Last week, our favorite show ventured off to Birmingham -- home of two Idols and a runner-up, so it was a propos that Texas (home of Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson) get its shot.

San Antonio, home of generic basketball and a revered monolith. Never cared for the city myself, particularly when compared to Texas' other great cities, my favorites being Houston, Galveston and Corpus Christi.

The talk for weeks had been that a group of University of Oklahoma students would make an appearance. It's rumored that at least two of the five who traveled down there together made it to Hollywood -- perhaps the lot of them.

But, damnit, they weren't on. Not tonight, at least. We do know that Mike Preston makes it. We know that a guy named Foster makes it, perhaps Tony Foster?

Personally, I had hoped that Angela, a woman with whom I played music for a while in Dallas would be there. She's definitely in the age range, and she definitely would have gotten a golden ticket. No doubt. She had recently moved back to Houston to attend Texas Southern University.

Maybe she made it, and we just didn't see her. Possible.

What we do know is that Baylie Brown, from Krum, made it. Cute 16-year-old girl with a city attitude and a country twang, Brown was labeled as commercial with a capital 'C' by Simon Cowell. High praise.

She sang "Stronger," from Faith Hill, and while she didn't do much for me vocally, Baylie is somebody we're likely to see for awhile.

Akron Watson followed his tone-deaf but good-sporting cousin into the audition room, stunning everybody with what I'd call a relatively good voice. His cousin tried to wail "Amazing Grace," and it seemed the reality-TV setup was that his cousin, Akron, was just as bad.

Simon said the guy failed the necessary charisma test but voted to put him through after Akron belted Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On."

Sugarland's Ashlyn Carr sang a Nina Simone tune with odd facial affectations, causing Paula and Randy to pass on the 18-year-old beauty. It should be noted that on Idol we see a ton of cute girls and good-looking women. However, Ashlyn has an incredible natural beauty.

Thanks to Simon though, the judges gave her another chance and sent her through to the next round.

However, the singer of the night and one of the best the entire season, right up there with Brandon Rogers in terms of having a pure, soulful tone was Waxahachie's Jimmy McNeal. He sang "Cupid," and reincarnated Sam Cooke right there on the stage.

After three weeks of auditions, I still haven't been blown away by anybody. Perhaps there is somebody on Wednesday who just seals the deal for me right there on the spot. However, more than likely, we're looking at two to three more weeks before I declare my musical allegiance.

In the past couple of shows, I've added Brandon Rogers and now Jimmy McNeal to the list of people I could get behind. However, I think we'd be remiss not to consider Baylie Brown as a favorite in this competition. I've heard zip on how she fared in Hollywood, but frankly that doesn't mean too much.

Oddly enough, Baylie is one of those singers who, I don't believe, would need Idol in the long run.

It's a heck of a boost, but for a show that prides itself on discovering great singers, she'll have to step up in a major way because she wasn't nearly as good as McNeal. Not tonight at least.

The good news for viewers who liked them is that they both have Web sites. While Baylie's has existed for awhile, Jimmy's is a GoDaddy landing page, Idol's ultimate hint that the Texas native has made the Top 24.

My gut hunch is that they're the only two we saw tonight who make it. My other gut hunch though is that they might also be around well into April.