This Week in American Idol History – The Top Three, Who’s on First?

This week, the three finalists sing three songs each and vie for a slot in the American Idol 6 finale. Who will it be? While we don’t have the answer for that quite yet, we can look back at previous seasons to see if any patterns emerge that might help this year’s group. Read on for more.

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The final three round has evolved over the course of Idol’s five completed seasons to become the one show where song input comes from the judges and the future winner’s new boss, Clive Davis. The judge’s choice can either make or break the contestant, and Clive’s choices have often given us a glimpse as to how he might package the winner.

This round has been the most predictable of all, with no surprises or shockers. But that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been drama. In fact, some of the best performances of all time have come during this round. And, over the course of the past five seasons, one interesting pattern has emerged. In every season, the person who performed first is the one who was eliminated the next night.

Here’s a look at the past seasons’ round of three:

Season Five: Last season, Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee, and Elliott Yamin made it to the top three. Elliott was first, singing Clive’s pick, “Open Arms.” Randy, who worked with Journey, thought Elliott did well, but Simon felt he was a bit stiff. Clive’s pick for Katharine was “I Believe I Can Fly.” Randy didn’t think it was the right song for her, prompting Katharine to defend herself, saying she didn’t pick the song.

Then it was Taylor’s turn. Clive had chosen Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancin’ in the Dark” for him, and Taylor made the most of it, dancing with Paula during the bridge. Round one went to Taylor.

In the judges’ choice round, Paula chose “What You Won’t do for Love” for Elliott. Simon said Elliott was “pretty good.” Then came Simon’s pick for Kat, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” which she really nailed. Randy called it the best vocal of the season, and Simon said it was the single best performance of the competition to date. Indeed, Katharine created one of those Idol moments that linger in the memory.

For Taylor, Randy chose “You Are so Beautiful.” Randy said he did the song proud, and Simon called it Taylor’s best performance. Round two was a toss-up between Katharine and Taylor.

The final round was the contestants’ choice. Elliott chose a rather obscure Ray Charles’ song, “I Believe to My Soul.” Randy didn’t think it was the right song and Simon said Elliott’s songs wouldn’t carry him through to the next round. Some people feel that had Elliott chosen a different, more recognizable song, he would in fact have made the finals.

Katharine sang “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But the Blues.” Randy didn’t love it and Simon wished she could had saved “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” for last.

The last performance of the night was Taylor’s “Try a Little Tenderness.” He’d been saving this one, it would seem. Randy nicknamed him “Have a Good Time Funky Taylor.” Paula said she’s been waiting all season to hear him sing this. And Simon, who had been on Taylor’s case all season, finally conceded defeat. “Smart choice of songs, good performance, hideous ending,” he said. “See you next Tuesday.

The results were incredibly close. Ryan stood in front of a large screen on which were displayed the voting percentages – 33.06%, 33.26%, and 33.68%. This is, he told us, the way the 50 million votes broke down. He then asked whose name goes with what number. “Who is so close, but is going home?” There was dead silence in the audience. 33.06% was alone on the screen, and then Elliott’s name appeared beside it. Elliott Yamin’s inspirational Idol journey was over.

So what’s happened to Elliott in the year since his elimination? Once the tour was over, he seemed to be a lot less visible than others from season five. He performed at the Virginia State Fair in October, backed by Taylor’s old band, the Little Memphis Blues Orchestra. Later in the month, he sang the National Anthem at Dodger Stadium.

In December, Yamin released a single, a rendition of "This Christmas," on AOL Music and performed as part of the 2006 Genworth Children's Advantage Classic in Richmond. But his fans were puzzled when he backed out of the Disney holiday special that included other season five Idols. It turned out that, at the time, he had been undergoing extensive dental work from which he emerged with a beautiful new smile!

That same month, Elliott announced a music publishing contract with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and in January 2007, he signed a record deal with Hickory Records and RED Distribution. His self-titled CD (which you can order here) was released in March, debuting at #3 on the Billboard 200 and becoming the highest ever debut for an independent artist in Billboard’s history. Elliott has also appeared on Big Planz's album Sound Doctrine.

Elliott is scheduled to perform on this week’s results show, performing his hit single, “Wait for You.” Whether intentional or not, the timing of this should help to ease the pain of elimination for this year’s third place finisher.

Season Four: The fourth season came down to Carrie Underwood, Bo Bice, and Vonzell Solomon. Clive chose “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” for Vonzell and she nailed it. His choice for Bo was “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” an excellent choice that Bo handled beautifully. For Carrie, he chose Roy Orbison’s “Crying.” Carrie blew us away. Going into the second round, it was anyone’s guess who would come out on top.

Vonzell led off the contestant’s choice round with “Chain of Fools,” which didn’t quite cut it with the judges. Then came Bo’s remarkable a cappella version of “In a Dream.” Bo stood in the center of the stage, bathed in a single spotlight, and proved once and for all why he deserved to be in the finals. It was one of those “moments” that we wait an entire season to witness. And indeed, Bo was recognized with a Reality TV Hall of Fame Moment for it. Carrie had to follow that, and while her "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" was perfectly fine, Bo’s performance was still resonating in everyone’s minds.

The evening concluded with Vonzell singing “On the Radio,” Bo doing “Satisfaction,” and Carrie singing "Man, I Feel Like a Woman.” It was a great evening. On results night, no one was particularly surprised that we had to say goodbye to Vonzell, although it was a very emotional departure.

Like Anthony, Vonzell really came into her own on the tour. Since leaving Idol, Vonzell has set up her own independent record label, Melodic Records, of which she is listed as CEO. She recorded an album, My Struggle, which was released on January 9, 2007 (under the name Baby V). She has appeared on several compilation CDs, including the Dear Santa holiday CD and Breaking for the Holidays.