American Idol's top nine contestants are on the chopping block once more, and the hopeful performers spent Wednesday night trying to convince the nation that they should be given a shot at the top eight.

Under the watchful gaze of Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban, and Harry Connick Jr., the remaining season 13 competitors took turns posing as the lead singer of an onstage band to complete the night's theme - "(I'm With The) Band."

First up was Alex Preston, whose selection helped highlight his talent on the guitar. The 20-year-old musician took on No Doubt's Don't Speak and soon had the audience clapping in time to his acoustic driven performance.

Preston was quickly followed by a mediocre rendition of Florence + The Machine's Shake It Out by Majesty Rose before Dexter Roberts put a country spin on the evening with his take on Little Big Town's Boondocks.

Later, Sam Woolf recalled 2005 with Hey There Delilah by the Plain White T's while Malaya Watson jumped back to the '70s with The Beatles' The Long and Winding Road and Caleb Johnson transported the audience to the late '60s with Jake Holmes/Led Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused.

Jessica Meuse and CJ Harris then delivered solid performances of Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon and The SteelDriver's If It Hadn't Been For Love, respectively, before Jena Irene closed out the night with Evanesence's Bring Me To Life.

American Idol will return with a live results show on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.

Tags
American Idol, Fox, Television, Reality TV, Music