Vino Alan talks about his childhood under an abusive stepfather and how music was his escape. He hopes to break that cycle, and five million dollars would be just the ticket. He goes out and roars out a Pink song, causing Justin to sit forward in his chair and L.A. to shake his listening-head in that way. Stopping on his way into the house, Vino goes in for some dap from the mentors and scuffs L.A.'s shoes in the process, which L.A. says he'll replace if he wins the five mil. Despite Vino's apparent nerves, Scooter and Justin both liked the performance, but L.A. is concerned about "the package." Yes, Vino is scary-looking, but there are lasers for that now.

Tara Simon's up last for this category. She claims to the other five that she's nervous, but then tells the cameras in private that she's going to win it. "I've always been a star," she says. "People just have now caught onto it." Wrong on both counts. She also tells us that she hopes to be America's darling, which will require her to get a lot less obnoxious. And going out on L.A.'s deck and singing Hoobastank is not a step in the right direction, especially in her overblown, dramatic, vowel-twisting style. Justin looks visibly confused by her, but all three mentors somehow manage to keep straight faces until she heads happily inside, convinced it was "near-perfect." Which it was, if you like Tara Simon and what she does. Justin and Scooter appreciate her big voice, which isn't my issue with her. L.A. says he thought he knew who his favorites were, but now says, "I didn't know nothin.'" Then L.A. narrates about how he's changed his mind and making his choice is tougher than he expected. We start cutting back and forth between the contestants' hotel (like we thought L.A. was going to put them up in spare bedrooms 38-43), where Tara assures Daryl and David that the three of them in the room are safe. I'm now very worried about either Daryl or David. Vino, Tate and Jason are in the other room talking about how much they need it, and L.A. and his guest mentors count to three and put their fingers on the photo of the one each of them thinks should go. From their verbal reaction, all we know for now is that it sucks. But since that dialogue is heard over a shot of the clouds drifting past the moon, they could be talking about how one of the three of them is turning into a werewolf. My money's on the one named Braun.