“American Idol”: Sia Performs & Advises; One More Contestant Goes Home

That left Sonika Vaid and Dalton Rapattoni in the bottom two. Sonika got eliminated, which was fair, because though she’s a better singer than MacKenzie and Dalton, she has a less compelling personality than either of them. The judges found little fault with either of her performances in the final four.

Viewers at home have five ways to vote for their favorite singer, including the SuperVote online at www.americanidol.com/vote; SuperVote on the FOX NOW app; Google search voting; text vote (SMS); and toll-free voting. It ended up being a strong choice. As Connick pointed out, it was also one of the more melodically challenging songs Rapattoni has sung so far in the competition.

“I was such a fan of Sia going into this”, Harmon said in a pre-recorded package before his performance.

“I stood before these kids and they were singing songs that I had written, and I kinda wanted to cry”, Sia said. And, as with his first performance, Dalton relied more on his ability to convey the meaning of a song rather than his vocals. “If anyone tried to tell her to do something different, I feel like I would high karate kick them in the throat”. La’Porsha was up first, easily blowing our minds with her rendition of “Elastic Heart“. Bon Jovi has to watch his back, because La’Porsha could steal his thunder – and surely his karaoke song – after that performance. Sia also pushed him to go for the high notes in the song.

Rapattoni bonded big time with Sia (both are bipolar, we’ve learned) and brought raw passion and believable drama to her “Bird Set Free“. He connected so viscerally with the lyrics, and he was overwhelmed by the end. “You touch all our hearts every time you get up there, but especially tonight”, J. Lo praised him. Rapattoni really released during this performance, and it was powerful to watch.

Harmon will arrive at Amory at 11 a.m. Saturday, according to the Facebook page of Amory Main Street Inc., which has been coordinating with American Idol to arrange the events for the home segment. Scroll down for videos of this week’s performances if you missed Thursday’s episode.