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.

Along with the ongoing Scott McCreery watch, Wednesday night's "American Idol" show featured a little extra Triangle content when contestant Paul McDonald butchered performed "Come Pick Me Up" -- a song co-written by Ryan Adams and Van Alston, proprietor of Slim's and other bars and restaurants around Raleigh. A barfly anthem for the ages, "Come Pick Me Up" originally appeared on Adams' 2000 album "Heartbreaker," and it has come to be one of Adams' most enduring signature songs over the last decade.

"'Come Pick Me Up' was one I helped edit more than write," Alston said on Thursday. "It was so long ago, I can't even remember exactly what I did on it. I may have added a word or a line here and there. But my part was more editing, helping Ryan put everything in the proper sequence."

Adams' "Heartbreaker" original had some blue language, which McDonald edited down to a for-television PG version that didn't make much sense. He looked awkward onstage, too, skipping about as he sang. Still, the judges were surprisingly positive, even though Jennifer Lopez said she had no idea who Adams was. But Randy Jackson professed to be a big fan of Whiskeytown, Adams' 1990s-vintage Raleigh band.

As for Alston, he has a publishing co-credit for "Come Pick Me Up," which means he gets paid when the song is performed. Television can add up to big bucks, which should make for a nice sum on his next check from BMI. McDonald has also recorded a studio version of "Come Pick Me Up" for iTunes release, but how that does might be determined by how long he lasts in the compeition. McDonald and the other contestants will learn their fate at Thursday night's results show (and votefortheworst.com is already championing him).

"I can tell you I'm pleased and honored that someone selected a song I had something to do with writing," Alston said. "And I voted for him. Heck, yeah."

ADDENDUM: Thursday night's results show is in the books, and McCreery and McDonald both made it through to next week.