Did last night’s episode of “American Idol” really happen?

On Beatles night, the much-maligned Amanda Overmyer did a decent job with “You Can’t Do That,” but heavy favorite David Archuleta fell apart at the seams, forgetting the words to “We Can Work It Out” three times or more.

Earlier in the evening, Ramiele Malubay was downright excellent on “In My Life”—her most musically sound performance to date—but the judges acted as if she took a nap, or something else, on stage.

That said, I’ve never enjoyed a two-hour, Top 12 episode more. In previous seasons, I found finalists to fall into three categories—Excellent, mediocre and terrible—with about four contestants falling into each category. And while there might not be as many upper-echelon stars this year as, say, Season 4 5 (Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee, Elliott Yamin and Chris Daughtry), top to bottom, there’s never been more above-average talent, top to bottom.

There was Carly “Legs McGee” Smithson, whose rousing rendition of “Come Together” and increasingly flattering hairstyles continued to impress. Chikezie, perhaps considered the favorite for elimination before his performance, let it all hang out for his James Brown-inspired, adrenaline- and sweat-soaked version of “She’s A Woman.” Syesha Mercado still might be the most underrated contestant of the bunch, opening the show with a pumped-up version of “Got To Get You Into My Life.” David Cook reinvented a song for the second straight week, putting a Creed-inspired spin on “Eleanor Rigby” in a way that blew away the judges. And Brooke White (pictured above)—despite looking overwhelmed by the simultaneity of playing “Let It Be” on piano, looking into the camera, connecting with the audience and, oh yeah, singing in tune—wowed the judges with her emotional connection to the song.

The complete misfire of the night belonged to Kristy Lee Cook (right), who turned “Eight Days A Week” into a dated hoe-down debacle. All that was missing was Lisa Simpson playing the jug while Homer danced in place. Countrifying the song could have worked, actually, but the big mistake was kicking up the tempo so fast it would trip up treadmillers. Had she kept the speed the same, the country approach probably would have worked nicely and showcased her lilt. But it was so distracting, she was greeted with a judge reception similar to those of Archuleta and Malubay. That said, because she’s the lone contestant committing to the country genre, don’t look for Middle America “Idol” voters to be ignoring her anytime soon.

She looked hot, though, didn’t she? Sparkly.

And so did the new stage, which is a high-definition television’s dream. It looks fantastic, especially in HD. While I was at first sad for Rickey Minor’s band placement, moved from the back of the stage to a balcony above the stage, it appears they might actually be getting more screen time due to superior camera placement. So kudos to the designers.

Also, I love seeing the contestants so pumped up after their performances and the judges’ kind remarks. For too long, contestants appeared robotic after a song performance. The humanity is endearing.

Onto the evening’s rankings:

1. Carly Smithson (right)—Sorry, Archuleta, but I think Smithson’s my new favorite.

2. David Cook—Despite some sketchy starting notes, Cook wailed at the end of “Eleanor Rigby” in a way that fired up the mild-mannered contestant.

3. Syesha Mercado—Why she’s not getting more attention, I have no idea.

4. Chikezie—I demanded the former Mr. Eze to “continue to bring the flair he brought to his Donny Hathaway cover if he has any shot of sticking around.” With “She’s A Woman,” mission accomplished.

5. Brooke White—Not to rain on White’s parade, but if someone saw that performance of “Let It Be” out of context, they’d see someone who looked really nervous and uncomfortable picking her eyes up from the keys to look at the camera and audience. She would have been better served to get up from the piano for the later verses and choruses to focus on the vocal, then finish at the piano. What saved her amateurish performance of the song, though, was the emotion with which she sang it.

6. Ramiele Malubay—For the first time with Malubay, I enjoyed what I heard from start to finish. Strangely the judges, who raved about her previous performances chock full of errors, panned “In My Life” as boring. Go figure. I’ll take boring and accurate anytime over Overmyer’s memorable-for-the-wrong-reasons “Carry On Wayward Son.”

7. Jason Castro—Despite pronouncing “you” as “hyoo,” I liked the shifts from chest voice to falsetto. But I don’t really see the long-term appeal of Castro. Sorry.

8. Michael Johns—A cool take on “Across the Universe,” for which he controlled his sometimes-troublesome vibrato. Nothing too special, though.

9. David Hernandez—Totally oversang “I Saw Her Standing There.” Poor song choice for someone who should have picked a more complex melody to showcase his melisma.

10. Amanda Overmyer—Hey, not bad! Really! I’m actually not repulsed!

11. Kristy Lee Cook—You’ll see her next week. I guarantee it.

12. David Archuleta—The good news? This boy could sing horribly for six weeks and still stick around because of his appeal to the Tween demographic. Wait a minute, that’s bad news. Uh oh.

(Photos by Ray Mickshaw/FOX.)