So, I've spent the last week fantasizing about Danny Noriega being reinstated via the old "Wild Card" policy, or coming back as an alternate after one of the remaining top 12 unexpectedly drops out (a la Nikko Smith replacing Mario Vazquez in season 4). And I'm sure many of my fellow Danimals--and probably Ramiele Malubay--share this dream. But so far, it's yet to be realized. Sigh. TMTH!

Anyway, Nigel Lythgoe had a dream, too: to get his grubby little British mitts on that oh-so-elusive Lennon/McCartney songbook. And unlike my Danny dream, Nigel's came true this fine evening, as the Danny-less top 12 made Idol history with the show's first-ever Beatles Night.

Now, as much as I love the Beatles (um, who DOESN'T love the Beatles? no one, that's who), I confess I was worried about this particular theme. See, the Beatles are pretty much untouchable. To cover a Beatles song is to mess with perfection, fix what ain't broke, etc. Remember that horrific Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Randy Jackson is best known these days for his role as voice-of-reason judge on a little show called American Idol (perhaps you've heard of it?). But long before he took that seat on the panel next to Paula Abdul, Randy racked up an impressive list of music-biz credits performing and recording with artists like Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Destiny's Child, *NSYNC, Madonna, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and many more. And now he's releasing his first solo album, Randy Jackson's Music Club Vol. 1, out this week.

Randy Jackson's Music Club Vol. 1 is actually more of a compilation a la Quincy Jones's Q's Jook Joint or Carlos Santana's last few star-studded albums, featuring an unexpected hodgepodge of guest vocalists. For instance, Joss Stone jams with Three 6 Mafia, former Idols Katharine McPhee and Elliott Yamin reunite for a duet, and Mariah Carey guests on a gospel number with Bebe Winans. And perhaps most notably, Paula Abdul makes her

Tonight the Idol ladies tackled songs of the '80s, and once again they inexplicably shied away from the two musical genres that for many people define the entire decade: second-wave British Invasion (Duran Duran, the Cure, Depeche Mode) and poofball hair metal (Poison, Motley Crue, Def Leppard). Imagine how fun an hour of "Hungry Like The Wolf" and "Pour Some Sugar On Me" would have been! Instead, the girls mostly played it safe and sang MOR prom ballads.

How much you wanna bet that if there's a '90s Week, they'll all shun Nirvana and Soundgarden and pick Mariah and Celine songs instead? Lame!

Yes, overall it was a so-so show. If the people of the '80s could've hopped into Michael J. Fox's Delorean and quantum-leaped to the year 2008 and watched this particular episode, they would have then time-traveled back to the year 1985 and told all their friends: "Dude, the 2000s are really boring."

Tonight's pre-song interview theme, just as it was for the boys on Tuesday, was "most

As reported in this hot-off-the-server Yahoo! Buzz Log article, Jason Castro's Tuesday-night American Idol performance of "Hallelujah" has drastically increased searches for the gospel-tinged, goosebump-raising ballad by 2008 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee Leonard Cohen.

Sadly, there hasn't been a similar subsequent revival of interest in "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go." Go figure.

Anyway, while Jason's performance was one of Tuesday evening's hands-down highlights, he's hardly the first notable crooner to cover Cohen's classic. Along with late legend Jeff Buckley--whom Simon Cowell mentioned on Tuesday's show, and whose version has shot into both the iTunes and Amazon top 10 overnight--quite "worthy" interpretations have been recorded by John Cale and Rufus Wainwright as well.

So with that, I give you the wonderful Rufus Wainwright rendition below (and hope Brooke White croons Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat" when the girls sing tonight):