After watching the American Idols Live! tour Tuesday (July 24) at HP Pavilion in San Jose, it’s no clearer whether any contestant from season six has true star potential.

The concert featured the top 10 finalists _ including eventual champ Jordin Sparks and runner-up Blake Lewis _ none of whom came across like a sure bet to join the ranks of Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Clay Aiken and Chris Daughtry as Idols that have thrived outside the show’s umbrella.

Yet, these TV darlings _ with the notable exception of Sanjaya Malakar _ showed enough to suggest that they have at least a fighting chance to make it in the real world.

The main thing that was proven on Tuesday night was something that, really, didn’t need to be further underscored. That is if you take a bunch of folks who can carry a tune and give them proven winners to sing then the crowd is going to have a pretty good time. And that was the case in San Jose.

The show was organized in a true Vegas-style revue fashion, with the singers taking solo spins and also working in various combos in front of a seven-piece backing band. The costume changes often matched the material _ for one example, the players donned military garb when singing “America the Beautiful.”

The cast’s biggest strength was how well it worked together, which compensated for the lack of individual star power. It that regard, the concert felt a bit like a Broadway production and one couldn’t help but feel that these singers would do a good job mounting a work like “Rent” or, given how young they all look, “High School Musical.”

The evening kicked off with the ensemble _ which also included Phil Stacey, Chris Richardson, Haley Scarnato, Gina Clocksen, Chris Sligh, Melinda Doolittle and LaKisha Jones _ partying its way through the Black Eyed Peas’ arena anthem “Let’s Get It Started.”

The next segment was one of the show’s highlights, as Doolittle and LaKisha appeared in long white gowns and sang a medley of the Supremes’ “Stop! In the Name of Love” and “Baby Love.” The Motown mojo continued once Richardson joined the fray for a solid take on the old Marvin Gaye hit “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.”

Doolittle did her best to save an Ike-and-Tina-style version of “Proud Mary,” but she could only do so much since it was performed as a duet with Malakar.

A controversial fan favorite on the TV show, Malakar was the one weak link in the concert. His tribute to Michael Jackson, which began with the intro to “Thriller” and continued with a full-length version of “The Way You Make Me Feel,” was the vocal equivalent of a train wreck. His hair, however, looked great.

Stacey looked like a phony dressed up in his black-leather rocker garb, but he sounded like the real deal as he soared through Bon Jovi’s “Blaze of Glory.” (Bon Jovi was one of the song “themes” from season six and a consistent source of material during the concert.)

Scarnato doesn’t have the vocal chops of the other four women on the tour, but what she does have is perfectly suited for country music. She pulled off a convincing take on Martina McBride’s “When God Fearing Women Get the Blues,” running the song through a Shania Twain-style filter.

Her success with country music, coupled with the genre’s willingness to embrace Carrie Underwood, give one a glimmer of hope that Scarnato might be season six’s break-through artist. Her looks, often commented upon by “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell, won’t hurt the cause either.

Glocksen showed the most personality of the lot, while Sligh was so slight in that regard that he was nearly invisible on stage.

Lewis, as expected, showed off the one main thing that separates him from the crowd _ his beat-boxing skills. The first dose was impressive. After the fifth or so beat-box routine, however, he started to look like a one-trick pony.

In comparison to the runner-up, the “Idol” queen showed a great deal of range and versatility. Sparks was the last performer to receive a solo spin under the bright lights and used her time effectively, running through Pat Benatar’s rocking “Heartbreaker,” gliding into Jewel’s folksy “You Were Meant for Me” and belting out McBride’s country ballad “Broken Wing.”

Despite the show’s artistic success, the evening did seem to point to the hypothesis that “American Idol” has run its course and is no longer as important to the general public. Sure, it’s still a monster in terms of TV ratings. Yet, this concert wasn’t sold out and the audience didn’t seem as excited as one might expect.

Maybe the fans are tired of hearing cover songs. Or, perhaps, they just missed Paula, Randy and Simon.