With six weeks left to go and only seven contestants remaining, there were mixed performances in the latest episode of American Idol with Simon Cowell especially tough on this week’s contestants.

In Thursday’s episode the contestants were mentored by film director Quentin Tarantino, who himself appeared a as judge in the third season of American Idol. The contestants chose songs from his Tarantino’s films and Lil Rounds was the first to take a hammering from Cowell. He may boast a reservoir of talent but according to Cowell, this was a dog of a performance. Lil Rounds sang the Bette Midler classic “The Rose” and Cowell said of his one-time standout candidate: “I think that you’re getting this completely wrong…the song was too soft for you. It was completely middle of the road. You had some nice moments in there, but there’s no excuses any more. You are not the artist I believe we met seven or eight weeks ago. I’m getting frustrated.”

Lil Rounds was not the only contestant to disappoint the judges last night. Matt Giraud, the singer who combines R&B with modern rock, performed “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman” and judge Kara Dioguardi was not a fan: “”It’s the struggle, Matt…Does Matt do a rock song or a soul song? You are constantly going back and forth. Tonight it was a rock song. In doing so, you took away some of the core melodies that made that song great,” she said.

By contrast, Adam Lambert, one of the favourites to win the competition had praise heaped on him by Paula Abdul following his rendition of “Born to be Wild”. Paula exclaimed: “”The reason that you’re shaking up this whole competition is you dare to dance in the path of greatness. Fortune rewards the brave and you’re one of the bravest contestants I’ve ever witnessed, ever.” Cowell was less impressed, saying Lambert’s performance reminded him of the “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”.

Danny Gokey, who performed the Lionel Richie classic, “Endless Love,” also was a winner with Paula. “You grab us in the beginning, you wow us in the middle and you slay us in the end.” Cowell disagreed describing himself as “bored” by the performance.

American Idol airs on ITV2 on Thursday at 9pm.