So far I haven't been nearly as entertained as I was last year. Simon is being wayyyyyyyyyyy too nice. Their letting the guy who forgot the words THREE TIMES go on to Hollywood was a disgrace. I don't care how good-looking he is. He is undeserving.

What's in the corn out there? Jason Rich--yet another farm boy hottie!

Can't wait to see him and Drew in some nice porn movie.

Jason Rich was picked because he is eye candy- the producers are not fools.

That chick from American Juniors may have been the single most annoying person in the history of Idol. I'm glad she didn't get through.

She was a bit of a snot, eh? But honestly I think, I could be wrong, but if she sang a different song, she may have made it. In fact, the last line of the Joplin song she sang she was able to sing it pretty good and show a "singing" voice, but it was too late. They didn't want to hear anymore and cut her off.

And I totally loved the LaKisha-esque best friends, they were fabulous!

Corliss and Brittany were my faves from the Miami auditions. They were Lakisha-esque only physically, not in terms of personality. Lakisha had a rather quiet, subdued personality whereas the Weather Girls were anything but. They were so sweet, genuine, and fun-loving, you just had to love them. But it's not like they're just personalities; both girls can really sing!

Jason Rich got me so flustered that I totally forgot about Leo, the homecoming queen. I love that the three judges were so openly gay-positive. And I love Leo for being so damn out and proud, yet in a rather matter-of-fact sort of way - in other words, no drama about it. Yeah, I know we're well into the 21st Century, but you gotta wonder if it's that easy in such a small town. Unfortunately, I liked Leo's personality more than his singing. I thought it was just a so-so version of "A Song For You" ... or maybe Elliot ruined that song for everybody else.

I was so baffled by Jason's Rich's golden ticket that I had to go back and watch his disastrous audition again (well, that and because I'm a big perv). Let's not forget what Simon Cowell's greatest talent is. It is not being mean (anybody can do that), nor being brutally honest (a fair number of people can do that). His greatest talent is his ability to spot a star. To me, there's run-of-the-mill cute (like last season's Chris Richardson), and then there's eye-popping, take-your-breath-away cute (Jason definitely qualifies). Simon gave him so many chances, something he never would have done even for auditioners with better voices, because Simon saw a potential star. And homo horn dogs all across this great land are damn grateful he did

Oh yeah, I loved Corliss and Brittany too. Excellent! The only unfortunate thing I can see is how Idol will want to make some heavy drama out of the two... and probably pit the two of them against each other for the last spot in the Top 24. They like to do stuff like that. I'm just sayin'....

Since nobody bothered to post this week, it's probably safe to say that the auditions went on about a week too long. Yeah, for me too. I super-FF through the bad auditions and just watch the golden ticket auditions, so I got through the 2 hours this week in under an hour (yippee!). Anyway, in Atlanta, loved Asia'h, whose father died just two days before her audition. I am left somewhat awestruck that she was able to make it through the audition at all. Yes, I liked her, even without knowing her back-story, even with that absolutely loathesome Lee Ann Rhimes song (this coming from a country fan). But given the circumstances, the song worked. I was touched by the emotion of the last Atlanta auditioner Josia. There was something I liked about his voice, even with that fakish British accent. I gotta worry about the kid, though, because I just don't see him making it to the final 24.

In the best of the rest, I really liked the plus-size model, even though she sang a Celine Dion song. Egads, haven't people figured out yet that singing Celine is the kiss of death?? It was odd that she kept talking about how proud she felt as a plus-size model and how she sang the national anthem at Madison Square Garden, yet she seemed to be sorely lacking in confidence during the audition, at least her body language said as much. Anyway, despite the horrible song choice, she deserved to make it through. I am baffled that they put through the Dolly Parton soundalike (Dolly is superior by orders of magnitude), and absolutely flabbergasted that Simon admitted that he was wrong and Paula was right. I thought she was excruciating when singing Celine and just subpar mediocre when singing Dolly. Don't know if I'm crazy about Danny Noriega, but the boy(?) can sing. He just strikes me as a puts the "D" in Drama Queen type. But I could be wrong.

I'm still of the opinion that the talent on this show is mediocre. I got sick and tired of hearing Ryan declare it "the most talented season ever" or words to that effect. That homeless kid was an absolute train wreck TWICE -- and both times the judges let him through. What a joke.

Could an Australian dude or an Irish chick really win American Idol? I really can't see that happening anymore than an American winning anywhere else but America. Yeah the homeless boy is starting to annoy but I do like the little Archuleta boy. He seems sweet, sincere and a hell of a lot more talented.

I actually watched the show for the first time this season. I wanted to see Josiah live since a friend sent me a link to his myspace page last month. Actually, he sent me links to a lot of the contestants. Goota love myspace/youtube. I like Josiah's "theysay" quite a bit I thought he was actually the only interesting/annoying one out of the ones they showed. It seems like they are going to pimp David Lee Johns or one of the blonde girls this season. And it looks that Star Search/Archuletta kid is going to be the "And you're only 16 years old!" contestant this year. That's going to be annoying.

Anyway, even though they think it is, "Hollywood Is Not America" This season's, or at least for the Hollywood round, "goodbye" song.

I was impressed tonight, and Hollywood week is just about my favorite part of Idol each season. I think the talent level this year is pretty good (certainly better than last), but it remains to be seen. My faves so far are 16-year-old dude, Aussie guy, David Hernandez and Irish chick. I noticed they hardly showed Iowa religious freak hottie at all, but he's still in the final 50 it seems. I'm officially hating Kyle the geeky politician wannabe.

An Irish transplant (married an Aussie girl) won Australian Idol- Damien Leith. Nice voice, talented and last I knew would update his website with a short video every so often for his fans.

JIP- when Josiah played piano he reminded me of a Billy Joel/Elton John- a very natural performer... train wreck for sure on "Stand by Me"- but not sure where the other train wreck happened.

The train wreck to me was letting the big guy through after singing "Big, Blonde and Beautiful" in his a capella audition LOL

Kyle drives me crazy and his "Raise Me Up" did nothing for me. There is just too much about his political endeavors that screams "Log Cabin Republican to Be" all over it. Reminds me of the character in Avenue Q.

I enjoyed the instrumental option for the 1st round in Hollywood. I hope they continue it on at least one occasion during the season or actually have them work on writing or co-writing songs.

As I have said before in other AI chat discussions- when people like Rod Stewart and Barry Mannilow can come in for a couple of days, work with the singers for shorter periods and help them to arrange the music to maximize the performances of the contestants to levels not in other weeks- it just shows that continuing to rely on Debra Byrd- when there are so many very average to low performing weeks when she has even more experience hands on with the contestants weekly- she is not getting the job done. I don't think it is an effort problem- I just think she is limited in bringing the contestants to that next level.

Maybe it's just that last season's talent level was so gawd-awful mediocre, but I for one am very impressed by the talent this season. The Archuleta kid didn't impress me at all during his audition, but he delivered a knockout performance during Hollywood week. I cringed when I heard Michael Johns (the Aussie) was going to sing "Bohemian Rhapsody" because it is both impossibly difficult to sing and almost impossible to make your own; but gotta hand it to the guy, he succeeded on both counts. While I thought Brooke White was surefire first-cut cannon fodder for Hollywood week, she really impressed me on the keyboards singing "Beautiful." Simon said Carly Smithson (the Irish girl) had one of the best three voices in the competition, and I certainly agree. Gotta wonder who the other two are. Danny Hernandez was another standout; I really liked his take on "Love the One You're With."

It seems almost cruel to put through contestants like Ghaleb (Venezuelan kissyboy) because their accent is just too much of a handicap (remember last year's Poor Man's Shakira?). Ghaleb got a golden ticket for the same reason Leo Marlowe (Iowa's perfect homecoming queen) did, because the judges really liked their personalities. It would have been nice if they paid a wee bit more attention to their singing, because they're both pretty mediocre. Now for the annoying contestants ... Danny Noriega has a terrific voice, but yeesh, something about him just screams DRAMA QUEEN, and he's already starting to bug the sh*t out of me. David Cook, the rocker with the blue tongue and wild hair, annoys the sh*t out of me because he's supposed to be this totally cool rocker dude, yet he sings in a way-too-close-to-Muzak style. And the Janis Joplin rocker nurse? Simon's spot on (as always) - you know exactly how she's going to sing every single song.

I'm a bit ambivalent about Josiah, the 18-year-old homeless, er, kid living out of his car. On one hand, his passion and vulnerability are truly compelling. As for dismissing the band, not a good move, but hey, he's 18. Cut him a break. I just worry for the guy because if he gets cut, yikes, I don't know if I want to witness the aftermath. I was touched by Byrd's attempt to help the guy. He couldn't get through the song after FIVE attempts, yet she still approached him in the hallway at 3:30 AM, after a loooooooooong day, and offered him a chance at another run-through. 99.9% of the human population would have said "it's 3:30 in the morning, I've been at this for twenty hours, F*CK THIS KID!" Although his final audition was indeed a train wreck, I'd actually like to see him in the final 24 because there is something unique and different about him.

I'll be missing my Miami ladies Corliss and Brittany. Brittany for sure is out (saw her crying way hard), and Corliss didn't look too happy either. We haven't heard them sing in Hollywood yet, but it looks like my two fave hotties, Drew Poppelreiter (the farmboy straight out of Porn Central Casting) and Jason Rich (the farmboy who forgot the words THREE TIMES during his first audition) are still in it. Hey, since there's no way I'm going to like all 24 semifinalists, at least let me enjoy some really delicious impure thoughts. Zowie, who knew agriculture could be so damn sexy??

Final note: THANK GOD they did away with the group numbers. Why the f*ck did the AI producers force the contestants in previous seasons to endure something that had nothing to do with their chances of success on the show? Sure, they do group numbers on the show, but nobody votes for you based on those Velveeta-fests. The group numbers were drama for drama's sake ... spare me. And good riddance!!

Rudy, are you sure? I was looking out for both of them (for the same reason you were ) and they didn't focus on either of their auditions. Did they make it through on the "second chance" audition? How'd I miss it?

BTW, I really like the concept of the "second chance" a capella audition. It's a way to save someome who's really talented who might have had a meltdown or picked a terrible song for their full audition.

I don't get the Josiah attraction. From the first time we saw him I thought he was a snotty kid, and he showed it last night when he dismissed the band. And he's no more homeless than I am - he's a punk kid acting out against his parents.

I do think this is a much more talented universe of singers than last year. In particular, the male singers are much better than last year's men. I LOVED the guy who sang "Bohemian Rhapsody" - that's such a hard song to sing, and I think Danny Noriega and David Hernandez were both amazingly good. I need a bit more time to separate some of the female singers, though - other than Asia'h (sp?) few of them were truly memorable.

In case you are interested, a lot of the contestants still have their myspace pages up so you can hear them singing "their kind of music" before they have to sing the pageant songs. I would think that once the Top 24 is revealed tonight, those with music on the net will probably have to take them down. That Brooke White girl has a decent take on Aerosmith's "Dream On" although her voice doesn't have the intense, rocker/raspy/dirty quality that you would expect to hear. Some of them have blogged that they didn't make the cut so don't go searching if you don't want to know!

Also, Melinda released "My Funny Valentine" yesterday. It's an interesting arrangemet.

I saw Drew smiling and cheering as one of the top 50, and I think (but not sure) I saw Jason Rich somewhere in the background. We'll find out tonight, though. I'm glad I'm not the only big perv AI fan

MDG, I can't believe kids are posting their status on their Myspace pages. Aren't they bound by a confidentiality agreement? After all, if they blurt it out in advance of the show, it kills all the who made it/who got cut drama.

I am SO glad to hear that, Rudy. You made my day. I was in the middle of a horrible day at work, and about 2 hours ago I remembered AI will be on tonight AND so will Project Runway. It's put such a smile on my face after what has been a lousy, lousy day. I really need to get a life.

Amanda Overmeyer is my fav thus far. She rocks! What an incredible voice.

It interesting to see how people who sounded so good in the first audition just crash when they have to sing on that Hollywood stage.

Hardly any surprises really in the top 24 (except possibly the plus-sized model making it). I still wonder what ever happened to the hot religious nut from Stout, Iowa. He was definitely seen in the background on Tuesday making the top 50... but he was nowhere to be seen Wednesday. I'm glad that ridiculous politician geek didn't make it. I'm always amazed by Idol's reluctance to show footage of several of the top 24 during the early rounds. It is so unfair to those people to never show them at all until they've made the top 24.

No hot farmboys in the Top 24?!? Season 7 just went into the crapper for me!! Hottie factor aside, I'm bummed that Drew Poppelreiter didn't make it because he was a gen-yoo-wine country singer, and I love country boys (especially when they look like Drew). And Jason Rich was in the top 50 but didn't even merit a "sorry, you didn't make it" bit?? Clearly the AI producers' priorities differ from mine.

I was almost flabbergasted when Simon gushed over Kyle (the geeky aspiring politician). Is this the same Simon of the naked, unvarnished disdain toward Clay Aiken? And he LOVED the plus-sized model, who basically sings like a Celine wannabe, but of course without Celine's pipes ... wtf?? Is this the same Simon Cowell who constantly rakes contestants over the coals for attempting a Whitney/Mariah/Celine song? Maybe he's getting a bit soft in his old age.

Still, a talented (if rather un-hot) bunch this season. I guess my favorite is Carly, the Irish lass, and Michael, the Aussie. It's funny how they speak in their native accents yet sound totally American when singing. I know, this has been happening since the British Invasion, get used to it. But it still amuses me.

David Archuleta seemed like he was the youngest contestant of all... but in reading the bios of the top 24 contestants, the two youngest are girls that were never shown: Alaina Whitaker and Alexandrea Lushington, who are both 16. Three of the guys are 17 years old: David Archuleta, Colton Berry and Garrett Haley. And here's your useless fact of the day: Jason Yeager, a never-before-seen member of the top 24, is from the same hometown as season one's 3rd-place finisher Nikki McKibbin (Grand Prairie, TX).

My predictions for who'll make it to the top 12 (in no particular order):
1. Amanda Overmyer
2. Brooke White
3. Carly Smithson
4. Kristy Lee Cook
5. Ramiele Malubay
6. Asia'h Epperson
7. David Archuleta
8. Michael Johns
9. Luke Menard
10. David Cook
11. David Hernandez
12. Chikeze Eze

I thought he started well on the previous song but it just went bad for me and I was cringing. I was flabbergasted when the judges said how great it was.



I loooooooooved the way she sang "Light My Fire," though. Considering that the one guy whose voice I actually liked in the early auditions was long gone, I was happy about her performance.

Okaaaaay! I just wanted to yell, "You go girl!"

my top 3

1. aussie dude michael johns! hot!

2. filipina chick ramiel malubay! she's from country. she's cute and can sing. GO ramiel!

3. irish lass carly smithson....although i think she's a bit overrated.


special shout-out to the 16 year old kid david archuleta. what a cutie!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-MG-IoN9ER4&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=z8SJXDPE_sQ&feature=related

OMG a young david archuleta singing "and i'm not telling you i'm not going"....lol

More tidbits on some of the finalists:

- MCA Records spent more than $2.2 million on the career of Carly Smithson when she was signed to their label.

- Michael Johns' band "The Rising," was originally signed to Madonna's Maverick Records.

- Robbie Carico dated Britney Spears (pre-meltdown) when his band was the opening act on one of Spears' tours.

Probably the best arguement for splitting the competition into two age categories. Maybe an under 15 show would be interesting.

However if you listen carefully it is obvious that even then he could not compete with the past performances of that song on Idol, unless you give him points for his age in that video - something home voters might well do, but I doubt Simon would, for long. His timing is rushed and his high notes are limited. The first can be taught but the latter is more of a gift.

I might be wrong though. He did seem to get some sympathy for the health problems he has had in the current audition, even from Simon.

But I like that a lot of unestablished, but experienced, performers are getting a second chance in the current Idol. It raises the level of quality on the show. Edit to add: as for Michael Johns, I'll enjoy looking at him while I can, and as a tennis player he may have the body to pull off the sex appeal too. But I would not be surprised if he went the way of another sultry "white soul singer" Elliot Yamin. There are not many who can truly follow Sam Cooke's A Change Gonna Come. The competition this year looks pretty tough. I'm looking forward to seeing even better.

Also some rather less than glamorous gossip on Michael Johns.

Jason Castro was head and shoulders above the others overall tonight IMO: original styling, stage presence, sexy and very good vocal control. A really nice understated performance. And thanks to the cameraman for all those shots of his cowboy-like wide stance from behind. Even nicer than the front. And I'm getting use to the dreads.

David Archuleta was solid. He is a little songbird. I think he could do even better though.

Michael Johns was not very good IMO. The pressure of going last may have gotten to him. That song was not him.

Not much after those three. And some were truly disappointing. Letting in the "pros" certainly doesn't seem to have raise the bar much. Not this year at least.

Is it me or is the "oooooo how you doin" level up a notch this year?

david archuleta FTW!!!

I don't think the "How u doin?" notch is up that high-- That is blown completely off the charts! LOL

I think the age of the younger guys adds a bit of androgyny.... but there is definitely a good chance for a 25% chance- which will be interesting to see how those contestants do.

My favorite comments of the night "I look like Ellen Degeneres"- to which you know he will be on her show quickly LOL- then Danny's little snippet back at Simon and Ryan's deadpan comment about 2 snaps hahaha

I thought that mostly the guys showed why they were at least selected for the Top 12. To me, little Garrett was the worst of the night and gave me the "Why in hell are you there over Josiah?"... Luke Menard was dull and forgettable.

My worry is that one of my favorites- David H- who was solid and has terrific voice- went first and may be a bit forgettable for the voters.

The five I would pick from the night- David A, David H, David C, Mark John, Jason Castro,

I would immediately eliminate Luke, Garrett and Chikeze (arrogant ass tonight)

The following would get a chance to prove more: Jason (my crush- sweet guy singing for Grandma-I swear they turned the sound down for his), Robbie (nice voice, but Simon called it right- he is a feau rocker), Danny (love his ballads, tonight was horrible) and Colton (surprised by his nice voice- needs to prove it again).

Like Simon said that Archuleta kid has it- but i did like the Hernandez the best- that bitchy Noriega is this years Sanjaja- and why did they pick that creepy Haley creature ( ewww) Michael Johns is definetly the man among the boys.

I think Haley is most likely to be this year's Sanjaya. The only thing that might save us is splitting votes among all the younger contestants, especially David....

Noriega has talent- his Proud Mary and his Hollywood performances were amazing.... Sanjaya never wowed me like that... and Danny is not pretending to be someone he is not, ala Sanjaya. Danny is f**king hilarious and I love that he has gotten through to the Top 12 guys and hope he makes it to the Top 12 overall if he sings like he can.

I love the backup singers!

They always look like they are having so much fun.

josiah on ellen.

http://www.rickey.org/?p=7114#more-7114

I was partway through watching the show after the hockey game ended, and came thisclose to deleting it from my DVR and not watching it again. I'm tired of hearing about this "incredible" talent and the complete stupidity coming out of the mouths of two of the three judges. Then Danny Noriega said he was going to show his "swagger" and I thought, he might be this year's Sanjaya. Then he performed, and that confirmed it! He's got to stay on to keep me interested -- he's just got to! I even called and voted for him! Twice!

The moment he gets sent home is the moment I stop watching this year, unless maybe one of the women is a similar train wreck.

Sorry JIP. My bottom two (and it was hard to narrow it down because there was much suckage) are Danny and Chikezie. Sanjaya and Wayne Brady must go!

I must say I do like Adam David Archuleta but it could be my old (non-sexual) crush on Sharkboy at work. There I said it.

Sigh...I'm glad the writer's strike has ended.

I meant to ask, when did Jacuzzi...I mean, Chikezie, drop his last name?

I would have to say Jacuzzi and Luke won't be making it. Even though Luke is sure easy on the eyes, and a dead ringer for Orlando Bloom, he doesn't have much else to offer.
Also, I really hope that David A. is as really as sincere as he is coming off as. You really can't help liking him. David H was a pleasant surprise - and Danny - should be a little less "Danny"next week.

As I was working on finding pics for KOTH, I was partly watching but for the most part listening to the show.
None of them impressed me. I did see Michael Lee Johns and he did have stage presence, but I think he overperformed the song.

1. 11 girls on the chairs. Carly missing?
2. Too many Davids.
3. Eliminate all the guys and just keep Michael Lee Johns and Jailbait David. They will be your top 2 men. Hispanic David has potential but he is just bland & boring. Jason Castro should have busted out his drum set and wailed instead of playing the guitar and boring me to death.

4. The one who thinks he's, to quote Christian from Project Runway, "Ferocia Coutura" and looks like Ben from "So You Think You Can Dance - Season 2" is annoying but at least he's good for tv. So keep the princess for at least a couple more weeks. Then chop off her head.

5. The remainder of the guys should just quit & go home.

I really hope the girls are better. But I also hope it's not a night filled with Aretha, Celine, Whitney & Mariah.

Oh, I'm watching my local news now and they are featuring an interview with....guess who...yes, Michael Lee Johns. And there was a shot of him sitting with Ryan in what looked like a radio interview setting. Pimp alert. Pimp alert. Nothing mentioned about the other boys.

Sh*t Maddog! If Adam Archuleta was on idol. he would definitely have my vote!

I thought Jason Castro was the best of the night, and it's frustrating that he wasn't shown at all during the audition rounds. Like some of the others have said, David Hernandez is really good, but the fact he was up first could mean he's in trouble. Luke is very hot to me, but he was practically whispering tonight and I think he's in danger of going home. Archuleta... you can't help but like him, and he's almost a sure-thing to still be in the competition all the way to the month of May.

As this show's gone on for years now, we as fans tend to judge them harsher and require more. If you look back at the first few seasons, the early-round performances were full of clinkers and some god awful voices. Nothing was terrible tonight. Some were boring, but all of them have talent. Simon must've been paying attention when everyone kept saying he was being too nice to the contestants this year. He was mean tonight I thought.

They should have let Josiah into the Top 12. At least he was quirky, different and brought something new to the table. Unlike that stick in the mud who sounded like Kenny Loggins or that cheesy lounge guy who sang "Moon Fu*&ing River". Of all the great songs in the 60's and he chooses THAT song? I mean, come on. This is not "Lawrence Welk presents: Bubblelicious! The search for the next Andy Williams". No, that show's on PBS.

And one more thing. Wasn't the theme of the show "Songs from the 60's"? If so, why did Ferocia Coutura sing "Jailhouse Rock"? Isn't that song from the 50's?

Yeah- Josiah should have been invited to this group. Although, I think we are being pretty rough on these performances.... and the reason that Jason chose "Moon River" to dedicate to his deceased grandmother was quite sweet, but often a kiss of death. But you can tell he can sing.

The contestant that most drove me crazy was Robbie Carrico- pretty boy model looks trying to be a rocker- completely inauthentic and Simon called him on it. He can sing- but sing pop, man. He has no edge to his voice.

I did not even recognize Chikeze Eze's song until halfway through- not a good sign. I think the alliteration in his name led to the last name drop.

Luke Mened is so unforegettable- his performance sucked and he was hardly shown throughout the process, so I really think he is gone.

I think some of the A.I. audience will not be motivated to vote for Danny- Ferocia Coutura might be ready to get out his Hairspray tomorrow. But I hope he lasts... That would be "So Fierce...and that is something because I have met some Fierce bitches in my day." (one of my fave Project Runway quotes from "Raw TAlent" along with "Joan Rivers signed her initials here when she was a little girl"- when they were in the Egyptian room when they were at the MMoA)

Besides Luke- I think David Hernandez, Jason Yeager, and Colton Berry will be in trouble.

My hope is for the strongest singers in the Top 6 guys- who is VFTW pimping?

hahaha @ ferocia coutura. that was funny.

seriously, i hate danny's rampant faggotry on the show. i mean come on now. if he's gonna act like a bitch, at least deliver an unbelievable vocal.

jason castro was the best? he was good, but not oh my gawd i blew my load good.

archuleta has the total package. i expect him to get better in the coming weeks.

My take on the contestants ...
David Hernandez. His "arrangement" of Midnight Hour was basically the same as the one he did for "Love The One You're With," i.e., unusually slow start, then the rest straight karaoke. Hardly original. He sang it OK, but bland - the whole thing just screamed "Demo Singer."
Chikezie. Yikes. If you pulled up an old tape of "The Midnight Special," this performance came straight out of those archives. This whole performance (suit included) was straight out of the 1970s, but not in a good way. And then the guy was idiot enough to defend that pastel leisure suit. Worst of the night.
David Cook. Pretty good, clever arrangement, decent vocals. What bothers me about this guy is (egads, am I really this superficial? YUP, you betcha!) his looks are so wrong for the image he's going for. He wants to be this rough edgy rocker dude, but the looks project anything but. And then the whole mic stand thing and the wallet chain? To me, he's the oh-so-faux rocker of this bunch, not Robbie.
Jason Yeager. My head sunk into my hands when he started singing "Moon River." If Chikezie was "The Midnight Special," this was straight out of Lawrence Welk. He seems like a nice guy, so it pains me to say this, but that might be the corniest performance I've ever seen on AI.
Robbie Carrico. So-so song choice. I buy the whole rocker thing from this guy, but I wasn't wowed by the performance.
David Archuleta. I can't help but smile (ear to ear) when I see this kid. He's 17, but he looks like he's 10. He's so cute (in a stuffed animal, NOT an impure thoughts, sort of way) I just want to squish him. He was by far my favorite of the night, the only performance that I went back and re-watched, but I don't think it has much to do with the vocal.
Danny Noriega. To quote Simon from Season 5, "That was like some hideous party performance!" All it needed was a rhinestone Elvis jumpsuit.
Luke Menard. The hottest guy of the 12, but that's some serious faint praise. Completely forgettable performance.
Garrett Haley. They put this guy in the top 24 and not one of my two white-hot farmboys?! WTF?!? Jason Rich and Drew Poppelreiter would at least provide some serious eye candy. I take it back. Chikezie deserves a Grammy compared to this guy. This was just muzak-hideous. By the way, I didn't think Simon was being mean as much as just brutally honest. Come on, the guy's appearance is kinda scary. I know Garret can't help that he looks like an elf and doesn't tip a hundred on the scale, but let's face it, these are not the looks of a successful pop star.
Jason Castro. Damn good performance, and that's tough for me to say because I have a horrible prejudice against white guys with dreadlocks.
Michael Johns. Terrific, best of the night. I'm always a bit suspicious of white soul singers, but I believe it with this guy. But for the record, he's no Elliot Yamin.

VFTW is pimping Danny Noriega because he's the one Simon hated the most. I'm PRAYING Garret goes because the guy makes me cringe, but maybe he'll get some pity votes after Simon attacked his physical appearance. Jason and Luke are my picks for elimination.

PS: I logged onto Drew Poppelreiter's myspace page because, like I said, I'm a big perv. Apparently the guy has thousands of fans (2828 "friends"), 99% of whom are gushy tweenage girls. A bit humbling to see that I fit perfectly into the "Tiger Beat" demographic.

LOL I guess I'm still not over the end of the football season...I will go back and correct it.

In the past we've had Clay Aiken, Chris Daughtry, and Melinda Doolittle who should have won their respective years as they showed they had the talent fairly early on. This year I think it will be different. David Archuleta is showing he can be the Idol, and I think this year they'll actually have the right person win.

The 2008 American Idol.....David Archuleta!