'American Idol': Hollywood, part 4

Angela aces 'Idol': Singing an original song accompanying herself on piano, Angela Miller was the clear highlight of the final Hollywood episode.

"Idol" had a lot of business to take care of in an hour. First up: Reduce 47 survivors of the girl-group shambles to 20. Then there were the 28 guys remaining from last week who had to be pared to 20 as well. And as it turned out, there was a little extra business to wrap up.

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So it was necessarily a fast-paced episode. We saw 10 of the final 47 performances, accompanied by the house band and consisting of songs from a list or original compositions – an interesting wrinkle that paid immediate dividends. The first contestant shown, Angela Miller, decided to play her own "You Set Me Free" at the piano, and – defying the show-biz dictum about not peaking too early – it was the highlight of the episode, ethereal like a Florence & the Machine intro before settling into slightly more mundane musical territory in the chorus.

Candice Glover then ripped Alicia Keys' "Girl on Fire" a new, fiercer incarnation, followed by perennial contestant Janelle Arthur's assured rendition of Randy Travis' "I Told You So" (as filtered through Carrie Underwood). Then one of the girls' two designated eccentrics, wild-haired and -eyed Zoanette Johnson, debuted an original at the drums, a rhythmic improvisation name-dropping the "Idol" judges that collapsed mid-song when Zoanette misplaced a stick after berating the bemused band to slow down the tempo. This travesty greatly amused and entranced the judges (it couldn't have been the name-dropping …), and Zoanette, along with the first three singers shown, plus unseen Jett Hermano, were voted through.

For spectacle and spectacular vocals, it would have been hard to top the first segment, and the episode didn't come close. Shubha Vedula sang "When You Believe," the less-than-memorable duet by Whitney Houston and Judge Mariah, which touched Mariah deeply, almost as if she didn't know it was on the song list. From what little we were allowed to hear, Juliana Chahayed's version of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" was pretty good, and – although the actual decisions weren't shown – we can presume they both made it.

Designated Eccentric No. 2, Kez Ban, accompanied herself on guitar on an extremely short original that managed to meander like the Mississippi. With one D.E. already chosen, it came as no surprise that Kez was rejected, although Ryan Seacrest let her hoist a boom microphone as a consolation prize.

Next came three final performances. Ashlee Feliciano picked Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years," which, is at least metaphorically, preferable to Perri's "Jar of Hearts," with a few showy Mariah-style high notes for the dogs watching at home with their owners. Following a complaint by Randy that too many singers were picking serious songs (meaning, no doubt, the boring ballads that "Idol" girls dote on), which segued into a brief montage of serious introductions to some of these serious songs, Melinda Ademi did a lively version of a tedious but semi-upbeat song, Jessie J's "Price Tag." And Kree Harrison delivered a powerful, country-tinged version of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals' "Stars," a song the "Idol" producers quickly snatched from the most recent season of "The Voice."

Ashlee's Mariah impression did not win her a yes vote, but Melinda and Kree were voted onward, along with the unseen Lauren Mink … but not for long. After the break, it was revealed that, as happened with the guys, too many girls had been given the affirmative, so four had to be quickly eliminated. Poor Lauren was the first one cut, along with two others; then Barbie-like Stephanie Schimel and giddy Rachel Hale were forced into an instant, band-accompanied sing-off. Stephanie tried to curry favor by covering Season 11 winner Phillip Phillips' hit "Home," while Rachel went for the same trick, covering Season 10 third-place finisher Haley Reinhart's "Undone." Rachel's delivery was stronger, and the judges chose her.

That left five minutes to send eight guys home, complicated further by another sing-off, this one between freakishly stratospheric singer Adam Sanders, who did Celine Dion's "What Do You Say," and gospel aspirant Josh Holiday, who did the 374th version of "Georgia on My Mind" since the show began in 2002. Adam seemed more impressive, or at least more distinctive, but Josh split his pants and, in a possibly related move, got the nod. Adam and seven others were briefly shown getting their bad news, and there was just enough time left to set the stage for next week's sudden death round in Las Vegas.

Beyond Vegas: It's a default choice, but Angela Miller really was impressive and should make the top 10.

Staying in Vegas: This idle obsession with the loopy Zoanette Johnson needs to end next week. I would declare this with more confidence if it weren't for painful past experience watching the likes of Heejun Han and of course Sanjaya Malakar cruise appallingly high in the finals.

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"American Idol" airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX.