American Idol - The Incredible Hulk

Then, Wednesday, Tim Urban, the good-looking child who is been otherwise cruising for a one-way ticket home all season, came through in the clutch with Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," a sincere rendition that actually felt like divine intervention.

First, Didi Benami got her groove back on a quirky, jazz-inflected reinvention of "Rhiannon" after wrecking "Lean on Me" two days earlier.

It was that lovely.

Or that lovely for Urban.

It was and a gigantic week for front-runners taking a premature victory lap.

Either way, it was something to see, inspiring Ellen to run up and give him a hug.

Then, Michael Lynche, the Wonderful Hulk, got in touch with his feminine side on Maxwell's version of the Kate Bush song, "This Woman's Work," his best performance yet. It brought Kara to tears and had Randy doing this year's most outrageous Randy imitation. "Yo. Yo. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. ? ? It was dope." Meanwhile, Simon proclaimed it "the best performance we have seen of all these shows so far this season."

First, Crystal Bowersox broke away from the pack with a gritty, emotional take on Tracy Chapman's "Give Me Four Reason."

But I thought Todrick Hall came surprisingly close with "Somebody to Love," a gospel-flavored spin on four of Freddie Mercury's most awe-inspiring vocals that seldom suggested that Hall had bitten off a little over they could chew. Randy and Ellen were smitten, but Simon's one-note anti-Todrick symphony droned on. "That is 'American Idol: The Musical' doing Queen," they sniffed, in which case, I would love to see that musical.