Top 12 Men – American Idol

Rudy Cardenas — He seems comfortable enough on stage and I thought the song was fun. But for some reason he’s not my favorite. Perhaps it feels like he’s putting on a show rather than really connecting with the audience. And I’m not sure I love the timbre of his voice. I do like the fact that Randy is being a bit more open and I generally agree with Simon.

Brandon Rogers – I like his personality a lot. He’s well spoken and I love the richness of his voice. He seems genuine. The playing up to the camera did remind me a bit of Justin from season 1 though – I mean, a little bit of camera gazing is okay, but singing only to the camera rather than to the live audience, not my favorite thing. Okay, so I do love his voice, but I didn’t really like the song. About half way through I was ready to fast-forward. But he did take the criticism fairly well.

Sundance Head – I really like how genuine he seems – the fact that he would talk about how truly nervous he got during Hollywood week and how he just knew he was going to go home – I think people will really respond to him. Ohh, bad song. You could tell he was really nervous. I think he was trying so hard. Kind of painful to listen to. Ohh, I wanted him to do well so much. That’s got to be tough! I hope he stays at least another week. I think he will because he’s well-liked.

Paul Kim — There wasn’t anything I liked about his performance. Maybe he just hit me the wrong way initially, but I predict he won’t stay very long. If I weren’t blogging and analyzing performances, I would have fast-forwarded. I completely agreed with Simon on his assessment. (And about the shoes thing too!) I mean, put on your shoes and be normal.

Chris Richardson — For some reason, watching his interview puts a smile on my face. The head shaking was distracting and the popping up and down I didn’t love. I was a bit disappointed tonight with his performance – I still like him but I think I was expecting more from him. Again, agree with Simon.

Nick Pedro — Salesman, hmm… maybe that’s why he doesn’t seem as genuine as some of the others. (No, offense to sales people everywhere.) I think he picked the wrong song. Not a great performance. I think he’ll go home this week (disagree with Simon on this one.) The vote for Pedro thing was pretty good though, so maybe he’ll make it another week.

Blake Lewis — The outfit was a little bit too “boy next door” for what I was expecting. But I really liked the vocals. I think he’s going to do very well in this competition.

Sanjaya Malakar — What a cutie! What’s up with the song choices tonight? He can sing, but I did NOT like the song choice. It’s too old fashioned and slow for someone 17 years old. I think he’ll be back next week, but hope he picks something better to sing. I do feel bad for him with the criticism from the judges, that’s hard for anyone to take but he handled it well.

Chris Sligh — I’ve nicknamed him “Curly Chris”. He just cracks me up. LOL! I’m sure his showmanship will get better. I really like his voice, but didn’t love the song. I hope he stays around for a long time because he adds a lot of flair.

OHHH Simon was mad – and very rude with the Teletubbies comment! If he would have said that to a girl – the fallout would have been huge. I think Chris took it well. Ryan and Simon – what is up with that? They’re like little kids – let’s just play nice boys.

Jared Cotter — Smooth. He has a nice voice and is really a cute guy. I thought the song was a little pitchy in places, and I’m just not loving the slow song choices tonight. I’m not sure his personality has been shown enough to get him a big enough fan base to keep him. I did agree with Simon on this one too.

AJ Tabaldo — Wow – he has tenacity to keep trying for 5 seasons. He has a nice voice and is a cute guy. I just don’t think he stands out enough.

Phil Stacey — Darling little girl and I liked him on his interview. But I did not like the song, it was very bad in the beginning but he hit some great notes at the end. I’m not sure what to take from him, is he a rocker, a sweet dad, or a ballad singer? I like him, but I’m not sure he’ll stay around very long.

My predictions about who will go home: Paul, Nick, or AJ

My favorites from tonight: Blake, and Curly Chris

Total Voters: 0