When I quiz my friends on their opinions of the outfits, makeup and hairstyles of the previous night's American Idol episode, we usually agree on the winners and losers of the evening. Today was unusual in that on the issue of Jason Castro's dreadlock hairstyle the votes were split pretty much down the center.
Some of the girls who are much more trendy that I could ever dream to be and whom I expected to consider the appearance of dreds to be cutting edge and stylish were surprisingly opposed to this cute guy's fashion statement. One gal pal said if he'd cut the hair that he'd be her favorite hands down, and another said she'd rather see the return of the huge 70s style afro rather than Marley dreds.
Some of my more conservative (unofficial of course)voters who are sticklers for classic haircuts and tradition shocked me by slobbering all over themselves over the dreadlocks. Well, maybe not the dreadlocks themselves, but the handsome guy with the guitar who just happened to have them attached to his head.
No matter how you feel about his hairstyle, Jason Casto has charisma. He might not be as strong a singer as David Archuleta, but there's no denying that Jason has star appeal much the same as a young Bob Dylan. I know that Simon and Randy wanted to hear more vocals and less strumming, but I think the audience was loving the whole package...dreds and all.