AI 4: Boy Edition

It’s taken a few weeks for this season of American Idol to voyage through the sea of hopefuls (and hopefully nots) and reach the final pool of twenty-four. For the next three weeks, "America" will narrow each set of twelve (divided into men and women) down by two each week.

Randy Jackson claimed that this year’s guys were strong and that was evident as they took the stage. Based on last night’s performances, I already know who I want to make it through. In honor of MLB's Spring Training, which began last week, I'll be using baseball terminology to describe how I think they did. As a special treat, it will all be done without cutting to a commercial break.

Home Runs: Bo Bice, Anwar Robinson and Mario Vazquez. Bice looked like a rock star (from three decades ago, but still) and sang like one, too. He knocked "Drift Away" out of the park. Robinson, who I think has the strongest voice, hit a towering shot over the centerfield fence with "Moon River". I don't remember what Vazquez sang, but he lined one beyond the wall on charisma alone. The guy knows how to perform and looks like he's having fun.

Doubles: Scott Savol and Travis Tucker. Like Studdard or Aiken from two seasons ago, Savol has a voice that doesn't seem to match his look and he has power. Tucker has potential, but he played it safe last night and nailed a Stevie Wonder standard down the third base line for a double.

Walks: Constantine Maroulis. Simon Cowell likes to lump Maroulis with Bice. True, they both have long brown hair and the "rocker" label, but I think they're unique enough that it's unfair to group them together. He didn't mangle Seal's "Kiss From a Rose", but he didn't do anything spectacular with it either. I'm giving him an intentional walk because I like him. With the right song, I think he can hit one out.

Singles: Nikko Smith, Anthony Fedorov and Judd Harris. They all have nice vocals, but as Simon says, "So what?" Even with the help of honey and tea (and any other legal performance enhancing substances), I don't envision them hitting anything for extra bases.

Outs: David Brown, Jared Yates and Joseph Murena. Murena's singing voice has this unpleasing pleading quality to it. Some people sing, he cries. He grounded out weakly to the pitcher, who took it to the bag himself. The other two guys struck out with songs about good-bye. Brown sang "Never Can Say Good-bye" and Yates sang "How Could I (Say Good-bye)". On Idol, I think the fastest way to say farewell is to sing about how hard it is to say farewell. For the American public, it really isn't that difficult. With any luck, two of these three will be gone on Wednesday.

Tonight, the women step up to the plate and perform. If you miss it, don't worry. I'll have another exciting report tomorrow. And by "exciting", I mean exciting to me. Until then, Seacrest I'm out.