New Stage: I'm not sure that I love it. I miss the pit and I don't like the seats behind the stage.

First up - Clint Junebug Gamboa - Superstitious. Starting off really weak. Seems the wrong range for him. The band is overpowering him. He's good when he hits the high notes but overall performance on a scale of 1-10 (5)
(I'm surprized that the judges liked it)

#2 - Jovanny - one word.....meh....nothing there. Bland, flat and just plain boring.
This guy has the charisma of a turnip. rating (4)
Randy is the only one who got it right.

#3 - Jordan - He's definitely no usher. Started off out of his range. He's a cute guy and he has some stage precense and charisma. But weak voice. This is so far the worst performance of the night. I'm giving him for stage presence a 6, voice 2. total (4).
Strange - he admits right away that it wasn't him...that its not his thing...so WHY pick that song? poor judgmenet dude.

#4 - Tim Halperin - another weak start. He sounds off key...better during the chorus. Overall...not horrible, but nothing great (5)

#5 - Brett - Good luck for him. Again...very weak start. Sounds like he's singing out of range. Once it goes uo tempo...MUCH MUCH better. Overall - pretty good. Not great..but the best of the night so far. (7)
Once again...Randy was the one that was right on with his comments.

#6 - James Durbin - Wow...very strong start. Awesome stage presence. He's great in his upper range. Some of the lower notes were a little off. Absolutely the best performance of the night (9) I would even go as far to say the best performance by anyone at this stage of AI in the history of AI.
Randy was right on..about him not overusing the high range.
(He looks like a giant next to Ryan)

#7 - Robbie Rosen - Strong start. Song is perfect his range. He actually has one of the more beautiful voices of the guys. Some of the falsetto is a little strange. Needs to work on stage presence though (6)

#8 - Scotty McCreery - He's smart to pick a song that is in his range. I have to hand it to him for that...and the way he infused a little humor into the performance. I still say that his only gimmick is singing in the low voice. (7)

#9 - Stefano - weak weak start. He picks it up and now he's delivering it. However, his performance makes me think he would make a better lead singer of a boyband than a solo performer. He picked a song with high range...perhaps a bit too high. I liked it....didn't Love it...(7)

#10 - Paul. He's smart for picking a rod stewart song. It suits him well....but this guy is a total freak. I can't stand to watch him...but he's definitely going to win over those who like him based on that I'm going to give him a 7...personally I would give him a 5.

#11 - Jacob - He's great...but his performance has a little bit of smugness that could become very grating very quickly. (8)

#12 = Casey - Not a particularly strong start, but then he hits his element. However, he comes across like one of my mentally ill clients. Voice isn't particularly spectacular...not in the same level as James, Jacob or even Brett.
Seems like he screamed more than he sang tonight. (6)


Rubbertoe's rankings tonight
1. James Durbin
2. Jacob Lusk
3. Brett Lowenstern
4. Stefano
5. Scotty
6. Casey
7. Paul
8. Robbie Rosen
9. Clint Gamboa
10. Tim Halperin
11. Jovanny
12. Jordan


America's Top Five:

James Durbin and Jacob are shoo-ins
Casey is probably in due to the AI pimpage
The final 2 will be either Stefano, Scotty, Brett or Paul. I think Scotty is definitely in due to his unique voting block. The big question will be whether Stefano, Brett or Paul gets in. I'm going to go against my own judgement and say that Paul grabs the fifth spot.

Overall...not a bad first night for the guys...