'American Idol': Top 12 Men Perform for Your Online Votes

It was the official start of the competition phase with the semifinals on "American Idol", but this was no ordinary semifinals. I was expecting it to be at the smaller soundstage with the same old, same old sets as they had season after season. Instead, it began on the large sound stage reserved in season's past for the Top 12. When I saw the large crowd at first I knew this was going to be a very different show.

A majority of the semifinals in recent seasons had been live. This time it was taped a few days earlier due to Steven Tyler. He did drop some F-bombs. Ryan even gave him a Idol logo bubble card to cover those moments. One thing I was not expecting were the excellent performances from the Top 12 guys. They literally broke some boundaries with song choices and stage presence.

What's New This Season for the Semifinals?

As mentioned earlier forget the area where the other group sits at cheering on the performing semifinalists. On Tuesday night (March 1) the rest of the Top 12 men were sitting onstage much like it is during the results show for the Top 12 till the Top 3. For the life of me I could not find the Top 12 ladies, though I saw them towards the end, but where they were actually sitting I don't know.

One thing I wasn't too keen on was their pre-performance films as they were introduced. I understand their city auditions; Hollywood Week and Vegas performances were shown for the umpteenth time to those viewers who did not watch the earlier phases of the show. I use to ignore the auditions myself until the semifinals came on the first few times I watched it.

Another important difference was the show being taped. I truly believed that helped the performances triple fold, plus Simon the ogre wasn't there to intimidate the semifinalists anymore.

The Very Best Performances:

This was by far the most impressive and entertaining semifinals I have ever seen on "American Idol." When it was live you could see and feel the nervousness in many of them. That wasn't nearly the case Tuesday night. However, there were some truly stand-out performances worth mentioning. These were some of my favorites as well as the judges and audience. Only one had a less than stellar performance while others it was noticeable their nerves got to them at certain times.

James Durbin - In previous seasons they have tried to have a legitimate rocker who always seems to fall short in that feat. This was definitely not the case with Durbin. Never in the show's history has their ever been a Judas Priest song performed. He literally rocked it like nobody's business. You could tell he was in the moment having fun and being so comfortable onstage. It was like watching a concert for those few memorable moments. No doubt he will sail through to the Top 5 for the guys. Only five will be chosen from the guys and the judges will decide on wildcards.

Paul McDonald - Who does this man's teeth? Whenever he smiles, and that's a lot, his smile is literally blinding. I absolutely loved his song choice. My sister happened to be watching his performance too. She at first thought it was Rod Stewart singing. Yes, he does remind you of him with his raspy vocal. McDonald did a superb job making the song "Maggie May" his very own.

Casey Abrams - He is fast becoming my all-time favorite in all 10 seasons. This is truly an artist if ever there was one. I loved his array of musical instruments with the melodica and stand-up bass during his audition and in Hollywood. Unfortunately he did not play a musical instrument during the semifinals.

What I loved about Abram's performance was the song "I Put A Spell On You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Casey was simply uninhibited with his emotions, both physically and musically. He really made Jay Hawkins proud. Check out the original song and you'll hear how Casey did it justice. Also, this is the first time ever "I Put A Spell On You" has been performed on Idol.

Jacob Lusk - What an infectious person he is, not so much his deep emotions he likes letting out, but his exceptional tone in his voice. There were times he sounded a little bit like my favorite singer, Barry White. His song choice was season one's Tamyra Gray's "A House Is Not A Home." Jacob did a superb job with a song no one else has been successful in comparing to Tamyra's. Jennifer Lopez stated her favorite singer is the late Luther Vandross. She complimented Jacob by saying "he's gone, but now we have you!"

Who's Going Through, Going Home and Wildcards?

More than likely the four semifinalists I mentioned early are truly favored to go through. It is a matter of speculation who will be the fifth one. My guess is Brett Lowenstern, though I truly disliked his song choice and performance. No one should sing that song, but Jim Morrison and Jose Feliciano. Brett's hair flipping was making me dizzy.

As far as a wildcard it could be Clint Jun Gamboa, though I thought his performance was great for opening up the show I don't find him charismatic at all. It could also be Tim Halperin, though his semifinal performance wasn't nearly as good as it was in Vegas. Halperin had a lot of signs up by his growing female fans. He's a very good-looking guy with a nice smile.

Unfortunately there is one who is definitely going home and that is Jordan Dorsey. He took on an Usher song that just about ate him up alive. Thursday night (March 2) the ladies take to the stage. They have a lot to live up to from the guys.

SOURCES:

American Idol - Official Site for Videos, Photos and Community, American Idol.com

Screamin Jay Hawkins - I Put A Spell On You, YouTube

Lyndsey Parker, "'American Idol' Semifinals, Pt. 1: Twelve Awesome Men", Reality Rocks - Yahoo! Music