The top nine were narrowed down to eight in a night featuring the return of a few former Idols, and a surprising bottom three.

After the characteristically drawn-out process of narrowing the finalists down to the bottom three, the finalist sent home this week was Palmersville, TN’s Paul Jolley. Paul sang for his life with the Heart classic “Alone,” but it wasn’t enough to earn him the Chris Daughtry Memorial Judges’ Save.

The bottom three were a bit of a surprise. Aside from Paul, the other finalists in the bottom three were Devin Velez and Amber Holcomb. Though Devin was in the bottom two last week, he had an excellent performance this week, and the judge’s couldn’t say enough good things about him.

Then there was Amber, who has been a favorite from the get-go. Mentor Jimmy Iovine said in his analysis of this week’s performances that he thinks Amber belongs in the top three, but apparently America disagreed. Perhaps her mistake was choosing “She’s Leaving Home,” a lesser-known Beatles song. Hopefully America remembers to vote next week.

The results show also brought us two performances from some distinguished Idol veterans. Unforgettable season 10 finalist Casey Abrams brought his beard and his bass back to the Idol stage and kept the Beatles theme going with a jazzy version of “I Saw Her Standing There.”

Last season’s runner-up Jessica Sanchez also made her triumphant return to the Idol stage, debuting her new song “Tonight,” a duet with Ne-Yo. We also got a video update on what Jessica’s been doing since Idol wrapped – turns out she’s been touring, modeling, finishing up her debut album, and selling out shows in Manila.

The four remaining guys and five remaining girls each tackled another Beatles tune for their group performances. The guys sang “Got To Get You Into My Life,” while the girls harmonized beautifully with “Here There and Everywhere.”

The Top 8 will take on the songs of Motown next week.

Do you think Paul deserved to be sent home? Were you surprised by the bottom three?