For four of the "American Idol" finalists at Philips Arena on Monday night, the concert was a homecoming and the Atlanta crowd gave them nothing but love.

Sure, it's been a long six weeks since the summer Fox hit "American Idol" ended, but the 10 finalists were able to reprise at least some of the original magic. There were hokey medleys, shaky choreography and even decent singing reminiscent of the TV show.

Anyone who preferred "Idol" for the cutting recriminations from a scowling Simon Cowell was disappointed: He only shows up in passing on video.

Cowell would have had a field day mocking the two weakest singers of the group --- A.J. Gil and poor Jim Verraros.

Verraros, during his solo of the Commodores' "Easy" with a voice that got swallowed up by the band, tried to leap onto a platform --- but tripped and fell.

"I'm the biggest idiot alive," a clearly embarrassed Verraros said afterward.

But overall, the finalists sang better than they did during the competition. The concert solidified impressions made during the summer. Atlantan EJay Day's voice is the best of the guys'. Cumming's R.J. Helton remains as adorable as ever. Norcross' Tamyra Gray blew the house down again with her rendition of "A House is Not a Home."

And Justin Guarini played the boisterous charmer, warming the 10,000-plus in the audience, which was 80 percent female and 50 percent teen and under.

The only complaint some of the kids had was they couldn't bring in posters that were ubiquitous during the actual show. "We had an 'I love American Idol' poster and security took it away," sniffed Hannah Chandlee, 11. (A few "I love Justin!" signs did make it in). Nonetheless, she and her friends Jordan Pitts and Sara Moore swayed, screamed and danced almost nonstop.

Much like the fireworks that punctuated the end of the show, many of these would-be stars will fade away. But new Idol wannabes are coming aboard. Auditions start at 8 a.m. Sunday at AmericasMart in downtown Atlanta.