David Cook goes Broadway. Did he pull it off?

Broadway was in the air as "American Idol"'s Final 6 took on the tunes of composer ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER Tuesday night. Their challenge was, in SIMON COWELL's estimation, to make themselves "sound memorable yet contemporary."

SYESHA MERCADO kicked things off in alluring fashion, performing "One Rock & Roll Too Many" atop a piano in a sexy red dress. RANDY JACKSON approved, saying, "Not only is this your element … That's your best performance to date." PAULA ABDUL concurred, adding, "This is your happy place, and you're real good at it." Even Simon had to admit, "This was one of your strongest performances so far."

Next, JASON CASTRO took a stool and mewed the tender Cats tune "Memory." The judges were not impressed. Randy said, "Vocally, for me, it was a little bit of a train wreck." Commenting on his song choice, Paula told Jason, "It's not you." And Simon brought the grief home, saying, "You were miserable throughout, I was miserable throughout … It's not your kind of music."

BROOKE WHITE inspired even more judgely wrath, however, when she decided to stop and restart her rendition of "You Must Love Me" (from Evita) when she forgot the song's opening words. "You must never start and stop," Paula said in a near-whisper, while Randy deadpanned: "For me, this wasn't great." And Simon said of the herky-jerk performance, "It actually became quite uncomfortable … I think you're going to be disappointed when you watch this back."

DAVID ARCHULETA ended the streak of bum notes with "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera. "You're exactly what this show is about," Randy enthused, adding: "You can sing anything … This boy's the one to beat!" Paula beamed, "I think it was absolutely perfect, David." Simon offered the lone voice of dissent, telling David, "I thought it was pleasant -- one of your weakest performances on the live show."

Next, CARLY SMITHSON cranked up the volume and rocked out to the title track of Jesus Christ Superstar. Randy said, "I don't know if was your best performance, but it was definitely good." Paula liked it even better, saying, "I loved so much that it was so unexpected … I love what you did in the chorus." And even Simon conceded that, though it got a bit "shouty in the middle, it was actually one of my favorite performances of the night."

DAVID COOK closed the show by crooning "Music of the Night" from Phantom. "Dude, that was an amazing vocal performance," Randy enthused. Paula agreed, adding, "This song just proved more and more that you are so well-rounded as a performer." Simon, however, offered a lukewarm appraisal: "You made the most of the song, but this is not the side of you I like."