After a day of non-stop winter-weather coverage here in Oklahoma, I was able to view Wednesday night's episode of our favorite show.

Color me still mostly unimpressed with American Idol auditions this season. Sure, we've had Sundance Head, Jordin Sparks, Chris Sligh, Rudy Cardenas, and I might even toss in Blake Lewis into that mix. However, even many of the vocalists being moved on to the next round don't inspire a ton of hope for a winner.

Would Los Angeles prove to be any different?

Yes and no.

No, it wasn't chock-full of great singers. Even the good ones, including a guy from Hollywood last season, were average at best.

Yes, it produced Brandon Rogers.

Brandon has spent the past few years singing back-up for Anastacia, a reality-show winner herself, having won MTV's "The Cut" a few years back only to become an international star. More international than national, the drop-dead gorgeous Anastacia's soulful voice has been the stuff of Europop way more than American fare.

Our boy Brandon though sang a little Willie Nelson, giving "Always On My Mind" a soulful vibe. The trick to this 28-year-old's voice is that it's rich and clean. The trick to his long-term chances on the show is that he looks fairly average and has a personable way about him without coming off as aloof (see "LaToya London").

The episode had a touching moment as Sherman Pore, 64, petitioned to get on the show so he could sing a tune for his "lady," who died of cancer two days before the audition. The petition process was his way, I guess, of making her last days a bit easier by allowing her to focus on something other than dying.

The show's producers smelled a great storyline when they saw it and allowed him to sing. And, you know what, for an old coot, he can sing. He did a little old-man justice to Jo Stafford's "You Belong To Me." Given that guest-host Olivia Newton-John was there in all her cancer-survivor glory, you might have thought it'd be the Aussie who'd break down in tears.

But, of course, it was our stoned mistress, Paula Abdul.

Sherman stole the show, but Brandon has a good chance of stealing the season.