As far as opening rounds go, it was pretty good. No one truly painful to watch or hear. There were the usual early-week mistakes. Bad song choices hurt Danny Noriega and Jason Yeager. Nerves hampered David Hernandez and Luke Menard. And Garrett Haley and Jason Yeager showed that there were reasons why they didn't get their closeups until now. (Hey judges, did you happen to catch Josiah Leming on "Ellen" today? Did you hear he's got a bunch of labels after him now and that he's sold $15,000 in music off his MySpace? Just wondering.)
On the plus side, Jason Castro proved himself a possible contender, despite his early lack of screen time. And David Cook turned out to be a gamer, ready to challenge early favorites David Archuleta and Michael Johns, who both proved to be savvy and strong performers.
THE RANKINGS
1. Michael Johns, “Light My Fire”
2. David Cook, “Happy Together”
3. David Archuleta, “Shop Around”
4. Jason Castro, “Daydream”
5. Colton Berry, “Suspicious Minds”
6. Danny Noriega, “Jailhouse Rock”
7. David Hernandez, “In the Midnight Hour”
8. Robbie Carrico, “One”
9. Luke Menard, “Everybody’s Talkin’”
10. Jason Yeager, “Moon River”
11. Chikezie, “Yesterday”
12. Garrett Haley, “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do”
WILL BE CUT: Jason and Garrett
SHOULD BE CUT: Garrett and Chikezie
ACTUALLY CUT: Garrett and Colton