the awesome/terrifying freedom

ok, well, before i start, lets look back to the days of the season 1 - where justin guarini would have been decimated by any one of these guys. oh except for that federov guy. guarini could take that kid.

nikko smith: who smith? nikko who? simon was right. zero charisma. glasses + hat = the boy with no face.

bo brice and constantine maroulis: the long haired angsties. simon says maroulis has more charisma. i disagree. though the way he glares at the camera and sings about roses on graves, maroulis does have a kind of charisma. the aileen wournous kind of charisma.

as for bo. eh. let's see how he does on motown night.

anthony federov makes my skin crawl. dolan is right. he is not gay. he is actually part of a very rare breed, same with that red haired boy from last year - he is a 'choir jock,' a breed that seems to evolve exclusively from church youth groups.

anwar robinson and david brown: one of these guys was really good, sang 'moon river.' the other one was boring and simon's comments visibly shook him. can't remember which is which. oh well.

judd harris: that hobbit kid from last year was weirdly cute enough to last a few weeks pulling out weird elvis covers like this, but judd is too bland to be remembered, or to even garner sympathy votes.

scott savol: yes, clay and rueben don't 'look like' american idols, but they both had charisma. ruben's charms seems to have since completely disappeared, but he did have an infectious, positive stage energy. scott's voice is nice, but no charisma. sorray.

joseph murena: change your name. for some reason i liked him even though he sang michael bolton in the style of michael bolton. and his online interview clip is cute in a long islandy way. can't tell yet if he's gay. i'm gonna say no at this point. gay boys do not sing michael bolton in the style of michael bolton.

travis tucker and jared yates: super cute, but both playing the guarini smile card a little too often. jared's online interview is horribly awkward. the kid can't seem to fathom that he's made it this far, and in a way that nearly says he'd rather not be there. i dunno. and his performance was soo enrique, which is not a compliment. oh, and the boy is gay. he's going to be amazingly hot in five years, and he's going to be sooo gay. jared yates is gay.

travis seems to be a funny, cute, affable, genuine guy. i think he'll make the top 12. not gay.

mario vasquez: yeah, he's good, but i'm a little non-plussed. he seems to be the favorite here in the office. i kinda feel like he can step into the chorus of 'rent' and stay there for ten years. probably gay.