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As every American Idol season winds down and my favorites get eliminated before their time, I tell myself that I’m not going to get so invested next time around, and I’m not even going to vote. And I’m not as invested this year, because the quality is high and I don’t really care who wins. But I do vote, because there are some contestants that I just don’t want to see going home this week.

And this week, I voted for Jason Castro, not necessarily for tonight’s performance, but for what he’s done in the past. He doesn’t have the best voice, but he connects with a song better than just about anybody on that stage, and he conveys emotion with every note he sings. Okay, so tonight he didn’t do any of that with “Michelle,” but he was still fun to watch.

Also fun to watch: Chikezie, who also got some of my votes tonight. For the second week in a row, he’s put on a whole show in a minute and a half. I loved the sound of his voice when he opened “I’ve Just Seen a Face” as a ballad, and I loved the energy and fun he brought to the song when he took it up tempo. He had some rough patches in the early rounds, but he’s been pretty consistent for several weeks now, and I want to see what he does next week.

Syesha Mercado did a nice job with “Yesterday,” but maybe it was the guitar accompaniment that prompted me to pick up the phone for her. And I love the tone of Ramiele Malubay’s voice so much that I enjoy just about anything she does. Plus, “I Should Have Known Better” is one of my favorite early Beatle songs, and I liked everything Simon didn’t about it, including the retro arrangement.

There was one other contestant that got my votes tonight, and that was David Archuleta, who brought tears to my eyes once again with his version of “The Long and Winding Road.” Perfect song, wonderful performance, great emotion, and he’s unlike anyone else in the competition. Added bonus: he remembered all the words.

That’s it. I didn’t exactly hate anybody tonight, but I didn’t vote for one of my favorites, David Cook, because I was put off by the way he shouted through “Day-Tripper,” or one of my other favorites, Michael Johns, who made such a mess of “A Day in the Life” (and he did forget the words). Carly Smithson did a good job on “Blackbird,” but she probably doesn’t need my vote.

And that brings us to the contestants who make my bottom three this week. I adore Brooke Smith, and I like her voice, but she did a boring version of “Here Comes the Sun,” and I don’t accept the excuse that she wanted to sing “Let It Be” again. Kristy Lee Cook did a little better on “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” but I can’t vote for her just because it was better than the awful “Eight Days a Week” she did last time. And as much as I liked Amanda Overmyer last week with her sassy version of “You Can’t Do That,” I thought she took “Back in the U.S.S.R.” and forgot to sing the song at all. It was by far my least favorite performance this week.

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