"American Idols Live" opening night: the wrapup

In the end, I think most people at the Rose Arena in Portland on Sunday night went home happy. The Top 10 finalists in Season 8 of "American Idol" were excited to play before such a large and adoring crowd, and for the most part they delivered.

I'm not going to get into an in-depth of each individual's performances -- I'm leaving that for Times arts critic Misha Berson, who will be attending Tuesday night's show in Tacoma and have a complete review online the next morning. Instead, here's a hit list of that things that left the strongest impression with me:

• Mark my words: Adam Lambert was greeted with a deafening roar. Whether you love or hate the guy's vocal technique, there's simply no denying his flair for showmanship. The guy OWNS the stage, with charisma that you can't turn away from.

• It's tough to be No. 1: I've heard some rumblings of discontent over Kris Allen's stage presence last night. I have to give him a pass for two reasons: 1) He's saddled with the horrible coronation song, "No Boundaries"; and 2) because he plays the guitar, it's tougher for him to move around the stage and be as dynamic as some of the other singers. So he mostly just stood at the microphone. (And for those of you slamming me for only shooting video for that one song from Kris, if I had to do it over again, I would have shot a different song. But I only had memory for one more song, at that was the one that presented itself. With twittering and twitpic-ing, I was scrambling to get *any* videos shot. But yes, I'm sorry about that choice.)

• Surprises of the night: Probably Scott MacIntrye and Michael Sarver. Both showed personality and improved performances from their show appearances.

• No suprise here: Allison RAWKS: The 17-year-old from Los Angeles was like a red-maned hurricane. It's about time we had a new generation of women in rock. Well now they have a leader.

• The not-so-great stuff: I actually saw some grimaces in the crowd at the sound of Megan Joy's opening notes. Ouch. And I thought Lil Rounds' takes on contemporary R&B just seemed a little forced and uncomfortable.

If you're going to Tacoma, enjoy the show.