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.

The 13 “American Idol” finalists were asked to choose a song from one of their own musical idols tonight, and the only question for Garner’s Scotty McCreery was which country artist he would pick.

After chatting with host Ryan Seacrest about how it’s “killing him” to miss his Garner High School baseball season (and sending a shout out to his “blue crew Trojans”) Scotty tells us he picked Garth Brooks’ song “The River.”

Legendary producer Don Was, who was working with Scotty, called him a natural storyteller. Scotty noted that, “You’ve got to be country music. You can’t just sing it.”

It was not his very best performance, but it certainly was good. And the judges, as usual, liked Scotty. Randy Jackson was glad Scotty didn’t try to change who he is: “If it ain’t broke, don’t even think about fixing it.”

"American Idol" performances are usually a tightly kept secret until showtime. But because tonight's show was taped in advance, word is leaking out about who is singing what.

The 13 finalists were asked to pick a song from one of their favorite artists. For Garner teen Scotty McCreery, you knew it would be someone country.

Warning: Spoilers ahead. Read no further if you want it to be a surprise ...

You could say that Brendan James still represents. Going on nine years after graduation, the singer-pianist is still in touch with fellow alumni from his time in UNC-Chapel Hill's Clef Hangers. And his latest single namechecks a well-known song by a fellow North Carolinian:

Now we are driving
Down the shoreline
This car is cut in two
I am quiet
She is humming
"When The Stars Go Blue."

"My wife and I both love Ryan Adams, and that line was written because he's somebody we both listen to a lot," James said in a recent interview. "There was a time when we heard a Ryan Adams song while I was driving her to the airport for a three-month trip to Africa. That was just after we'd gotten married a year and a half ago. Without going into it too much, that was a hard, tricky time and we had to say goodbye for a few months. I was pursuing my dream and she was pursuing hers -- working with orphans in Ghana. It was hard to watch her go, but I had to. That's part of the mutual respect we have for each other."

For more, including details on James' upcoming show in Durham, see the preview in Friday's paper.

UPDATE: Tonight's show is an early one; doors open at 6 and the music starts at 7.

Jesse Malin is New York City through and through, bur Raleigh is still a big part of his lexicon. For one thing, Malin's old D Generation bandmate Richard Bacchus lives down here. For another, Raleigh expatriate Ryan Adams helped launch Malin's solo career, producing his first solo album back in 2002.

"Ryan and I met in Raleigh at the Brewery, in the parking lot in 1995 or '96," Malin said in a recent phone interview. "We stared hanging out, talking music. I'd see him in North Carolina, he'd see me in New York. Then he moved up here and we got to be drinking buddies, which led to jamming and hanging out and him producing my first album. He's been a great friend and a great guy to be around, his musical energy is always super-inspiring. He's been involved in most of my records, either playing bass or guitar or some crazy percussion part."

For more, including details on Malin's Raleigh show this weekend with Bacchus, see the preview in Friday's paper.

Raleigh expatriate Ryan Adams has turned into one of the most collectible artists around, and here's yet another Ryan-related artifact that can be yours for a price: the original artwork from the limited edition vinyl version of his 2008 album "Cardinology." There are 12 pages total, drawn in ballpoint pen by artist Leah Hayes, and each page illustrates the lyrics to one song on the album. For pricing details, check here.

Meanwhile, Adams himself looks to be having fun nowadays.

(Thanks, Dean.)

Well, it looks like it's official: Actress/singer Mandy Moore has  made an honest man out of Raleigh expatriate Ryan Adams, wedding him in a "quiet ceremony" in Georgia on Tuesday. Wonder if he's taken her home to Jacksonville yet to meet the family?

It's only taken about a decade, but one of my favorite long lost Ryan Adams songs is finally about to become "officially released." The song is "Hey There, Mrs. Lovely," and it slayed just about everyone who heard it when the Raleigh expatriate started playing it onstage in 1999. But "Mrs. Lovely" never made it onto an album, although Adams rewrote it as an apparent late-night groupie lament called "These Girls" on 2007's "Easy Tiger"-- which just about broke my heart when I heard it.

Figuring that "Mrs. Lovely" was gone for good, I wrote a rather grumpy essay about it after the "Easy Tiger" version came out. But now the song as originally written is coming out on a digital-only mini-album called "Extra Cheese," as unreleased-bonus-track bait on a Valentine's Day compilation of "Ryan's best love songs." The official release date is next Tuesday, and the seven-song set will go for $3.99 at iTunes.

ADDENDUM (2/11/09): Looks like Adams' new Mrs. Lovely is Mandy Moore.

SECOND (3/10/09): Wedding bells. 

me- 34-a non smoker and happy, for the first time in my life.. i am excited to finish this wonderful time i have had with the cardinals and whatever new adventures may come after march...

So begins the latest post from Raleigh expatriate Ryan Adams on his blog, heralding the end of...well, something. Maybe a whole lot of things. Click through to see it.