dueling idols - American Idol top 24

"We're gonna lose half of these guys before we're moving on to the final stage!", Ryan Seacrest shouted to our dearest ears on the first semi final show of American Idol 7. Well, if he wasn't shouting it, it just feels like it, because during Idol season, I really can't get away from shouting Ryan.

Each time before every top 24 show, I always try to really take it in that half of these talented kids will not be there for the finals. Usually, the realization comes after some bad performances. Not naming names, here. But check the contestant without any last names. Oops.

But just because I want the finals to be as diverse as possible, here's how I saw last night's show.

1. Chikezie vs David Archuleta

The first David and Goliath showdown for David. This is the classic duel between the best and the worst. I love how energetic David's performance was. With that duality of personality while performing and doing interviews with Ryan, I really think he is the 17-year-old white male version of Melinda Doolittle. On the other spectrum, orange and all, oomph is what is missing in Chikezie's performance.

Winner: David Archuleta

2. Robbie Carrico vs Michael Johns

Robbie and Michael is two of the I-do-not-know-how-much rockers this year. What sets them apart is Robbie keeps telling us, "I'm a rocker! ROCKER!! I sport all this mandana and beanie and berets and meticulously grown and kept facial and chest and head hair and talk in a rocker kinda way, so of course, I am a real rocker!" Right. On the other hand, Michael just went there, manscaped, and sang. And we can vividly see that he totally rocked that stage. I mean, really.

Winner: Michael Johns

3. Jason Castro vs Danny Noriega

This round was appropriately themed the 60's. Jason and Danny were the only two that was true 100% to the theme. They were the last night's hippies. It is so easy to say that Jason is much hippier than Danny, since he has a long Bob-Marley-influenced kinda hair, performed with a guitar, but Jason misses Danny's hip thrusts and hipster pants. So, Danny scored two points for being the hippiest here. Plus he reminds me of Jake Shears. That's a HUGE compliment.

Winner: Call me crazy and hate my guts, but Danny Noriega - eventhough I also want Jason Castro in the finals

4. David Cook vs David Hernandez

Yep. I paired them simply because of their first names. Performance wise, I like David H better. I don't know why, but it's very rare to find male singers like David H in the finals of Idol. I don't think he is as bad as what Simon said and yeah, why don't we give a singer like David H more chance. On the other corner, David C, really? Another rocker?

Winner: David Hernandez

5. Luke Menard vs Jason Yeager

Idol is usually crowded with soulful, powerhouse, rangy vocalists. Because of that, I would like to see a safe, kindly calming, ballad-friendly vocals also make it to the finals this year. It can be easily from one of these two. I lean towards Luke more. I like the KennyLogginsy of his voice (Kenny Loggins is one of my favorite performers because of his safe, kindly calming, ballad-friendly vocal). Oh, and they are paired because they have the most daddy quality in them. Err, no. Non-sexually speaking.

Winner: Luke Menard

6. Colton Berry vs Garrett Hayley

These are the two contestants that I least care about.

Winner: See sentence above.

Will be updated later with the girls. (Did anyone notice that Carly Smithson was nowhere to be seen yesterday?)