"A change is gonna come" and leave Syesha in the top 3

Time for Round 2 ...

David Cook is singing "Baba O'Riley" by The Who. David says the song is off their 1971 album, "Who's Next." He says he chose the song because it's one of those iconic rock songs and it's never been performed on the show. He says those two things together kind of put into a really cool context and hopefully he'll be able to spin it his own way and see us all another week.

Have I mentioned how in love I am with David's voice? I don't really like this song, so it was hard for me to get into it, but if you close your eyes and really just listen, instead of watching the performance, you can really focus on his voice, and I find that his voice is the best on the show -- it's so rich and deep. He can sing softly and then really power it out. I think he's incredibly talented and even though I really can't appreciate this one choice of song, I still think he's amazing.

Randy says there something different going on with him tonight, but that this was more like the David Cook he's grown to love. He says he's the resident rocker dude, and he should shake whatever off and just be him, because he's great. Paula says she wants more -- that she's humbled to sit there and watch his soul. Simon simply says, "Welcome back, David Cook."


Syesha Mercado is up next and she's singing "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke, and she says it was released after his death, in 1965 during the civil rights movement, which was a pivotal time in history, and now she's singing it in a pivotal time in her life. She says being in the top 4 is an amazing experience and that she's so thankful to still be there and this song took on a totally different meaning for her.

Well, first off, she looks stunning in this long yellow-gold gown -- I'd love to know where it came from. It's gorgeous. But about her singing, this song is a way better choice for her; it really showcases her talent and I feel like as boring as I find her personality, her voice is really something. And Randy's right -- her timing is great; she's gotten better at just the right time.

Randy says the first song he loved, but this song he did not love as much because he didn't love the arrangement with the music and he didn't even like the arrangement with the vocals. He felt like she pushed out things and tried for things that weren't there. He says Sam Cooke is the greatest singer ever in life and it's the greatest melody, she didn't have to do anything extra special. He says it sounded all disconnected to him, trying to be something it wasn't, that it fell flat for him. Paula stands up and claps -- she says that the way she orchestrated her vocals was just beautiful, that she utilized everything she was hoping she would and that she turned it into a superstar performance. She says singing "A Change Is Gonna Come," that Syesha has changed, that she is magnificent. She then tells Syesha, "Welcome to your dream, Syesha, this is it for you." And then Syesha starts to cry, as Paula once again stands up and applauds. Simon just says, "Syesha, I have to be fair ... and I'm going to agree with ... Paula."

So, back to the crying ... Syesha says she actually researched the song before she sang it and she found out so much information about it, like why it was written and it came out during the civil rights movement and it meant a lot to her and it took on a totally different meaning when she started listening to it and she couldn't stop crying because she feels like she's changed a lot. I can respect her getting emotional about the song, but it didn't seem sincere -- if she was moved by the song, why wasn't she moved during the song or right after the song? She started crying when Paula was speaking -- it was all kind of odd, but I have to take her at her word about why she was crying, and like I said, I have complete respect for that. I think we're all proud of our own backgrounds and prone to emotion when we think about the suffering our ancestors endured. I just wonder what Paula said that struck a chord with her, because the timing of the tears was really strange.