American Idol Top 12 Guys Try to Win Your Votes

American Idol kicked off its second night of the semi-final round of competition with "Guys Night." For the next three weeks, the American Idol contestants will be choosing songs from Billboard's Top 100. Many of last night's performances from the top 12 girls were lackluster and uninspired. The top 12 guys seemed to fare slightly better than the girls. See how your favorite American Idol contestant measured up from the following performance evaluations.

American Idol Top 12 Guys: Performance Evaluations

American Idol Top 12 Guys - Todrick Hall: Todrick Hall was up first singing "Since You've Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson. I always cringe when I hear a current American Idol contestant singing a song that a former Idol winner or contestant has released. It just doesn't seem smart to me. Todrick is not a formally trained singer and he decided to switch up the arrangement of the original song. Ellen loved his rendition but the other judges had mixed feelings. Simon felt he murdered the original song. The audience was not in agreement with Simon and booed quite loudly.

American Idol Top 12 Guys - Aaron Kelly: Aaron Kelly, the sixteen year old who is sure to win over the tween audience, sang "Here Comes Goodbye" by Rascal Flats. Though his nerves showed a bit, more to his lack of stage experience, Aaron showed he had enough talent to go deep in the competition. The judges were favorable and felt Aaron would continue to grow as the competition went on. They also liked the fact that Aaron had no idea how truly talented he is and appreciate his humbleness.

American Idol Top 12 Guys- Jermaine Sellers: Jermaine chose "Get There" by Oleta Adams. I have to admit, I have never heard of Oleta or the song. The judges agreed it was a strange song choice and made him seem older than he should. Both Randy and Ellen agreed he tried to do too much with the song as if he was trying too hard. Simon, of course, was a bit more blunt and told Jermaine he blew it.

American Idol Top 12 Guys-Tim Urban: Tim Urban made it into the top 12 guys after Chris Golightly was disqualified. Tim is from Texas and is twenty years old. Tim chose "Apologize" from One Republic as his song choice. Tim suffered the same problem as many of the top 12 girls did last night -poor song selection. Though I actually love that song, Tim pretty much butchered it. Tim is pretty likable and may get through to the next round on his likability factor because it won't be on the vocals he showed tonight.

American Idol Top 12 Guys- Joe Munoz: Joe was one contestant that didn't receive a lot of air time in the competition up to this point. Now's the time for Joe to prove what he can do. His song choice for tonight: "You and I Both" by Jason Mraz. Joe seemed pretty at ease on stage and didn't seem fazed by performing in front of a live audience. Though the majority of the judges felt Joe did fine and has a great voice, Simon felt he lacked star potential. Something that is extremely important if you want to be the next American Idol.

American Idol Top 12 Guys- Tyler Grady: 70's throwback and retro rocker, Tyler Grady, chose "American Woman" by Guess Who. Very fitting for the image Tyler is portraying to the audience. Maybe it's because I grew up in the 70's, I really liked Tyler's performance. It's clear what type of artist he is and he lived up to that image. I do agree with Simon that if he continues to do this type of song and performance week after week, it will become predictable. I don't want to see him sway too far away from this style but he should easily be able to switch it up a bit and still stay true, like Chris Daughtry was able to do.

American Idol Top 12 Guys- Lee Dewyze: A paint sales clerk from Prospect, Illinois, Lee Dewyze donned a guitar for his performance of "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. Extremely mixed reviews from the judges: Randy and Kara did not like Lee's song choice; Ellen and Simon disagreed. Simon said Lee was the best tonight so far and likened him to previous Idol winner, David Cook. Simon told Lee he was authentically good and would do well in the competition. I believe Lee will be around for a while. So far tonight, the guys are doing as well as the girls. Some good, some not so good. But I believe the best of the guys is yet to come.

American Idol Top 12 Guys- John Park: John really won the judges over when he first auditioned. Tonight he chose a Billie Holiday song, "God Bless the Child," as his song selection. Another bad song choice for tonight. John had some strong moments but just couldn't carry the song. The judges were not impressed but John has a huge internet following called the "Park Rangers" that are sure to vote him through to next week.

American Idol Top 12 Guys- Michael Lynche: Michael is the contestant best known for his wife giving birth while he was in Hollywood auditioning. Michael has the sentimental factor working in his favor. Michael sang "This Love" by Maroon 5. Mike has a strong likability factor and has a voice similar to Seal's. The judges were fairly favorable on Michael's performance. Simon wants Michael to have more of a presence, commanding the audience to listen when he's up on stage. Simon felt he was better than that performance. In my opinion, Big Mike will easily move on to the next round.

American Idol Top 12 Guys- Alex Lambert: Alex's song for tonight was "It's a Wonderful World" by James Morrison but nerves got the best of him tonight. Alex's performance was less than stellar. The judges were somewhat sympathetic knowing that Alex has a naturally good voice but just couldn't pull it together tonight. Strangely, Ellen compared Alex to a banana, one that's not quite ripe and needs confidence to ripen. I think she may have been going for the humor aspect but it was a tad "Paula-ish."

American Idol Top 12 Guys- Casey James: From Fort Worth, Texas, Casey James is the contestant that took his shirt off for Kara during his audition in Denver. Tonight he brought along his guitar and performed "Heaven" by Bryan Adams. Casey received high praise from all the judges, especially Kara, who seemed a tad flustered in his presence. The judges all agreed it was the right song choice for Casey. The female audience will by Casey's new best friends and vote repeatedly for him.

American Idol Top 12 Guys- Andrew Garcia: Andrew is my personal favorite. I love his voice and he seems to make any song his own. His rendition of Paula Adbul's "Straight Up" needs to be made into a single as soon as possible. That song never sounded so good. Rounding out the top 12 guys, Andrew Garcia played the guitar while performing his rendition of "Sugar We're Going Down" by Fall Out Boy. The judges were not impressed with his song choice. Ellen said his Hollywood performance would carry him through the competition for a while. I was a bit disappointed myself, but I'm still a fan. Hopefully, he does a much better job next week, otherwise people will think he's a one hit wonder.

The result show airs on Thursday. The bottom two girls and the bottom two guys will be going home.

Chris Allen (last year's American Idol Season 8 winner) will give viewers a glimpse into his recent trip to Haiti with the United Nations Foundation. American Idol will be asking viewers to support the recovery efforts underway in Haiti after the devastating earthquake that destroyed the small island nation by donating to the Idol Gives Back Foundation. Allen stated, "It is heartbreaking to see the devastation that Haiti is currently facing."

This season's Idol Gives Back will air Wednesday, April 21, 2010 during the Top 7 results show. To find out more about Idol Gives Back, click here.

American Idol airs on Fox on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights.

To read a recap of the American Idol Top 12 girls performances. click here.

Sources:
http://www.americanidol.com/news/view/pid/2671/