‘American Idol’ Recap: Harry Connick Jr. & Mali Music Perform, Ben Briley Goes Home

Lisa Timmons | March 14, 2014 6:05 am

American Idol‘s results show revealed the identities of the top ten finalists after Wednesday’s cinema-inspired performances. That means one unfortunate soul narrowly missed the opportunity to be a part of the show’s summer tour. It’s a bittersweet experience for the young contestants, who seem to have genuinely formed a bond. Still, this brings them each one step closer to finding the next big winner, which was what they came here for — so let’s get to it.

Dressed in a trademark perfectly-tailored suit, host Ryan Seacrest kicks off the night by ushering Idol’s panel of judges to the stage, Keith Urban, Harry Connick Jr. and the ever-fashionable, Jennifer Lopez.

C.J. Harris, Dexter Roberts and Caleb Johnson are the first to be beckoned by Ryan to find out which contestant is in the bottom three. Caleb, unsurprisingly after his stellar performance on Wednesday, is the first to run happily screaming to the lounge. But then, surprise, surprise, both C.J. and Dexter are safe as well. The bottom three empty stools remain empty.

Ugh, the impersonations continue, but this time, they have the contestants imitating the judges. Let’s see if they deign to make fun of Jennifer. (Not if they know what’s good for them.) Eventually, they do include Jen in the impersonations, but they’re smart enough to keep it a softball effort.

Now, it’s time for your mom to get excited because Harry has taken to the stage to perform two songs from his album Every Man Should Know. The first is “One Fine Thing” and for the second song, “Come By Me,” Harry sits down at the piano. Dooby dooby dooby boo waw! After he’s done, things get mad awkward when rejected Idol contestant, Munfarid Zaidi, returns to be cradled by Harry one last time to briefly sing Harry’s song, “Every Man Should Know How.”

Next, Ben Briley, Majesty Rose, MK Nobillette and Malaya Watson join Ryan to find out who the bottom three are. Malaya and MK find out they are safe. It’s at that point that Majesty and Ben find out they both need to take a place on the stools.

At that point, singer Mali Music from Savannah, Georgia performs his single, “Beautiful,” as an up-and-coming artist Jennifer selected as someone to watch.

Jessica Meuse finds out she is still in the running. Next to join Jessica is Alex Preston. The last two remaining contestants are Jena and Sam, who then finds out he is rounding out the bottom three.

The lights dim and we learn that it’s Ben Briley who is going to have to sing for his save. His song choice is “Stars” from Grace Potter And The Nocturnals. Sadly for Ben, it’s not enough for a unanimous vote from the judges to keep him in the running.

And like that, we turn out Ben’s image as he returns back to his home district. See y’all next week!