The drill was simple: Each finalist sang a couple of songs, accompanied by the five-piece ``house" band. Then the next performer appeared for a duet, nicely sewing these short stops into a continuous stream of entertainment. After an intermission, additional individual performances were followed by two group ones: first the guys -- male-model handsome Ace Young , the genuinely talented Chris Daughtry, Dukes of Hazzard-schooled Bucky Covington , and buoyant jazzy Elliott Yamin -- minus headliner and season-five winner, Taylor Hicks. The quartet performed a note-for-note, but nevertheless impressive rendition of Guns N' Roses' ``Patience."
Then came the girls -- the glorious-voiced Mandisa; chatty, cute Kellie Pickler; plucky Lisa Tucker; and hip-wiggling Paris Bennett -- who united for a parroted rendition of Shania Twain's ``Man! I Feel Like a Woman!," complete with awkward stripper-esque dance routine.
Had they been competing, the guys would've won hands down. Particularly Daughtry, who dug deep into all the songs he performed, going far deeper than the night's two-dimensional displays.