'American Idol' 10: Top 11 power rankings (Elton John Week)

Apparently, the craziness started early this week.

After last week's wild results, “American Idol: Season 10” proved completely unpredictable and that continued last night when the judges all completely went deaf or perhaps suffered some group delusion.

How else can we explain their love of Haley Reinhart's mock growl and faux grit during “Benny and the Jets”?

“That was it, Haley!” yelled Jennifer Lopez.

“Best performance of the night!” yelled Randy Jackson.

“Really?” yelled America. “Were they not paying attention to the rest of the show?”

Jacob Lusk really should have taken offense because his moving “Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word” was stunning as usual, even though Jackson weirdly suggested that he was a little too restrained. Of all the things Lusk is, “restrained” is not one of them.

The judges – well, Jackson and Lopez, because, let's face it, Steven Tyler is nice to everyone – also missed how Lauren Alaina sped through the verses of “Candle in the Wind” at a breakneck (and off-tempo) pace.

In other bad advice, they continue to praise, but hound, Pia Toscano and her constant choice of ballads, even though her “Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me” was pretty strong. However, they only have praise for Scotty McCreery and his constant choice of country. (His “Country Comfort” was also pretty strong, though.) Why hound one and not the other? Um, can we go with delusion again?

To compound their ridiculousness this week, they dissed Naima Adedapo's excellent reggae twist to “I'm Still Standing,” when it was basically the only original idea of the night, aside from James Durbin's setting a piano on fire during “Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting.” And yet, they praised Stefano Langone's overdramatic “Tiny Dancer.” (Randy even praised him for keeping his eyes open when he sang! What?)

Though he's still a charmer, Casey Abrams sounds like a guy who has lost his mojo. His “Your Song” was tender, but also a bit tentative. Same goes for Paul McDonald's “Rocket Man,” which needed some extra oomph.

Thia Megia's “Daniel” was actually pretty good. She doesn't go for vocal fireworks, which will probably catch up to her this week, but the teen is simply a strong, unassuming singer. Considering the production values on Durbin's fiery song, if I was Thia, I'd start asking to burn stuff down, too. Hopefully, she gets the chance to do that next week, but I wouldn't be too sure.

THE RANKINGS

Jacob Lusk, “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word”
Naima Adedapo, “I'm Still Standing”
James Durbin, “Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting”
Scotty McCreery, “Country Comfort”
Pia Toscano, “Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me”
Paul McDonald, “Rocket Man”
Casey Abrams, “Your Song”
Thia Megia, “Daniel”
Stefano Langone, “Tiny Dancer”
Lauren Alaina, “Candle in the Wind”
Haley Reinhart, “Benny and the Jets”

BOTTOM THREE: Stefano, Thia, Lauren
WILL BE ELIMINATED: Stefano, Thia
SHOULD BE ELIMINATED: Stefano, Haley
ACTUALLY ELIMINATED: ???