The American Idol 6 Men: A Few Pros, a Lot of Personality!

The final 12 men selected for American Idol 6 sing for a living in the Navy (Phil Stacey) go to high school in Washington (Sanjaya Malakar) and work at Hooters (Chris Richardson). One is even named Sundance Head, which may get weird looks and a few whispers. Yes, AI 6 has reached far and wide, netting backup singers for star performers (Brandon Rogers)-and probably could have brought in a seasoned pro from Europe (far right) if it weren't for a journalist who cried foul.

Read it here.

This year we've got a beat-boxer (Blake Lewis), an anti-William Hung (Paul Kim), a boy-band singer (Rudy Cardenas) and a UPS employee (AJ Tabaldo). And if that weren't enough we've got someone (Chris Sligh) who actually attended Bob Jones University, you know, the controversial college whose president said some "wrong" things about dating people from other races.

Read it here:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0003/03/lkl.00.html

Listen to Tom Lowe here; is he a "ringer?"

And Sligh, band vet a la Taylor Hicks, looks to be an early favorite. With a Jack Osbourne hairdo and Coke-bottle glasses, though, he could appeal to a wide swath of America. No doubt the phones will be jammed with callers from the Midwest for him-and there simply isn't much room for anyone different. Gone are the days of pink-haired, Mohawked and "wild" ones. Instead we'll get polished and predictable-and in Davis some Doug E. Doug. But look for Rogers, backup singer for Christina Aguilera-and Lewis, with his big backing from the Seattle area, to mount a challenge. Also watch for Nicholas Pedro, in this spot last year (he botched the words to his song) to remember the words this time.

Another early favorite is Jason "Sundance" Head, son of 1960s icon Roy Head, looking to one-up his dad's hit song "Treat You Right" and forge his own career. The barrel-chested Texan has not disappointed in either the singing (though it could have been better in Tinseltown) or the talking portions. Look for our full-length feature on him tomorrow. Another contender in the men's portion (to be aired Tuesday on FOX) could be Sanjaya Malakar, the 17-year-old receiving acclaim for a soft-spoken, polite personality. His father was also a professional musician back in their native India.But Paul Kim of San Jose is developing a following-and in this competition that's how you sing another day. His barefooted, superstitious antics earned him lots of TV time, so he could be the dark horse in the men's side of the competition.