Okay, let me just say it is so great to be able to watch the vocal performances of a two hour tv show in 20 minutes the next morning on the internet. And I didn’t have to miss the Canada-Russia hockey game last night.

On to the issue at hand, the top 12 guys sang last night on American Idol. Let me start with my main issue.

Casey James. He’s from TX. When they asked him who his favorite male artist was, he said Doyle Bramhall II. So he had a headstart on everyone for me. But I really hope they let the whole Kara thing go. All anybody noticed last night was what he looked like. It felt like the whole show played on that topic. I hope they let him dress normal and sing a normal song. I mean I think the love song, playing on the whole idea will definitely get him through the first few weeks. But I was afraid that’s all there was until he hit the bridge. Then I heard a singer I might like to hear from some more. So here’s supporting the home state boy. Looking forward to what’s coming.

Alex Lambert’s performance was so uncomfortable. I didn’t notice till it was over that I really liked his voice. He’s got an incredible talent. He just needs to go sing a ton of shows for a couple of years and grow into it. I hope they will work with him. It would be really great to see him blossom through the show. He’s got the voice, and I look forward to hearing him take on something not tailormade for his voice. I think it might be really cool.

Okay, I don’t know how long Michael Lynche will be around, but he just makes you happy. He’s fun. And he’s got a great voice. He was stronger pitchwise than anyone else. I thought taking on the Maroon 5 song was great.

Jermaine Sellers was definitely one of the best voices of the night, when he stayed in a lower to mid register. When he went really high, he was one of the worst. I hope he can find a way to stay in his powerhouse. His R&B will add some interesting arrangements to the nights, I hope.

I enjoyed Joe Munoz, and think he’s one of the better singers. I thought he did a great job with Jason Mraz song. He took it from intimate at the first to fun in the middle. It connected him with the audience. Hope he sticks around for a while.

I like John Park’s voice. I hope he gets to stay. Singing jazz right off the bat may not connect him to a whole lot of people. But I enjoyed it. Of course, I’m not Simon, who looked a little frustrated in the one shot you could see him in.

Andrew Garcia has some potential. All anyone talked about was what he did to get here. Apparently he covered Straight Up by Paula Abdul. Interesting choice. But today he did an acoustic version of Fall Out Boy. It didn’t quite work. But I appreciated taking the chance. I think he might bring some interesting things the next few weeks. It’s kind of like Casey though, they just shove the story down your throat. I’m glad he’s a dad. It’s cool to hear about that, but he’s a musician too. Looking forward to more of that.

How to end? Todrick Hall was one of the few really confident stage-owning guys. Will look forward to next week to see if he can sing. Aaron Kelly is a good young country singer. I think he will grow into it. Don’t know if he’s there right now. I think they can help him pick a better key, even if they just move it a half step to get it into his powerhouse range.

So what did you guys think? Look forward to hearing from some of you.

Todd