The American Idols Live tour set up shop in the Mellon Arena last night with one of the cheapest looking stages ever to grace a major tour.

The unimaginative set, with its tacky lighting, poor layout, spinning disco balls and stop-motion video screen hoisted high above it all, set the stage for an evening of performances that could be described as a night with "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly."

The bad started with an awkward show opening when Blake Lewis walked across the stage disguised as a stagehand in a wig and ball cap. The place was fully lit -- with the audience milling around for seats -- when Blake removed his disguise and played with a "power box" that made "beat" sounds. Musicians and "Idols" randomly entered the stage and then -- the lights dimmed for "Let's Get It Started."

More bad followed with "Baby Love" with Lakisha Jones and Melinda Doolittle, who were then joined by Chris Richardson for "Heard It Through the Grapevine." Things got downright ugly during "Proud Mary" when Doolittle and Sanjaya Malakar played the roles of Ike and Tina Turner.

The singing was not the issue here; it was the staging and pairing of performers that made what should have been fun songs downright uncomfortable. There's just no joy watching Sanjaya turn Melinda into a dancing puppet.

Thankfully, the good came in a "Blaze of Glory" when Phil Stacey took center stage on the high platform to sing that song and bring some sanity back to the evening.

The rest of the set continued with some decent performances by Haley Scarnato, Chris Sligh and Gina Glocksen. A lovely duet with Chris and Jordin Sparks, both playing acoustic guitars on "What Hurts the Most," set the stage for a strong ending when Blake took the stage.

Blake , who had been tagged as a one-trick-pony with his beat-box routine, showed real musicianship, charisma and stage presence on "Time of the Season." He strapped on his electric guitar and played a mass of pedals while adding "looped" vocals, sounds and more on the moving "She Will Be Loved" followed by "You Give Love a Bad Name." It was a top-notch performance by the runner-up who seems intent on blazing his own trail to stardom.

The second set kicked off with Phil delivering a soulful rendition of "America the Beautiful" Ray Charles-style. The guys (Chris and Chris, Phil, Sanjaya and Blake) formed a band and pounded out "Crazy" and "Hey Jude."

Blake and Chris Richardson paired up for three songs, with Chris Sligh sitting in with the band on guitar, and played a great mini-set.

Lakisha started "I Will Always Love You" a capella and had the place in a tizzy by the time she was done. Melinda then exercised her vocal chops on "Natural Woman."

American Idol winner Jordin Sparks finished the evening with a six-song set that included "I Who Have Nothing," "You Were Meant for Me" and her new single, "This Is My Now." The young talent sang beautifully and really connected joyfully with the audience and came across in an easy manner.

Throughout the night, the performances were so much better when they had something "real" to do like play instruments, instead of trying to tackle silly choreography where their discomfort (and ours) was evident. This batch of Idols is raising the bar with their musicianship and it's a welcome change.

Simon Cowell, are you listening?