VIVA CASTRO!!

That’s pretty much all I have to say about Brother Jason’s cover of Bruddah Iz’s version of Sister Judy’s classic “Over the Rainbow.” (Check out Chris Harris’s article on the story behind the song.) Just know that as long as JC keeps delivering the goods like he did last night he is gonna be hard to beat, and the ranks of pro-Castro demonstrators will continue to swell.

Hopefully they won’t have Jason wade too heavily into the cheese tonight, as we all know “Idol Gives Back” has a tendency to approach the line between tastefully touching and treacly…and then cross it. JC doesn’t seem to have much patience for the maudlin, unlike certain other “Idol’”hopefuls.

And one other JC defense: a couple weeks back, Simon suggested that the dreadlocked one didn’t seem to really “care” about the competition. I don’t get that. What I get is that he wants to win, but knows that at the end of the day only one person will. He’s gonna do what he feels, be true to himself, and let the chips fall.

El “Nuevo Comandante” — Jason Castro. If he wins this thing, for bringing such honor to the Castro name, his namesakes Fidel and Raul should invite him to visit Havana — one of those “cultural exchange” deals to bypass the long arm of the travel embargo-ing feds. GO, JC!