Idol is not for David Hernandez

David Hernandez, who attracted the limelight last week for working as a stripper at a Phoenix club with mostly male clients, could not use all that attention and follow up stories to remain on American Idol. He was the first to get voted out of the final 12.

"Things happen for a reason," said the 24-year-old Arizona State student, after learning he had been eliminated Wednesday. But "you'll see me at the top. This isn't it for me."

This week, Idol had its first-ever Beatles night and the contestants had the opportunity to perform classics from the John Lennon-Paul McCartney songbook. The show's producers lately, were given the consent to use songs belonging to Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a company formed by Sony and Michael Jackson.

Hernandez, who sang the Beatles' ‘I Saw Her Standing There,’ is technically a powerful singer but the performance according to Randy Jackson, was overdone.

"I thought it was corny, verging on desperate," Simon Cowell said.

Others in the bottom three were: Syesha Mercado, a 21-year-old from Sarasota, Fla., who sang, ‘Got to Get You into My Life’ and Kristy Lee Cook, a 24-year-old from Selma, Ore., who performed ‘Eight Days a Week.’

The standouts include Carly Smithson (‘Come Together’), Brooke White (‘Let It Be’), David Cook (‘Eleanor Rigby’) and Chikezie (‘She's A Woman’).

David Archuleta, who received loads of praise for his performance, two weeks ago for his cover of Lennon's ‘Imagine,’ was chided when he flubbed the lyrics to ‘We Can Work It Out.’ According to Cowell, the 17-year-old's performance was "a mess."

Eliminations on Idol have been stretched to hour long process which involves all of the bottom three to repeat their last performances, instead of the customary expressive performance by the one who is ousted.