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Let's hear it for the boys in this year's 'Idol' competition

David Archuleta, 17, the youngest of American Idol's top 12 singers, is the early favorite of online betting sites and Idol watchers, leading a strong male contingent many say is capable of reversing last year's dominance by women.

The Season 7 field, which kicks off the finals round tonight (Fox, 8 ET/PT) with the John Lennon-Paul McCartney songbook, is considered better than its predecessor, with more than a half-dozen singers being mentioned as possible successors to Jordin Sparks, who was 17 when she became the youngest Idol last year.

"This is not a one-horse race," says executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, who calls this the best top 12 ever. "When Yoko Ono calls up and says things like, 'Please tell David Archuleta I loved him singing Imagine,' and Lionel Richie (said he) loved David Cook doing Hello, you know you've got a good bunch."

Critics don't go as far as Lythgoe, but they praise the field's depth, which could lead to the kind of strong competition necessary to hold onto viewers.

Some joined Lythgoe in lamenting the ouster of Asia'h Epperson, the last woman eliminated Thursday, but they generally backed the viewers' choices and don't see any obvious jokers (think Sanjaya Malakar). "It's a more polished group, it's more competitive, and top to bottom there's more talent" and a greater variety than last year, says Rona Elliot, a member of USA TODAY's Idol coaching team, which returns today to offer weekly analyses of singers and performances.

Rodney Ho, an Idol blogger for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, sees "a very solid group" in which up to 10 singers have a shot. Ho ranks Cook, Syesha Mercado and Jason Castro after Archuleta. Carly Smithson and Amanda Overmyer are singers to watch, Elliot says. And Michael Johns, Ramiele Malubay and David Hernandez received praise from others.

"Even with David Archuleta as the front-runner right now, I don't think he's a guarantee by any stretch," Ho says. "There are too many variables in this show."

Early odds and commentary suggest a man will win, whether or not Archuleta takes the title. "I think the boys are better at the moment. There are about four there that I think are absolutely terrific," Lythgoe says. "I think we've had better girls, not as a bunch, just as individuals."

Betting odds, The Beatles and the next hurdle of making the top 10 to get a spot on next summer's Idol tour were pushed aside at a red-carpet party Thursday as the survivors expressed joy and relief at their accomplishment.

"Cloud Nine" and "surreal experience" received multiple mentions. Their giddiness showed during a group photo when some sang the Gummi Bears' cartoon theme: "Bouncing here and there and everywhere, high adventure that's beyond compare."

"It's just amazing, each time you say Top 12," said Archuleta, taking a short break from the dozens of flashing cameras. "It's such a big step — a bigger stage, more people watching."

Smithson tried to take in her newfound fame. The photographers "all know our names. It's so weird."

A finals makeover

As Idol opens its finals round — a weekly elimination that will leave one singer standing May 21 — viewers will see changes: a new set, a new opening-credits sequence (but the same Idol theme) and a new elimination song, Kenny Loggins' Celebrate Me Home sung by Season 2 Idol Ruben Studdard.

The set "is enormous" and will feature a mosh pit for fans who want to dance along, Lythgoe says. "We'll have to get rid of all the suits in the front rows. And the agents will have to move to the back unless they want to dance."

A two-hour finals opener featuring Lennon-McCartney songs should engage viewers but will challenge the under-30 finalists, who likely have less connection to The Beatles than many of the viewers, says Variety music editor Phil Gallo. "If you don't sing a certain song just so, or you change it, that could turn off some people."

(At Thursday's party, Chikezie inadvertently invoked The Beatles when he described being the last finalist chosen: "I was ready to go home. I had made my peace with the situation. It was a good run, and I ended on a great song. All right, whatever you want to do, let it be.")

Idol's biggest upgrade, the show hopes, is the talent. Although some of last year's finalists were highly regarded, the overall field was not considered one of the strongest. Some critics thought it was the weakest batch of male singers.

This year, Idol remains TV's most-watched show by a large margin. The Tuesday (30.7 million viewers) and Wednesday (28.6 million) shows are at least 7 million viewers each ahead of No. 3, ABC's Dancing With the Stars. But Idol is showing its first noticeable season-to-season decline, a 9% drop in viewers compared with last year at this time.

Such a drop is common for a veteran show, says Brad Adgate of ad-buying firm Horizon Media. Idol stood out for bucking that trend, growing through five seasons and dropping only 1% last year because of record-high audiences for the train-wreck auditions. "It was an anomaly. …. It went up every year. Now the show is in its seventh season. I think some sort of fatigue takes place," he says. Nonetheless, "This year, the competition is really good … which could drive viewers" to the show.

Producers say interest in last year's finals was hurt by focusing too much on big-name celebrity mentors, such as Gwen Stefani and Jennifer Lopez, instead of letting viewers get to know and bond with the singers. Fewer mentors will be featured this year. (Some of the extra time will go to contestants from earlier years.)

Blogger Ho says Idol is making a stronger effort to flesh out the singers' personalities and stories. Ratings for the semifinals, an indicator of interest in the top singers, declined at a lower rate than for the season overall.

Another part of Idol, the judging panel, remains fairly constant, Ho says. "Paula (Abdul) seems a little flakier. Randy (Jackson) is the same. Simon (Cowell) seemed oddly nice during the auditions, but I think he's gone out of his way to be grouchier and tougher" during more recent episodes.

Controversy has made its annual visit, too, but last week's news that David Hernandez worked as a nude dancer at a Phoenix male club caused barely a ripple in the show. Hernandez wouldn't comment on it directly at Thursday's party — "I'm here to sing, and I'm just focused on that" — and Lythgoe dismissed the controversy. "It's nothing we didn't know," he says. "What's the law he's broken?"

Professionals in the group

Among the finalists are three singers (Smithson, Johns and Kristy Lee Cook) with previous big-label deals, and a fourth, Archuleta, who won on Star Search. The group is further along in its professional development than past Top 12s, Idol experts say. "You're seeing a much more polished performer," Elliot says. (Her exception: rocker Amanda Overmyer, who "is talented and beautiful but doesn't know it.")

Gallo notes, "Last year, you had people who had professional experience recording and on stage, but they weren't accustomed to standing in the limelight," referring to a field including professional backup singers. "This year, you have people (with) a little better sense of being a front person."

Their experience is apparent when they plan their performances, says Michael Orland, Idol's associate music director. "These contestants know exactly what they want to do, like Michael Johns coming to us with his own idea for an arrangement or what David Cook did with that Lionel Richie song. That was his whole idea," Orland says.

A strong Top 12 and the history of Idol's twisting, turning 11-week finals suggest it's far too early to hand the crown to Archuleta, three years the junior of the next youngest singer.

The competition can change with just one song, says Gallo, who was impressed by recent performances by Cook, Overmyer and Castro. Does he have a favorite?

"Two weeks ago I did," he says. "But I think the field got a lot larger over this past week."

Let's hear it for the boys in this year's 'Idol' competition - USATODAY.com