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| Five contestants remain after Thursday night's episode of the Fox singing competition. |
After being dramatically saved by the judges five weeks ago, Casey Abrams was voted off American Idol on the elimination episode Thursday night Season 10's Top 5 contestants -- Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, Jacob Lusk, Haley Reinhart and James Durbin -- remain and will square off next week.
Casey, the livewire jazz enthusiast who performed "Hi De Ho" on Wednesday night's Carole King-themed episode, received a standing ovation from Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler after receiving the sad news. He performed his signature tune, "I Put a Spell on You," as his swan song, which was capped off by an embrace with his rumored beau, Haley Reinhart.
Perhaps even more shocking than Casey's departure was Scotty's placement in Thursday night's bottom two, the first time the frontrunner has brushed elimination. Host Ryan Seacrest would not reveal the two contestants with the least amount of votes until the end of the show, after letting Scotty, Casey, Jacob and Lauren dangle for a bit.
Weeks after Season 9 winner Lee DeWyze returned to the Idol stage, last year's runner-up, Crystal Bowersox, came back to deliver a breezy performance of her latest single, "Ridin' With the Radio."
Later, pop star Bruno Mars was all smiles as he made his American Idol debut performance. The singer fronted a brass-heavy version of new single "The Lazy Song," which moved up to No. 6 on this week's Hot 100.
Other highlights of tonight's elimination episode included Steven saying of Haley's voice, "There's not a thing about it that's not God-like"; a jaunty medley of Carole King songs, courtesy of the Top 6; and Scotty trying out his British accent as the gang made its way to the British consulate to toast Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding. Although Casey won't be joining the remaining singers on next week's show, he will be performing with 10 other Idol contestants on this year's American Idol Live tour, which kicks off July 6.
