Caleb Johnson had pretty much won the night after three solid performances during Wednesday's American Idol broadcast -- until fellow contestant Jena Irene blew everyone out of the water with just one song.

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Wednesday night's performance show featured Caleb, Jena, Alex Preston, and Jessica Meuse each performing three songs based on love -- a breakup, makeup and dedication song. Jena sang her own beautiful rendition of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love" while playing the piano, causing judge Jennifer Lopez to basically lose control of her emotions.

Both Keith Urban and Jennifer got on their feet and clapped for Jena, but then Jennifer got extremely giddy and actually walked up onstage to give the young artist a kiss on her cheek.

"I have to kiss you!" Jennifer yelled.

"[Randy Jackson], Randy, I sat there [as a judge] with you for two years. This is my third year doing this. I've never gotten up to kiss somebody after a performance. All I was thinking was like, 'Elvis Presley did this song. The king, the king!' And you sat there and you just reinvented it. It was so beautiful. I was so moved, and I'm sure everybody else -- honestly, I could cry right now. It's crazy! Look at me, I'm shaking! It was just something else. I'm so glad I was here to witness that! That was awesome, whoa!"

"Jena, that took such immense courage to perform that song in that way. I think it's rare for the American public and the worldwide public to get an opportunity to see something like you just did. Very simply put, it was incredible. Absolutely incredible," Harry Connick Jr. said.

"What's so beautiful about what you do, is you take all these elements and you put them together in your own unique way. You are a species under yourself. You're like a musical platypus, baby, and you're so unique. That was spellbinding, absolutely spellbinding," Keith added.

Before Jena astounded the crowd, Caleb had gotten excellent feedback for all three of his songs.

When Caleb sang "You Give Love a Bad Name," Keith called it "killer" and said he took it to his own place. Jennifer agreed, saying Caleb was ready for primetime and everyone had their work cut out for them because of that. Harry noted it was a great way to start the show.

For his second song, Caleb performed "Traveling Band."

"That's so in your wheelhouse, that's so who you are, you killed it again. You're going to be tough to beat, I feel like," Jennifer told the artist.

Harry said it was "fantastic" and Keith noted it was "excellent."

Caleb's performance of "Maybe I'm Amazed," however, trumped the other two. Keith and Jennifer gave him a standing ovation, and it was the best performance of the night prior to Jena taking the stage with "Can't Help Falling in Love."

"I heard something different. In the beginning, you sang softly. Caleb, that was absolutely phenomenal!" Harry said, which was a huge compliment coming from the tough judge.

"I couldn't agree more, man. That song is killer," Keith explained. "As soon as they started playing it, I just said, 'Hallelujah!' You nailed it. That was a killer, killer performance."

"Tonight, I can honestly say you singing that was probably your best performance since the beginning," Jennifer added.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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