Duke may have laid an egg in the NCAA tournament Thursday night, but the Triangle still had a decent evening thanks to Garner's Scott McCreery's showing on "American Idol." Even though "Motown Week" put him out of his country comfort zone (he credibly covered Stevie Wonder Wednesday night), McCreery breezed into the top-10 with no drama whatsoever, in the initial group of three contestants declared "safe." Even if he goes no further and gets voted out next week, McCreery will be on this summer's "American Idol" concert tour.

So will Paul McDonald, who also advanced Thursday night, which is good news for Raleigh nightlife impressario Van Alston. Two weeks ago, McDonald performed Ryan Adams' "Come Pick Me Up" on the show, which is a song that Alston co-wrote. So there's an excelent chance McDonald will be singing that song in arenas every night, which ought to make Alston's performance royalties go cha-ching.