American Idol Recap: The Final Showdown Is Set

So on moves the show to its final two contestants after Tuesday's performances. This week's results show brought the final three contestants home and their docu-videos showed one thing in common. The producers love to jerk our tears!!

First off, Casey James came home to Cool, Texas where he went back to the scene of a "tear jerker" visiting the doctors and nurses that put him back together after a bad accident. It was definitely an emotional visit for both Casey and his mom.

Next,Crystal Bowersox returns to Toledo, Ohio and got to throw out the first pitch at the Toledo Mud Hens baseball game - that's the Triple A affiliate for the Detroit Tigers.Crystal was clearly having fun, goofing with the crowd, giggling like a little girl, enjoying time with her son and dad, and taking her own pictures and video of the experience. It was all very real. And they showed her performing her own original song, "Holy Toledo", which brought Crystal to tears on stage.

Then finally, Lee Dewyze went back to Chicago. Donning a Cubs jersey, he threw a nice strike for his first pitch.  The video showed his unfamiliarity with popularity. The "tear jerker" moment came during his performance of the "The Boxer" as both he and his dad had emotional breaks.

The performance portion of the show was definitely a teeny bopper festival as new artist, Travis Garland, came on first to sing "Believe." Looks like the only real fan this kid has is Perez Hilton as he's the one to have discovered him. And since when did this guy become an authority in music?? He told everyone on the show that this kid performed a Justin Timberlake song better than Timberlake himself... Perez, stick to what you're good at - dumb ass gossip that has nothing to do with music. Maybe Will.I.Am should make a rebuttal to that claim...in person.

With Beiber and Garland peroforming for the night, I doubt there were anyone else below the age of 14 enjoying the performances. Although, Beiber had the better performance and talent out of the two. His drum playing skills had potential, but his pre-taped performance overall was bearable. Bieber "sang" shortened versions of two songs. Optimal word, shortened. And again, on the positive side, he was better than Travis Garland, though that isn't saying much.

After 52 minutes, we finally learned who was going to the finals. It's not a surprise to anyone, except maybe Crystal who asks "I'm safe??" a couple of times. Yes, Crystal, you are safe. As expected for a few weeks, Crystal and Lee will be singing in the finale. Casey is done. He is gracious, sings his way out with the John Mayer song, and enjoys his own good-bye video. Its not like he won't be coming out with a pretty solid record of his own sometime soon. His guitar playing is arguably the best that A.I. has ever seen.

The right two Idols are in the finals. Expect some great performances and at least 3 good albums to come from the final 3 contestants within the next year or so.