The Top 13 boys take their first shot...

Tonight we get to know what these top 13 boys can really do - they can pick any song they want to present themselves to America for the first time:

Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera took Moves Like Jagger to #1 in 2011. Reed Grimm reinvented this piece of dance pop and turned it into a freestyle jazz extravaganza. It was an impressive example of his fun showmanship and style.

Aretha Franklin took Think to #7 in 1968. Adam Brock did his best to channel the black woman that he believes is trapped inside of him with this performance, but the reality is that he's just a white guy with limited vocal talent.

Earth Wind and Fire never released Reasons as a single. Deandre Brackensick sang this album track in his falsetto with some pretty good skill and he belted out a great note at the end.

Paramore's Decode was included on the 2008 Twilight soundtrack. Colton Dixon expressed that he is the height of teen fashion with his hair and style, and his vocals were pretty good also.

Sara Bareilles included Gravity as the closing track on her 2007 release Little Voice. Jeremy Rosado is a very sweet young man with a good vocal range. It's a nice combination.

The Jackson 5 took Never Can Say Goodbye to #2 in 1971. Aaron Marcellus provided a pretty standard reading of this wonderful R&B jam, but he failed to elevate it to a higher level.

Hunter Hayes released Storm Warning in 2011. Chase Likens is a very handsome guy who could be a big country star. He has a great voice and performed this recent hit very well.

Cyndi Lauper took True Colors to #1 in 1986. Creighton Fraker is an outstanding talent who can convey an impressive depth of emotion with every beautiful note that he sings.

Phil Collins took In The Air Tonight to #19 in 1981. Phillip Phillips took a risk and re-interpreted this song as a bluesy guitar driven jam. He is very like-able so even though it was almost unrecognizable it still worked.

Adele just hit #1 a few weeks ago with Set Fire To The Rain. Eben Franckewicz is only 15, but he has a smooth and clear vocal range. He may have bitten off more than he could chew with this current and familiar hit, but he managed to pull it through.

Heejun Han takes the description "bad personality" to a whole new level as working with special needs kids and singing about angels doesn't help to dig him out of the hole at all.

Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson included You Pulled Me Through on her Grammy winning debut album. Joshua Ledet belted out this anthem with his best gospel wail and brought the house down.

Luther Vandross won the Grammy for Song of the Year in 2003 for Dance With My Father. Jermaine Jones has a very deep voice and served up a pretty good version of the song.

Now it's up to America to vote and you can go online to support your favorites at http://www.americanidol.com/.

My top 5 will be: Reed Grimm, Deandre Brackensick, Colton Dixon, Creighton Fraker, and Eben Franckewicz.

And Creighton Fraker is my early favorite. :)

The People's Choice

The 2010 People's Choice Awards were on tonight and as expected, The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood has added yet another award to her collection. Based on the online voting process Carrie won the award for Favorite Country Artist. She was up against Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift and managed to come out on the top of the heap!

Season Five Miss American Idol 3rd Runner Up Chris Daughtry was in the category of Favorite Rock Band, but he ended up losing to Paramore. Season Three finalist and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson was in the category of Favorite R&B Artist but she was up against the biggest superstar of all-time, who of course ended up getting the most votes, Mariah Carey.

And in another instance where there was no competition, in the category for Favorite Competition Show it's no surprise at all that American Idol, still the highest rated show on TV, was clearly the People's Choice and the winner.

As we get closer to the start of the ninth season of American Idol we can look forward to meeting an entirely new group of finalists who will hope to someday be the people's choice. We can look forward to Ellen Degeneres joining as a judge and seeing if any of the music will make an impact on the charts this year. And as a matter of fact, the winner of the People's Choice award for Favorite Talk Show was the Ellen Degeneres Show!

Speaking of having high hopes of having chart impact, Season Five Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up Katherine McPhee is releasing a new album today called Unbroken. In her new video for the single Had It All she's almost unrecognizable from the finalist who stood next to Taylor Hicks when he won the crown as she has dyed her hair blond! Will the music buying public know it's even her? Next week we'll be able to see how well it sells to debut on the Billboard albums chart.

Also coming up this Monday January 11th is the premier of something new and completely different from Season Three Miss American Idol winner Fantasia. She will be starring in her own reality show on VH1. I can't wait to see it and see if she can get some more singles or albums back on the charts as a result of this kind of promotion.