Firstly, Andrew and James announced the tally – so far – from Friday's Doin' It For The Kids special. An amazing $157,407 has poured in and there is still time to bid on the Idol auction or donate cash.

First performer up was Tarisai Vushe, performing Marcia's choice "Can't get Enough Of Your Love" a hit for both Barry White and Taylor Dayne. Mark was impressed.  "A rousing opening, a great choice from Marcia for you, [it] showed your sassy side," he said.
Dicko thought it "represents the sort of artist you could be" but was about 20% off what she could do.
Kyle thought she "had all the attitude" but agreed with Dicko. "I thought you were a bit safe."

Marty Simpson's song, also chosen by Marcia, was Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry". "Marty has a real lazy way of singing and I dig it," she said as she introduced him. "I know it's a roots/reggae song, but I expected a little more zest, a lot more entertainment," said Dicko, likening his choreography to that of a dole queue. "I really liked it mate, I thought it was excellent," said Kyle. "It suited you, but you should have made more of it," Mark told Marty. "You're not working on the interpretation at all."

Daniel Mifsud performed a song chosen for him by Mark, Sting's "Fragile". "One of his strengths is that he's not afraid to show his emotions," Mark explained, "and this is a very vulnerable song." Marcia was impressed by his look. "You look sharp, you look dynamite," she told Daniel. "I'll give Mark props because you really suited that song." Kyle was typically blunt: "I found the whole thing boring", while Mark was pleased with his own choice: "That's a profound lyric and you got lost in it, and I believed it." Dicko agreed: "I thought you nailed that really well, great intensity, great storytelling."

Dicko chose Carl Riseley's song, the Tom Jones classic "It's Not Unusual". "Being a successful male artist has a lot to do with selling sex appeal," Dicko said by way of an explanation. After a ballad-like slow start, Carl stopped the band. "Nah, that'll never work," he told John Foreman and then kicked into an up-tempo version. The judges were ecstatic. "To me so far you're the front-runner tonight," Kyle told him. "That was smashing. Loved it." Mark went as far as to give him a Touchdown. "I said at the top I wanted entertainment, you gave it in spades," Dicko said, but admitted he was disappointed that no knickers were thrown on stage "You smashed it and you grabbed it!" Marcia exclaimed.

Matt Corby took on"Music Of The Night" from the musical The Phantom Of The Opera, as chosen by Mark Holden.
I know it's a bizarre choice," Mark admitted. "A few weeks ago the contestants went to the Opera House. I saw Matt walk onto the stage and did a light baritone thing and it got me thinking." Mark was just as happy after the performance. "Can I firstly say thank you for taking up the challenge?" he said. "I'm wildly impressed." He then asked the audience if they wanted a Touchdown – and they did. "Forgive me," said Dicko, "but those kids will scream what ever you do, it's an idiotic song choice from [Mark] and I can't understand why you picked it." He wasn't happy with Matt's seemingly Holden-inspired vest either. "Judge's choice shouldn't extend to your wardrobe," he griped. But Marcia agreed with Mr. Holden. "Mark's making a lot of sense tonight," she said, "and one of the most important things in this industry is versatility."

Natalie Gauci performed the Sinead O'Conner hit "Nothing Compares 2 U", as written by Prince and chosen for her by Marcia.
"She's been excelling every week and I know she'll do it justice," Marcia said in her introduction. Dicko agreed. "I though that was the perfect song for you, so well done Marcia. I believed every single word of that." Mark was just impressed by her selling of the song. "When you stand out there as an artist you can chose to let your personal feelings or not, and you chose to do that," he told her.

Tarisai returned to the stage with her own choice, Whitney Houston's "I Believe In You And Me". "I can't question the way you sing," Marcia said. "But I was waiting for the other 20%." Mark declared, "I thought it was stunning... I just wanted more, more, more. I thought that was a fantastic vocal performance." "I'll be honest," started Dicko, as if perhaps he sometimes isn't, "for a song called ‘I believe…' I didn't believe."

Marty performed the massive Pearl Jam hit "Last Kiss" and won over the judges for a second time tonight. "As every week goes on I get more and more impressed with you," Kyle told him. "I really think you could have a very long career no matter what happens in this contest." Mark asked if the song's lyrics related directly to him, and Marty said during the week he'd thought about a friend who had died in a bike accident. "I could really feel that, it was really emotional and just fantastic mate," Mark said.

Daniel's personal choice was Eskimo Joe's "From The Sea". Mark liked the choice, but… "I think your intensions were right choosing that song, but you were a little under the note for me." Dicko, who proclaimed himself a big fan of Eskimo Joe, agreed. "You let the chorus slip," he said. "What I really dug about the choice was the performance in the song," an enthused Marcia proclaimed. "I really dug the aggression in there." To which Kyle added: "That was one of the better performances we've seen from you but the vocal was dodge."

Carl took on "Jealous Guy", a John Lennon song that has been covered by artists such as Donny Hathaway and Roxy Music. And it paid off. "Mate, you are really beginning to motor in the competition just at the right time," said Dicko. "You're picking great songs and you're singing them with the right conviction." Dicko admitted that the male judges were ready to send him home at the beginning of the comp, and applauded Marcia for sticking up for him. "The pleasure is all mine," she said. Kyle admitted they also bitched behind her back and said she was crazy. "We thought you were a bit under cooked. But now you're cooked," he said to Carl. "I don't know what you've done." Mark thought he had the answer: "He's listened, he's gone away and worked on it and he's done it with humility." He also commended Carl on his "dedication, commitment and application".

Matt, sitting at the piano, chose Death Cab For Cutie's "Transatlantacism". "I think it's kind of cool that you did something so left of centre," Marcia complimented him. "It was moody and dark and I'm into that."  "It was fantastic to see you playing the piano," Mark said. "And the fact that we're seeing such wide ranging possibilities form a 16 year old – just kudos to you." Dicko was a little backhanded in his compliment. "That song makes the earlier choice ["Music Of The Night"] seem a waste, because it was absolutely sublime," he said.

Lastly Natalie's pick was her own take on the recent mega-hit for Rhianna – "Umbrella".  "That was lovely," Kyle told her. "First of all, the best you've ever looked, your bum looks fantastic in that." Then added: "I was waiting for the ‘ella ella ella eh eh eh'." (Natalie performed the hit song without the trademark noises) "I think your face looks absolutely beautiful on camera," Mark announced. "There was something very magical about that, that arrangement was utterly you …" He proceeded to give Natalie the third Touchdown of the night. Dicko, putting his ‘branding' hat on once more, told her: "That's exactly where you should be, you should head for pop and turn left. If you go past Delta Goodrem you're on the right track, if you go past Bjork you've gone too far." Marcia was happy about the risk factor. "You took a chance," she said, "because Rhianna is so huge at the moment. But you sang it like Natalie should sing it."

After one of the best episodes of Idol ever, with a very tight Final 6, just who will depart tomorrow night is a tough one to pick. Especially with last week's shock Bottom 3, which included Matt Corby, Marty Simpson and Ben McKenzie. The only way to save your favourite is to get voting now!