American Idol Contestants Are Getting Bolder

Wow! What a night of people combating personal odds just to shine for one night! Unlike Simon Cowell, I wouldn't call each person's performance atrocious or horrible, but I would call some of the artists and singers a little weak in the vocals.

Von Smith was up first. He sang real big for such a small guy. I think he's got a Clay Aiken image thing going on that he needs help with, but that is part of what the competition is all about. Unfortunately, this year, there were those who had the whole package - singing and presentation - and may override him vote-wise.

Taylor Vaifanua sang pretty well. There were a little few cracks here and there, but she held her own.

Alex Wagner left a big question mark in my mind, during and after the performance. I have to hand some props to him for going out on a limb and doing one heck of a performance.

Felicia Barton had this cool biker chick image thing with the Joan Jett/Martha Quinn-MTV hairdo. Her voice was a major enlightenment of the evening as she belted out that Alicia Keys tune. Kudos to American Idol for bringing her back, She definitely proved her status as a pro in this competition.

Ju'Not Joyner has a pretty interesting name. It brings people to wonder about him. I know I wondered if it was French. There's movie about a pregnant teenage girl that has a similar name. We had GOP VP candidate who governed the capital with a similar sounding name. His last name is relative to some famous athletes. You know what though, his voice and his style is all his own. He's got major singing prospects ahead of him.

Kristen McNamara impressed me. She didn't look like she could sing wallops. Her dressing made her too cutesy and small for the big voice she had inside her. I'm glad we can separate image from talent and judge accordingly.

Nathaniel McNamara had great control, poise and dynamics in his voice. He definitely needs a professional stylist. Sometimes we are so staunch about having a unique image that we offend people when instead we want them to embrace us.

Arianna Afsar impressed me at the same time she impressed the judges when she auditioned. I was a little disappointed with the way she sang the Abba song. She did the roles with the notes at times in the song when I just wanted to know what she was saying. She has a great voice but I think she went a teeny bit overboard.

Scott MacIntyre has great talent. I know the judges were trying to be as kind as possible. He does look more at ease behind the piano. He has good looks, great singing techniques and great piano skills, but just the way he sang out and "looked" at the audience was questionable. I couldn't tell if being without the piano made him nervous that it showed or if that was an effect of the blindness. This is where image consultants are needed immediately.

Kendall Beard has a nice singing voice. She wasn't the strongest of the contestants and there were some pitch problems but she did a good job.

Jorge Nuñez was amazing! He wowed me with his accent-less singing. I'm pro Puerto Rican accents but he showed how hard he worked on his accent and singing skills. His voice was big and powerful! More Kudos to Jorge!

Lil Rounds got it all wrapped up. That was a clever thing to invite viewers to call and vote for her inside the song she was singing. She's in. That's it. It's said and done. If she doesn't make it through, I will definitely be surprised.