The tornadoes ripping through the South on Wednesday were a Mother Nature metaphor for “American Idol,” which gave us wildly unpredictable and maddeningly uneven performances.

Dasanta Robinson stood in the Campbellton Plaza parking lot Thursday with more than a dozen of his family members. They were waiting for Atlanta police to begin canvassing in his brother's death.

Thursday’s “American Idol” results kicked off with one of the most catastrophic fashion experiments this season: Haley Reinhart in an Aquaman-meets-bad-stewardess drag queen costume.

The only thing consistent from last week on Wednesday’s “American Idol” was JLo’s fashion grade: D. Her two-tone short suit was just awful. The rest of the show left me shaking my head, too.

After Thursday’s results on “American Idol,” I ask: Are we finally done with cheesy-awful group numbers? Can we officially read the epitaph of the results-show lip-synching and track-singing?

Man, I had bad dream. One of the best singers in this season’s “American Idol” was dismissed, we were left with only two female competitors, and one of them was bad-pole-dancer Haley Reinhart.

When James Durbin found out that songs from the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame were on tap for this week’s “American Idol,” he probably went through the ceiling with joy. But would he deliver?

When “American Idol” covered tunes by Sir Elton John on Wednesday, they gave contestants a smorgasbord of legendary pop-rock songs—and gave LGBT fans a gay icon to be proud of.

Thursday’s “American Idol” had a strange pageantry, almost like a mini finale: surprise guests; semi-formal contestant attire; and a nail-biter that will go down as one of the most exciting on record.

Part of the appeal of the previous “American Idol” seasons was the influx of outside opinions and perspectives—the rotating judges, to be sure, but also the “mentors.” That’s missing this season.