The Guys: The Good, The Bad, and COPACABANA?!

Alright, tonite we have the guys. I was really anxious to hear what they had because I was a little underwhelmed with the overall performance of the women last night. There were some bright stars but overall they weren't that great. I was hoping that the guys would really come out and show us what they got. The thing that really stood out was their song choices. WOW!

Here's my ranking for the night.

Chris
Ace
Elliot
Taylor
Patrick
David
Will
Sway
Bucky
Kevin
Gedeon
Bobby

First up is Patrick Hall. "Come to My Window" is not really a song I'd expect to hear him singing, especially since he's more of a balladeer and Melissa is a rocker. But he did a good job. It wasn't amazing but it wasn't bad. It was just a good performance. And yeah, he's going to be lumped into the Clay/Anthony category (not that that is a bad thing).

David Radford. I was so scared that he'd be another John Stevens. But he's cuter and has more personality than John so that's already a step up. I think he needs to work on his stage presence because he seemed to be all over the place but I actually liked this performance. I thought he sounded great and it was a good song choice for him. He's definitely going to run into trouble with theme weeks but for now he's alright.

Bucky Covington. Ok, it's a little hard for me to listen to him speak. I had no idea what to expect from his singing and I wasn't really that impressed. I didn't really buy the rocker thing he was going for. It just sounded like a lot of growling to me. I thought the song was boring and he didn't add any spice to it. He really needs to pick it up next week or he'll be gone. I think he's going to squeak by this week.

Will Makar. Yes, he does look like Bobby Brady so you know all of the girlies are going to be into him. He's got a good voice but I don't think this was the best song choice for him. His voice just didn't seem strong enough to carry the song (even though he has a strong voice). I don't think he has to worry though. He's easily make it back next week.

Sway. Wow. This was painful for me to listen to. I'm sure I'm going to be in the minority on this one but I did not like the falsetto stuff (except for that one really high note). He was great when he was in his normal voice but the falsetto was all over the place and since the whole song was in falsetto he sounded horrible. I am sure he'll stay in but man I hope he doesn't try to sing every song with a lot of falsetto because that's going to be hard to take each week. Also, please don't try to be the next Mario Vasquez because I dont' think it's going to work.

Chris Daughtry. I was really nervous for him. He's my favorite of the guys and I think his voice is right on the edge of being amazing or really, really bad. For me, he's always been amazing. WOW, what a performance tonite! This is my favorite performance yet. It's the perfect song choice for him. It was a pretty literal interpretation but I think now that he has this one under his belt he'll be comfortable to start putting his own spin on things. He's going to do really well in the competition and I'm really excited to see what he does next.

Kevin Covais. He looks so small on the screen compared to everyone else. He's got a good strong voice but I think this wasn't a very good choice of song for him. I thought he sounded flat throughout the song. I was actually surprised that the judges liked him so much. I think they just don't want to see him leave yet. I just hope he doesn't turn into the Janay of the bunch and be horrible each week but still make it. He's probably in the bottom 3 tonite.

Gedeon McKinney. Ok, just listening to his montage already makes me not like him. I don't like the way he enunciates. every. single. syllabal. in. each. word. And that smile looks so not-genuine. And his confidence borders on cockiness. And then he comes out with "Shout" as his song choice? Are you serious?! This is not a song you perform on American Idol, it's a song you sing at weddings. And if you do perform it you can't ever do it without looking like a fool. He bugs. Ugh, I hated this performance.

Elliot Yamin. Interesting song choice. We haven't really heard this song since Ryan Starr sang it during the first season. He's got a really good voice. I loved hearing him go for the higher notes and wish he would have done it a little. He's my wild card pick for the 6th spot and I think he definitely became a front runner for that spot. Another week like this and I'd be surprised if he didn't make it. I don't know if I agree with Simon about him being the best male vocalist of all the seasons (that goes to Bo) but he's pretty damn good.

Bobby Bennett. Copacabana?! Are you shitting me? What's up with you guys? You're really singing this on American Idol and want to be taken seriously? He's not even a good vocalist. He's definitely a performer and this one fell right out of a bad Vegas show. Oh god, I'm actually embarassed for him. That was absolutely atrocious.

Ace Young. He's another one that I was really curious about. "Father Figure" was the perfect song choice for him. As soon as he opened his mouth I totally connected with his performance. This is the type of stuff that he should be doing and most likely would sell very well. I'm really impressed with him.

Taylor Hicks. The last of the big three that I was excited to see. I think he's got a good voice but he's really hard to watch because he's so awkward. This was just an ok song choice, I dont' think it really showed his vocal abilities at all. I actually wasn't all that impressed with what he did. You can tell that he really does enjoy just singing a song but I don't think this really did anything for him. It was just an average performance for me. However, there is no chance of him going home so we all get a chance to see what he does next week.

Tomorrow is going to be interesting. I'm glad we finally have a comeptiton again!