'American Idol' Flashback! Our First Impressions of 24 Faves

Are we really going to remember Jazmin or Kelly after tonight? Oh, wait. Kelly actually made the cut. How is it possible that the utterly forgettable (even Simon admitted he couldn't remember her) ''R-E-S-P-E-C-T'' singer got a spot in the finals before Angela, whose rendition of ''Run to You'' would have made Whitney proud? Still, Justin must have been relieved since she is no competition for him. —Jessica Shaw, June 27, 2002

Ultimately, Randy and Paula were right too, when they gave a standing ovation to, literally, the two biggest talents: Ruben, representin' his flava from Birmingham with an old Carpenters standard, and Kimberley Locke, the Tennessee native who put law school on hold so she could sing ''Over the Rainbow'' for Simon, or at least pick a fight with him. There's no question that these two gave the best performances of the season, and — proving that real pop stars do have curves, or at least bulk — they should definitely make it to the final round. —Michael Small, Feb. 12, 2003

Even so, Simon was right about the lack of excitement from the first five performers — and he correctly noted the image problems of contestants like Clay Aiken, who's a swell singer but doesn't look like an idol, even after he streaked his hair and got rid of the granny glasses. —Michael Small, Feb. 12, 2003

The girls, bless 'em, provided more color. As a devoted Trenyce fan, I can't wait to see what Bethany, Laquita, and Fantasia have up their sleeves. —Nicholas Fonseca, Jan. 21, 2004

I worry that Jen might get lost in the mix, which is a shame because I've had my eye on her since the very first episodes, when they kept showing a glimpse of her and her teammates practicing choreography in their hotel room and she later asked Simon why he didn't like her spacesuit, er, outfit. Loved, loved, loved her performance of ''Imagine'' last night, and love, love, love that she reminds me of Angie Stone. That is NEVER a bad thing, Jennifer — and just between us, I voted for you last night. —Nicholas Fonseca, Feb. 11, 2004

Anyway, at least the first two episodes of AI: 4 gave us a peek at a few candidates who might produce the ''Vibeology''s of the future. I didn't fall for anyone like I did for Frenchie Davis, but that girl who's apparently never left her farm, Carrie Underwood, she's like Reese Witherspoon channeling Xtina! Which kinda gives me chills — in a good way, I think. —Michael Slezak, Jan. 19, 2005

Semifinalists Bo Bice, Jared Yates, Jessica Sierra, and Vonzell Solomon need to learn from last year's talented finalist LaToya London. A big voice needs to be accompanied by a big personality — unless, of course, you'd be satisfied with coming in fourth. —Michael Slezak, Feb. 17, 2005

The Contestant I Should Be Emotionally Connecting With but Can't Award Dozens of EW.com readers have been posting about Kellie Pickler ever since the plucky blonde delivered a tart ''Since U Been Gone'' during her Greensboro audition. Call me a cynic, but it made me feel funny hearing her spill her hard-luck tale of being abandoned by her mom, and missing her imprisoned dad, before I'd heard a single note pass her lips. And tonight, as her ''Hopelessly Devoted'' wobbled like Jell-O, I suspect some of her fan support did the same...

Unlikeliest Sex Symbols Gray-haired Taylor Hicks, who delivered a wicked ''First Cut Is the Deepest,'' may look like he's about to seize when he sings, but I've got a notion he'll end up inspiring his fair share of Google image searchers. —Michael Slezak, Feb. 8, 2006

Slightly more promising was Daughtry, the raspy-voiced 25-year-old who's handsome in spite of the unfortunate topiary that doubles as his facial hair. Paula was right (!) when she said she heard talent but saw nerves during his too-forced rendition of ''The Letter,'' but at least the guy didn't settle for the karaoke-level mimicry fancied by most Idol wannabes. I'm still not certain why Simon wanted to put the kibosh on Daughtry's Hollywood dreams, but after hearing his wife's tearful anecdote about how the guy put his singing career on hold to marry her and help raise her two kids, I'm happy Paula and Randy gave him the thumbs-up. —Michael Slezak, Jan. 19, 2006

Even the folks who left the biggest impressions tonight did so mostly because they reminded me of superior counterparts from the Greensboro, N.C., tryouts....I'm sorry, but the only way I could possibly envision Katharine McPhee's melismatic ''God Bless the Child'' taking her to the final 12 would be to extinguish the smoldering memory of Paris Bennett's ''Take Five,'' which I heard only 24 hours ago — and let me tell you, that just ain't happening, people. —Michael Slezak, Jan. 26, 2006

While Simon was dead-on in his assessment that spiky-haired beat-boxer Blake Lewis may have brought a little too much confidence to his audition, the guy's rendition of ''Crazy'' was skillful enough that he'd probably have a hit with it if he released it to radio tomorrow. I'm not sure I can say the same for precocious Jordin Sparks (who maybe should've waited a few years for her emotional maturity to catch up with her outsize voice), but [she] ought to be fun to watch during Hollywood week. —Michael Slezak, Jan. 18, 2007

At least we got a look at a pair of legitimate Top 24 prospects tonight, via Samantha Sidley and David Cook. David's personality occasionally seemed limited to the red highlights in his bangs and his argyle sweater vest, but he changed up Bon Jovi's lamebrained ''Livin' on a Prayer'' with such languid beauty that I'm itching to hear what he'll do if he advances to Idol's big stage. —Michael Slezak, Jan. 29, 2008

David Archuleta (reportedly a Star Search winner at age 12) could be poised to play the role of season 7's sexually nonthreatening heartthrob, though his choice of John Mayer's ''Waiting on the World to Change'' (once covered by Sanjaya Malakar) and his general perkiness made me a little uneasy. —Michael Slezak, Jan. 22, 2008

His clear and pleasing take on ''Bohemian Rhapsody'' drew one of Simon's oldest and most dreaded critiques — ''theatrical.'' Which raises some questions: Aren't most Queen songs theatrical? Isn't ''Bohemian Rhapsody'' the band's most theatrical song of all? And maybe, just maybe, could theatrical serve as code for ''copped to seeing a Paula Abdul concert at age 10'' or ''openly admired Kara DioGuardi's accessories''? Which might be construed as ''not quite manly enough to activate music-downloading impulses of tween girl armies''? I don't know: Maybe I'm reading too much into it all, but I think there was a clear and righteous subtext in Kara's frustration with Simon during the deliberations over Adam's fate. The dude out-sang, out-emoted, and out-charmed at least 75 percent of the Idol hopefuls we've seen this season; he should've been sent to the next round with the speed and enthusiasm of Paula getting distracted by a shiny object. —Michael Slezak, Jan 20, 2009

I've got to say, I wish Fox had cut back on Tatiana, Jesús, and Kai, and extended the all-too-brief auditions from John Twiford, the hippie dude who sang ''Overjoyed''; Allison Iraheta, the teenager with the crayon-red hair who belted ''(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman''; and Raquel Houghton, the gorgeous 28-year-old who covered ''Son of a Preacher Man.'' None of 'em exactly struck me as Top 36 material (particularly Allison, who suffered several obvious voice cracks on the big notes), but it's hard to write off any contestant after less than 30 seconds of airtime. —Michael Slezak, Jan 20, 2009

As for the evening's five Golden Ticket winners whom we have not yet discussed, I'd say the most promising were a pair from the blink-and-you'll-miss-'em montage: Kris Allen (dude with the plaid shirt and jaunty cap who performed ''A Song for You'') and Felicia Barton (buxom brunette who belted this season's contender for most overused track, ''Put Your Records On''). —Michael Slezak, Jan 21, 2009

Several other singers tonight managed to make mostly positive first impressions. Two of 'em, Lee Dewyze and Crystal Bowersox, had their tryouts lumped together based on the fact that each carried a guitar into the audition room — which they weren't allowed to use — like Linus clutching his blue blanket. Of the duo, I'd give a slight edge to dreadlocked, pierced-chinned Crystal Bowersox, who left Simon beaming with a smooth, sultry rendition of Janis Joplin's ''Piece of My Heart.'' —Michael Slezak, Feb 4, 2010

Lee, meanwhile, took on the unenviable task of tackling one of Kris Allen's better-known season 8 numbers, ''Ain't No Sunshine,'' but added enough gruff soul to his interpretation to overcome the comparison. Unfortunately, though, the dude suffered from an on-camera belt malfunction: As Lee stepped out to the sidewalk and raised his Golden Ticket in the air, he revealed a good six inches of underwear riding up above the waistband of his jeans. How and why Idol producers resisted one final urge to revisit Gen. Larry Platt's ''Pants on the Ground'' is now my No. 1 burning question of the season 9 auditions. —Michael Slezak, Feb 4, 2010

Georgia resident Lauren Alaina, 15, can do a cartwheel. She definitely had a powerhouse vocal on Faith Hill's ''Like We Never Loved At All,'' but at this point I feel a bit manipulated by the ''we went and saved the best for last'' routine. Lauren's praise was well-deserved, but they really heaped it on. It was cute, though, how each of the judges' critiques reflected their personalities. The faux-magnanimous Randy Jackson: ''You could have sang the whole thing.'' Diva ''softie'' J. Lo: ''Don't cryyyyy. You're gonna make me cry, too!'' And tireless optimist Steven Tyler: ''You're gonna make 40 million people cry. Tears of joy, baby.'' Someone's overestimating the ratings! I love it. —Annie Barrett, Jan 27, 2011

Sometimes people get screen time because they've bothered to return for 38,294 more hours of waiting around and it's the least the producers can do. ''Come back next year,'' the judges always used to say. But had they really meant it? And will Haley Reinhart, who sang a ''da-ding''-infused version of the Beatles' ''Oh! Darling,'' ever be able to manage her runs? Manage your runs, girl! ''You gotta be able to sing 'em and close 'em,'' said Randy. In other words, your hair and youth and maybe your determination got you through this round. —Annie Barrett, Jan 27, 2011

Scotty McCreery is clearly talented and might not even need the Idol machine in order to be successful. According to me, this deep-voiced country singer is at least 30, but according to him, he's 16. Who to trust? Let's check in with the judges. "You make me smile," said Jennifer Lopez. ''S--- fire, save matches. F--- a duck and see what hatches,'' said Steven Tyler. ''Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah,'' said Randy Jackson. Done. Randy Travis Jr. is through to Hollywood. And Vasco de Gama Jr. is soooo proud. ''With the right songs — we discovered him,'' said the panel's most esteemed explorer (J. Lo, obviously). Sure you did. —Annie Barrett, Jan 27, 2011