AI: The Twelve Guys

I just watched Idol and saw the 12 guys.

I'm not going to go into too much depth at this point of the season, but here are my impressions:

Nobody took any risks, and Simon hated that. I'm sorry to say that Simon is wrong about taking risks at this point in the competition - you just don't do it now. You let the weak ones die and you stay alive until you have to win, instead of not losing. At this point, you just want to not lose. Tonight was all about base hits, not home runs.

Winners:
1. AJ Tabaldo - Did an easy song perfectly and effortlessly, showing good stage presence.

2. Phil Stacy - Did an easy song quite well in the payoff chorus. Weak in the buildup, though. Wisely milked the "new baby" schtick for sympathy votes. Sucked up too obviously to Simon, though.

3. Chris Sligh - Did a good song nearly perfectly. He's smarter than any other Idol contestant I've ever seen, too. His strategy was very good on his song choice, and he got votes by challenging Simon. This guy must have read my blog from last season.

4. Blake Lewis - Did a perfect job on a good song, but didn't show off any range or stage presence. He's a sleeper.

5. Nick Pedro - Did a decent job of an easy song. He needs to show some depth, or he'll never make it to the top 12. So far, he's Boy-band all the time.

Losers:
1. Sundance Head - Geez, what was this kid thinking with that song choice? He took a big risk and it killed him. He's gone. After his poor performances in the last 2 weeks, he needed to blend in instead of being foolish. Did he sound good doing that song in rehearsals? Somehow I doubt it.

2. Paul Kim - Did an easy song poorly. Gone. The barefoot schitck works with women, not guys.

The rest were mighty boring.

Looks to me like it's going to be Chris Sligh vs. the Boy-band wannabes this season. Ugh.