with a song that includes such lyrics as "and no one heard at all/Not even the chair."

David "Baby Elmo" Archuleta has picked "Sweet Caroline" for his first tune. Diamond says he's "kind of a prodigy" and with a little guidance "I think he will do great." He's exactly the same as he always is.

Syesha Mercado picks "Hello Again," on which, Diamond says, she did a "wonderful job" during rehearsals, predicting she will "do great" on "Idol" night. If she could just add skating, she would make an excellent lead for "Idols on Ice." Instead, she performs barefoot for reasons that are never explained, which is kinda like introducing a knife in Act 1 without using it by the final curtain. The audience feels cheated.

First round over, all the Idolettes are brought back onstage so the judges can do some speed-critiquing. Randy calls Jason okay, David C. very good, Brooke better than last week but still karaoke and David A. "the bomb," while Syesha was "in the zone."

What happens next is the Very Best Paula Moment. Ever. She has hallucinated an entire second-song performance by Jason before he's given it. Everyone looks confused. Someone stops her. "Oh, I thought you sang twice," Paula says, looking bewildered.

"You're seeing the future, baby -- come back!" Seacrest says.