Three men prove they have ‘it’ on ‘Idol’

The “American Idol” semifinals began on Tuesday with the 12 men taking the stage. This round is always unpredictable, since few have had a chance to build up much of a following.

But some are in better shape than others. Simon Cowell said three of the singers stood out as having that elusive “it” that makes stardom possible, while others sang well enough to be confident that they’ll hang around. For the rest, a forgettable performance combined with a lack of airtime during the auditions may prove too huge a hurdle to overcome.

In addition, the men were forced to sing songs from the 1960s.

They’ve got it
Michael Johns closed the show, which is always the best position. Even a mediocre performance is memorable if it comes right before the voting lines open. But Johns didn’t need the extra help, as his rendition of “Light My Fire” had the audience on its feet and the judges raving.

“I loved you the day that I saw you, because you just throw all caution to the wind. You’re always you,” Randy Jackson said. Simon had similar thoughts: “You are the most consistent contestant we have. You have a natural charisma of a lead singer.”

There’s no safer bet among the men at this stage of the competition.

Another of Tuesday’s stars came from the opposite end of the age spectrum. It’s still very early, and male teenagers don’t tend to fare very well, but 17-year-old David Archuleta looks like he might change that. The judges have fallen hard for him. He also has a bigger voice than you might expect based on his appearance.

Archuleta sang “Shop Around,” and the judges gushed. “When you’ve got it, you’ve got it, and that was by a country mile the best performance of the night,” Simon said.

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Unlike the other two, Jason Castro didn’t come into the night with any kind of advantage. He didn’t have any airtime in the audition rounds, and in addition to that hurdle, he claims to have only sang in public about five times before he auditioned.

He didn’t need to worry. Coming out with his guitar to sing Lovin’ Spoonful’s “What a Day for a Daydream” turned out to be a stroke of genius. The audience started clapping right away.

“I thought that was in the top two performances of the night, because you … have just got it. You made it sound current,” Simon said. Though Castro didn’t enter the night with much of a fan base, he’s in good shape moving forward.

Good … but good enough?
Aside from the three who drew the most lavish praise from the judges, several other singers came through with strong performances.

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Robbie Carrico was in a youth band that toured with Britney Spears years ago, but hoped to show the judges “the real me,” which apparently is a rocker.

Carrico looked comfortable and sang right through Three Dog Night’s “One,” and was the first to get the crowd really into it.

Paula Abdul called it “the perfect song for you.”

Another performer looking for a rocker edge to carry him forward is David Cook, and he also picked a good song for his talents in The Turtles’ “So Happy Together.” He looked a little less comfortable onstage than Carrico, especially since he sang a good chunk of the song with a smile on his face and his eyes closed.

He also wasn’t helped by a funky arrangement that started off very slow and then worked to a big finish.

Cook also got the strangest compliment of the night, when Randy said, “I can almost imagine you in Alice in Chains, singing that song.” Um … no.

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Chikezie, who somehow lost his last name after the Hollywood round, hopes to be an inspiration to those with better banter than vocals, since this wasn’t the best night for him as far as singing goes.

“More Today than Yesterday” by Spiral Staircase (and later, Diana Ross) didn’t showcase his voice, and the performance was more lounge singer than pop star. But when Simon criticized Chikezie’s orange-red suit, that was too much for him.

“White, gray and black,” Chikezie said, referring to the only three colors in Simon’s wardrobe. “Who’s your stylist?”

Simon hated Danny Noriega’s version of “Jailhouse Rock.” “I thought the performance was verging on grotesque,” he said, and later referred to Noriega “destroying an Elvis Presley song.”

However, odds are good that he’ll get to stick around, because both Paula and Randy had nice things to say about him.

Colton Berry had better luck with his Elvis cover, “Suspicious Minds.” The judges all praised his performance, though only faintly. “It was OK,” Simon said. “It wasn’t quite as bad as the other Elvis song.”

Berry also showed a little personality, which was both charming and odd. He revealed that “from certain angles,” he thinks he looks like Ellen DeGeneres. He also talked about singing the theme song to the Teletubbies when he gets nervous.

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