"American Idol [ tickets ]" mentor Mariah Carey called Kristy Lee Cook's rendition of "Forever" chill-inducing. However, acerbic judge Simon Cowell didn't have the same response--and voters agreed. Cook, who fancies herself a country singer, was sent home from the show Wednesday (4/16).

"I, most of the time, agree with them. Simon can be a butt sometimes, but, hey, that's Simon Cowell," Cook said about Cowell's response to her performance.

Cook was joined in the bottom three by the folky Brooke White and the soulful Syesha Mercado. Host Ryan Seacrest asked Cowell to guess who was going home, to which he responded, correctly, "No surprises. Kristy, you know, your time's up this time, sweetheart."

Paula added, "It's now down to the point where everyone of you is very, very special. One person has to go and it's tough."

When Cook sang her swan song, she sat on the judges' table in front of a very uncomfortable-looking Cowell.

Even though Mercado was in the bottom three, she received high marks from judge Paula Abdul. Abdul called her "extremely smart" for choosing an unfamiliar Carey song, "Vanishing."

The stars of the Tuesday (4/15) performance show were once again leather pants-wearing David Archuleta and a teary-eyed David Cook, whose brain cancer-stricken brother Adam attended the telecast. When asked about his emotional, haunting performance of Carey's "Always Be My Baby," David Cook made a vague reference to his brother, who reportedly was joined in the crowd by a doctor and a nurse.

"There were a lot of things that happened this week. It just all came to a head at that moment," he said.

Cowell also praised Archuleta's version of "When You Believe."

"David Archuleta has become the one to beat," Cowell said.

Andrew Lloyd Webber is the mentor next week.