After months of auditions, Hollywood Week, Rush Week and weeks of competition, American Idol revealed which two singers will go head-to-head in next week’s season finale.

On the show’s 500th episode, the Idol hopefuls performed songs selected by Randy Jackson, the judges, and their hometowns. On Thursday, it was time for the big moment.

Tough night on American Idol. The judges dished out more criticism than usual, most of it coming from Harry Connick, Jr., whose comments were often greeted with boos from the studio audience. A few minutes after Wednesday’s top 12 performance show ended, Sam Woolf summed up for The Hollywood Reporter what all of the contestants were thinking about the judges’ critiques. “It was a little harsh for everyone tonight.” Majesty Rose agreed: “They were harsh to everybody tonight.

After the top 13 were revealed on American Idol's first live results show of the season, the judges spoke to The Hollywood Reporter bout the stressful one-hour episode.

If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, does that explain the difference in how they act on the Idol stage?

STORY: 'American Idol' Recap: Top 10 Boys Go for Glory

With the initial shock of American Idol’s Rush Week in the rearview mirror, it was the guys’ turn to find out which vocalists made it to the top ten.

“We already know that five great singers are not going to get to sing,” said judge Keith Urban, who admitted that the evening’s choices went “down to the wire” in Jennifer Lopez’s dressing room.

Ten girls sang and five girls were never called to perform at the first live show of season 13 of American Idol. That's what you saw on TV. The view from inside Stage 36 at CBS Television City offered another picture.

Randy Jackson’s first ever workshop premieres tonight on American Idol, with mentors Adam Lambert and Chris Daughtry joining along to offer their expertise for the would-be hopefuls.

Former judge Jackson describes the boot camp as a “master class," while Lambert says, “It’s like a head start. It’s a real eye-opener to what they are going to be facing on the show.”

American Idol viewers will welcome back three familiar faces next Tuesday, as the show will debut its first-ever "boot camp" episodes with Randy Jackson, Adam Lambert and Chris Daughtry.

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The live shows on American Idol are inching closer, but before the top contestants go before an audience, they have to get through a new competition phase called Randy Jackson’s "Boot Camp." Helping with the crash course in pop stardom? Two exciting camp counselors: season eight’s Adam Lambert and season five’s Chris Daughtry.