When Simon was asked about the awards won and albums sold by Idol, he seemed proud of AI’s track record. I kind of felt like all those awards and record sales indicate a music industry that is damned near out of new ideas. This isn’t a good thing.

Just call it a difference of opinion.

Rudy Cardenas renders a lovely karaoke performance of “Free Ride.” Okay, that might be a little harsh, but it really was (as Randy said) cheesy.

I hate Paula’s hair.

Commercial Aside: I love those new Dominos commercials with the big-eyed, big-mouthed, big-eared mutants. Mutants are cool.

Things I like about Brandon Rogers: he is experienced, he is talented, he has a good look, and, at 29, he’s all grown up. Let me emphasize that last bit: he actually acts like a grown-up, and it is greatly appreciated.

Still, for as good as his voice is, his performance was off. It simply wasn’t as good as I expected. He needs to take Randy’s advice—simplify the style—and come out with more confidence. He has all the potential in the world, but he needs to perform better in the coming weeks if he expects to stay on the show.

Paula’s hair isn’t getting any better.

Sundance should feel lucky to be on the show, but not in a good way. His first audition was great, but everything that he has done since has been horrible, including his performance tonight. He chose to go safe with “Nights in White Satin”—but safe didn’t turn out well.

Pitchy, uncomfortable, and unimpressive. The g-phrase gets it right: what did he do with the guy from that first audition. Just say no to Sundance.

Luckily for Sundance, though, Paul Kim was even worse. There was no good to find in his minute and a half.

If a good voice were the main requirement for the show, I’m not sure that Chris Richardson’s nasal voice would have had him shipped home long ago. At least he gets the crowd involved, though—his performance was better than most even if his voice wasn’t.

Seriously, what’s with Paula’s hair?

Nick Pedro has an entirely different problem. His voice could really stand out, but he is a bland performer doing an overly safe job on a terribly boring song. It wasn’t good.

But he does get the “Vote for Pedro” crowd, which almost seems unfair.

How can Blake Lewis ride the beatbox thing, I asked myself when it was his turn to sing. The answer was better than I expected. He is smart enough to know that he can’t ride it all the way through—it sets him apart, but not in an entirely good way. Tonight, without even a touch of beatbox, he gives a really good performance.

I didn’t think he had the charisma, I wasn’t sure he had the voice, but damned if he didn’t do best of all the guys tonight. He was the first one to sound as if he actually belonged on the show.

Girl Scout Cookie Aside: Tagalongs are my own personal kryptonite. In case you were wondering.

Could Sanjaya Malakar be a more likeable guy? Seriously, he’s a sweet kid with a decent voice and he looks like a teen idol in the making. He started out a little rough, but he pulled himself together and gave a decent performance—I’m going to have to disagree with all of the judges on this one and say that the kid sounded pretty good.

Full disclosure, though: I’ve never heard the Stevie Wonder original, so I’m not comparing the performance to any specific knowledge of the song.

Poor Sanjaya took it on the chin tonight.

My emotional favorite is definitely Chris Sligh. He’s funny and he’s born to be a performer—luckily, he can actually sing a bit, too, and he knows how to get the audience excited. I give the guy a thumbs up, although I wonder if he can sell albums to teenage girls, and believe that Simon is really talking about the commercial limitations when he’s complaining about Chris’ voice.

Jared could sell songs to teenage girls—but they aren’t very well known for their discerning taste. He won me over when he sang “Cupid” in an earlier performance, but his shot tonight was hideous and messy.

AJ. Yeah. Whatever.

Unhappy Sudden Realization Aside: What the hell do you mean House isn’t on tonight? Stupid bastards.

At moments like this, I really hate American Idol. 

For an active duty navy guy, Phil Stacey does a good impression of a singer. He has a powerful voice—although you wouldn’t have known it from the early portion of his performance tonight—and he has a more masculine presence than most of the other contestants. At first, he sounded like he was being submerged under the music, but once he found his footing, he was brilliant—definitely one of the best of the night.

It wasn’t a memorable night, but there are a few of these guys who have real potential.