Do The “Guy’s” Have It?

There’s only one semifinal round of “American Idol” this season, and the field of 24 will be cut to 13 following Thursday’s results show. Only five men are guaranteed spots in that group, which is terrible news for the judges, since they loved pretty much everyone.

Well, almost everyone. They weren’t crazy about Jordan Dorsey’s decision to sing Usher, so he’s in big trouble. He was the only singer to get feedback that was truly negative.

Jovany Barreto probably regrets choosing “I’ll Be,” a song that didn’t give him a lot to impress the voters with. And Tim Halperin probably should have picked something other than Rob Thomas to cover, but judge Jennifer Lopez still sent him off with “I would hate to lose you over that. You’re one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard.” And objectively speaking, he was one of the two or three worst performers of the night.It’s the women’s turn to take center stage on Wednesday. Twelve remain in the competition, but no one has a clear advantage. Who has what it takes to move on?

Beyond that, any voter looking for guidance from Steven Tyler, J.Lo and Randy Jackson on who to vote for was out of luck. That crutch apparently left with Simon Cowell. Now, the judges don’t seem to care who you vote for, since everyone is just so darned great.

Standouts
While the abbreviated semifinal schedule and the addition of online voting make this a less predictable season than most, three singers look to be locks to advance.

Up until Tuesday night, if “Judas Priest” had ever been uttered on “Idol,” it was by someone who was trying to avoid cursing. But James Durbin brought out some much-needed energy when he broke out “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’,” and Adam Lambert 2.0 stood out from the crowd.

So did Jacob Lusk, who covered Luther Vandross well enough that J.Lo told him, “(Luther’s) gone. But now we have you.” That’s a little much, even for J.Lo, but it would be a major upset if we didn’t see him again after that act.

And Casey Abrams closed the show with a great performance of “I Put a Spell on You” that had everyone wondering how good he could be if he hadn’t had to spend some of his rehearsal time in the hospital for a stomach ailment. The one criticism of him is that he can be Taylor Hicks-like in his desire to be an entertainer, and if the worst thing to say about him is that he’s too much like the season five champion, that’s a pretty good sign.