AI S4, Top12 Guys, 2/21/05

Overall I was fairly happy with the first show, nobody really took much of a chance (other than the 
non-rocker rocking), but the voices were nice and the performances not painfully bland.  Decent start, 
hope it gets much better.  In an interesting twist, three guys sang Stevie, and they make up my top3...

1. Mario Vazquez: Very nice, and you can never go wrong with Stevie (unless you suck).  He managed to 
stick some extra high junk in there without sounding too contrived, and showed off his range nicely.  
Very solid, and worked the stage nicely as well.

2. Travis Tucker: Excellent song, and excellent rendition, this guy's got an amazingly smooth vocal.  Very
laid-back, cool tone.  Didn't take too many chances, might even call it boring, but he sounded wonderful, 
and that's what really counts.  (Oh, and those that didn't think he sounded good can kiss my...)

3. Nikko Smith: Nikko had the dubious pleasure of starting the show off, and did a decent job of it.  
Sounded good, I really like his voice, but the performance was marred by quite a few pitch problems.  
Showed solid range (perhaps too much, considering the difficulties he had) and some solid runs - most of 
his problems came at the end of phrases when he was out of breath.  Good song, liked the red/black look, 
good start to the show.

4. Anwar Robinson: I've liked this guy all the way through, and this was decent.  Started off a bit 
bland, but picked up in the middle with some nice stretch notes and a few power passages.  Nothing 
mind-blowing, but an alright job.  Weird jacket though...

5. Steve Savol: This guy weirds me out.  He's just weird.  Like, seriously weird.  We're talkin 
axe-murderer weird.  But anyway, he can sing.  The song was a bit boring (as was the shirt), but he's 
got a wonderful voice.

6. Judd Harris: This was the only song I didn't know, and well, I can see why.  Decent rock rendition, 
but it didn't really tell me anything about his voice.  All right performance, but I hope he doesn't make 
the rock thing a standard tact.

7. Ant Fedorov: Yeah, I don't really like this kid.  No real reason why, he just rubs me wrong.  But 
anyway, decent job, he's got a passable voice.  Well, actually, he's got a very nice voice, but he's also 
boring as all hell.  He sounded good all the way through ('cept a bit on the last note), but blah, 
I don't really care.

8. Joseph Murena: Nice voice, nice performance.  I don't really like the song, but it worked for him, 
certainly beats Michael Bolton's (insert office space joke) version.  A bit boring, but other 
than that, nice.

9. Bo Bice: I was really surprised when they let this guy through, but he's got a very nice voice.  
Drift Away is a very solid song (considering its country leanings) and he put in a solid effort.  Wish 
he'd sing it with a little less country style though, that doesn't bode well for the future, since country 
sucks.  Certainly can't see this guy winning the competition, but well done nonetheless.

10. Constantine Maroulis: Our resident rocker comes out with a soft-rock ballad I haven't heard in forever.  
He's got a nice voice, but a lot of the notes he hits almost sound like he isn't really trying, and they 
don't come off all that well (think this was what Randy thought was 'off-key').  He also has a few sketchy 
phrasing issues that I'd guess come from listening to too many crappy post-grunge "modern rock" bands 
(think DC101).  Meh, don't think he's good enough to become the first rocker to push deep in this. 

11. David Brown: Meh, I never was all that impressed by this guy, and this didn't really do anything 
to change that.  Sounded decent, decent song, just decent.

12. Jared Yates: Blah, this one's a definite 'meh'.  Too much fake emotion, too much lack of any real 
enthusiasm, too boring, too non-good.  Reminded me of some kind of screwy cross between Timberlake and 
Iglesias, minus the talent.  Not gonna get it done, he better learn how to say goodbye soon.