American Idop Recap: Top 12 Guys

So last night I live blogged my thoughts on American Idol. Yeah, it would have been good if I actually posted it. Well, so much for the LIVE part of live blogging. The Top 12 guys performed tonight, and there were some early favorites from me. I’ll be honest, since I was away I missed most of Hollywood week, so for me this was the first time hearing some of these guys. Here’s what I was thinking as the Top 12 guys were performing.

Rudy Cardenas – The boy has to annunciate the lyrics more. His voice sounded ok, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying half the time. The judges don’t think he’s all that distinctive and unique…yeah, I agree.

Brandon Rogers – One of the former backup singers. He got my attention with his dreamy eyes. The boy knows how to eye-frak the camera. He has a nice range and some nice moves that Paula will enjoy (keep it clean). The judges like him but want him to take a few more challenges.

Sundance Head – First off, I’m glad this guy finally covered up that chest hair. His first audition was great, but he keeps going a little off key. He’s a bit sharp throughout most of the song. He’s doing that American Idol thing where he’s following the camera with his eyes and doing too many hand gestures. Not terrible, but not great tonight.

…um, is Paula coherent tonight? I think she might be off the meds.

Paul Kim – When this guy gets into his mid range he has a great voice, but on the lower notes he is WAY too breathy, and he has no falsetto – completely out of key. His breathing was all wrong, but I’m going to chock that one up to nerves. The judges think he more potential than what he showed tonight. But his performance did prompt Seacrest to show his bare feet so…

Chris Singelton – Not sure how old this kid is, but I guess I’ll say that he’s probably too young for me. He’s a cutie though. He looks like a cross between Justin Timberlake and Bradley Cooper, and he’s got a great style. Unfortunately his voice is a little too tinny for me. For some reason he reminds me a lot Jason Mraz. He’s going to have the girls vote for sure. I do appreciate his stage performance. I’m glad his dad isn’t in the competition because he would be voted out for his white man dancing right away. Oh Paula ripped on his dad’s dancing…LOL. 2 out 3 judges liked it. He’s not going anywhere.

Nick Pedro – Well this guy is from Taunton, MA so he’s got that edge going for him. My first thought is that this guy is super nervous. He doesn’t have much when it comes to stage performance. And like some of the other singers tonight, he’s very breathy and a tad off key. Based on this performance, I’m not sure he’s going to go far. Come on, we need a Masshole in the competiton to last longer than Ayla Brown. Paua and Randy didn’t love it, but Simon didn’t think it was that bad.

Blake Lewis – The Travis Wall look alike is adorbs and I can tell you already that he’s going to be Ducky’s #1. WOW, this kid is good. He went a little off key during the falsetto but he has a very pretty voice so I’ll forgive him. He crooned Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know” a little bit, but he did make it his own I guess. I really liked this guy. And he can thrown down a mean beat box so there! The judges liked him…I like those judges.

Sanjaya Malakar – Zzzzz.This kid is just a little off. He was so boring and just a little out of tine for half the song. And he looks like his sister. He has a nice voice, but nothing unique. He has a very natural confidence which I have to say I wasn’t expecting. So far he’s the one to go home. The judges weren’t buying it.

Chris Sligh – The floppy-haired Jack Osbourne 1.0 look alike. The kid is funny and I like him already. But besides being funny, he’s got a good voice. He’s one of those performer’s that doesn’t have great stage presence (he can’t dance), but he commands the stage…do you know what I mean? I think Chris Slight is going to be around for quite some time. The judges liked him, well Simon was torn. But Chris made a big mistake when he got sassy with Simon. Ugh and Simon and Ryan got into it…guys it’s NOT about you. Chris, don’t talk back to Simon…it never works well, and people don’t like it. Just ask Justin Guarini – it was his downfall.

Jared Cotter – His cover of Brian McKnight’s “One” was ok. I was a little bored and I thought he was a bit nasally and he went off key more than a few times. Maybe it was his nerves. But kudos for hitting the nice falsetto. And kudos for being so handsome. The judges were bored, and Simon too thought he was nasally but looked good. WOW, Simon and I are on the same page. He’s so smart.

AJ Tabaldo – I really liked this kid. I found myself bopping along with his song tonight. He really owned it and I thought he was right up there with Blake as one of tonight’s strongest performances. Good job AJ. I didn’t even know your name before but I do now. The judges didn’t like it as much as I did. I’d like to see more of this guy.

Phil Stacey – Ah, I remember this guy. He was the one whose baby was born on the day of the audition. He starts off a little shaky. When the fast part of the song kicked in so did Phil and he rocked out. He’s got a strong voice, very deep…not his voice itself but the quality was deep. I liked this guy a lot and I hope the judges do too. Randy and Paula really liked him and Simon did too, but he wasn’t all over it as much as the other too.

That’s it..that’s the boys.

My Top 5 after tonight are (in no particular order):l

Bake Lewis
Chris Richardson
AJ Tabaldo
Phil Stacey
Brandon Rogers

Who are your early favorites?