American Idol Season 7, Final 16, Boys: Jason Castro's "Hallelujah" and David Cook's "Hello" Top the Night

In a day when David Hernandez was making waves for having been a stripper in the past, a fact that was seem to be brushed aside by the judges who might want to avoid yet another scandal, Jason Castro and David Cook both gambled and won big.

Cook, who last week had been taken to task by Simon Cowell for having a "lack of charisma," put together a rock version of Lionel Richie's "Hello" and scored big with the judges. Being true to the from he has exhibited thus far this season, Cook once again played his guitar while he sang, and his arrangement of the song, brought nothing but praised from the judges. Even Simon Cowell signal his approval by praising Cook for the risk he had taken. The judges went as far as telling Cook that his version on "Hello" was worthy of being recorded. For a show known for its cookie cutter format, it was refreshing to see that a contestant could still could take a song that's been a hit, and make it his own.

Following along the same lines, Jason Castro, the kid with the dreadlocks, picked up an equal amount of praise for his rendition of the Leonard Cohen's song, "Hallelujah." A song which I hate to admit, I had not listened to since the mid 80's when I bought the Cohen's album. Castro's version of the Cohen song was in the words Simon Cowell, "absolutely brilliant." Castro merit the praise in full for taking a chance on a song that was not as reflective of the decade as some of the better known tunes of the night.

The rest of the performers were much less effective than Cook and Castro, with most of them struggling through assorted pitch problems. Not up to par with some of his better performances was David Archuleta whose "Another Day in Paradise." was just okay. Though Simon said that David would probably be one of the two finalist this season, he also urged the 17 year old to pick more upbeat songs.

The judges and I parted ways on Michael Johns', version of "Don't You (Forget About Me)." Maybe it's the fact that the Breakfast Club sound track is so engrained in my subconscious that I did not like the Aussie's version. Whatever it was, he failed to impress, and certainly it was nowhere near his version of Bohemian Rhapsody.

David Hernandez did Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now," and the rendition fell short of his performance from last week. Though the gymnast, turned stripper, turned singer still did a credible job, and probably will not be going home this week.

As for Luke Menard, Danny Noriega, and Chikezie, their vocals ranged from okay to better than last week, but all three fell toward the bottom of the heap this week. Menard tried "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," and added nothing to new to the song. Noriega version of, "Tainted Love," was well, a tainted performance, and Simon Cowell hated it. As for Chikezie, his version of "All the Woman That I Need," was a gamble that did not pay off. When it was all said and done, the night belonged to Castro and Cook.