given that his strengths and interests are so much different than what I typically think of as American Idol style, I'm that much more impressed with how far he got in the competition

That kind of maybe came out wrong. What I was trying to say was, I think I was wrong about my rather extreme assumptions regarding AI. Yes, it does encourage a certain kind of style, but my impression had been that uniqueness was not really welcome at all. On the other hand, the judges, and obviously the people watching the show, encouraged Blake's unique style when it worked. Which is what impressed me.