Syesha Mercado's second, third and fourth chances caught up with her tonight (May 14) as the 21-year-old Florida native was dismissed from the "American Idol" finals. Young frontrunner David Archuleta and Midwest native David Cook move on to the last round, to take place next Tuesday.

Though visually stunning, Mercado was unable to cull enough votes from her performances last night of Peggy Lee's "Fever" (her choice), "Hit Me Up" from the animated film "Happy Feet" (producers' choice) and Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You" (Randy Jackson's selection). For the last few shows, Mercado was consistently relegated to the bottom ranks.

Plenty of tears flowed throughout the show, but not just from the departure; the contestants were featured returning to their respective hometowns, with Cook riding into Blue Springs, Mo., Archuleta into Murray, Utah, and Mercado to Sarasota, Fla.

Former AI crown-winner Fantasia Barrino was also featured performing a very spirited "Bore Me"

The Davids will be facing off next Tuesday performing multiple songs, with the winner to be crowned the next night. Last night, Archuleta, who has consistently leaned toward pop ballads, tackled Billy Joel's "And So It Goes, " Chris Brown's "With You" and Dan Fogelberg's "Longer." Rocker Cook, 25, sang Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," Switchfoot's "Dare You to Move" and Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing."