'American Idol' Kids Tackle Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton and her jugs went to L.A. to teach the American Idol kids a thing or two about country croonin'. (Courtesy Fox)

It was Dolly Parton night on American Idol and therefore Brooke White (12/1) sang "Jolene."

Randy Jackson said that although Dolly's music suited her voice, he didn't think it was a stellar performance. Simon Cowell said she looked like she was busking. He then insulted the "weird" violin player. Yeah, Simon rocks.

David Cook (19/10) cleared the air in his interview with Ryan Seacrest about how he'd chosen arrangements of his songs. After some recent controversy, Cook said he'd been looking around online and (ahem) borrowing arrangements from other bands. He then gave credit to DOXOLGY as well as Chris Cornell. He told Ryan he was going to perform Dolly Parton's "Little Sparrow," and the arrangement was... (gasp) his own. Luckily for Cook, his performance and arrangement won over the judges and he received rave reviews. That could have gone badly for him.

Laid back Jason Castro (25/1), who Joel McHale hilariously ripped on The Soup this week, earned luke warm responses from the judges. Randy said it started rough, but he got it together in the end. Paula loved it. Simon hated it. Carly Smithson (10/1) sang "Here You Come Again." Simon said, "I thought it was good; I didn't think it was great. ... I also think you need to have a word with whoever is dressing you."

Little David Archuleta (13/10) won rave reviews for his "Smoky Mountain Memories" rendition. Kristy Lee Cook (100/1) sang "The Coat of Many Colors," a performance that Simon called "pleasant but forgettable." Syesha Mercado (12/1) delivered a powerhouse rendition of "I Will Always Love You" which the judges surprisingly gave a "meh" to.

Michael Johns (19/2) gave the best performance of the night with a bluesy rendition of "It's All Wrong, But All Right," which Randy said was a "blazing hot performance."