Pia Toscano, James Durbin Early Favorites In 'American Idol'

Things are getting increasingly intense for the contestants of American Idol as the show continues its elimination rounds. The Top 13 who made it past last week's eliminations sang their hearts out on Wednesday night's show, choosing songs from their own personal idols.

Coming out on top, in America's view, were favorites James Durbin, who performed Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" with perfect precision (inspiring judge Randy Jackson to exclaim, "James Durbin is dangerous, America!"), and Pia Toscano, who belted out Celine Dion's "All By Myself" and, as Steven Tyler said, "just slammed it."

Casey Abrams' rendition of Joe Cocker's "With a Little Help From My Friends" had Jennifer Lopez declaring that she was "watching somebody important." She also told Scotty McCreery that he was "exactly where [he] belongs" after he wowed with Garth Brooks' "The River." Jackson told Stefano Langone he was "soaring" during his cover of Stevie Wonder's "Lately." But the judges' favorite among the male singers still seems to be Jacob Lusk, who sang "I Believe I Can Fly." Lopez straightforwardly told him, "you're at the top." On the other hand, Paul McDonald's cover of Ryan Adams' "Come Pick Me Up" was criticized a "A little pitchy."

Though Toscano's strong pipes seemed to blow the rest of the female contestants away, the performances were still strong. Naima Adedapo sang Rihanna's "Umbrella" to a "crazy good" comment from Tyler and a concurrence from Lopez. The judges were a little less enthusiastic, but still positive, when it came to Ashthon Jones covering Diana Ross and Haley Reinhart doing LeAnn Rimes' "Blue," though Jackson did call the latter performance "a little boring." They seemed even less optimistic about Thia Megia's "Smile" an Karen Rodriguez's "I Could Fall in Love." But they remained enthusiastic about Lauren Alaina's interpretation of Shania Twain's "Any Man of Mine." lief."

The high quality of the singers this year and the relative diplomacy of the judges has many fans speculating about how difficult it will be to choose a single winner. But that's up to the voters of America. With 12 contestants left to be eliminated before we have our 2011 American Idol, it's too soon to say. —KIMBERLY STEELE