Marco has just the right amount of goofy (I dont always take myself so serious vibe) about him that just makes me feel that he would fit great.
Donati seems like a great fit too. However, Virgil gives me the "too famous" vibe and strikes me as the type that wouldnt stay around for too long by his choice.
Lang strikes me as simply over-technical, if thats possible.
Watch, it'll end up being Wildoer LOL!
I'd agree with much of this.
My one doubt about Lang is that he's almost too precise. Regardless of what their critics say, there's more to DT than just the technical side, and I'm not sure he has quite as much soul as Mike did. Definitely one of the singularly most qualified drummers knocking about, though, and while it wouldn't surprise me at all if he gets the job, it's my one minor doubt.
Virgil I'd agree is too famous. He's a fairly big name, and I imagine that he'd have a lot of other stuff on his schedule. Would be fantastic if it were possible, but I don't see him as being among the most likely candidates, as he's probably got the most stuff going on outside of the band. Not that being Dream Theater's drummer precludes a hefty number of sideprojects.
And I agree that Marco Minnemann's potentially a seriously good fit. Can see him being the dark horse.
Still feel like Charlie Zeleny's a sound candidate, in spite of the rumours that he's not among the seven. They seem to come from a very confident source, but nonetheless, I can't imagine one of Jordan Rudess's friends with such a degree of technical prowess, and such a respect for the DT back catalogue wouldn't have entered the frame at some point or another - even if he may have had to turn down auditions.
Don't disagree that Wildoer's capable, but his back-catalogue is somewhat more straight-up metal than a lot of the other candidates. Not entirely convinced I know how versatile he is, which is why I'm kind of keeping him to the sidelines. Out of the five rumoured to be auditioning, I'd probably call him the least probable.
I just thought of something. What if they are recording a new song that they'll reveal during the announcement, showcasing the new drummer?
That would be fantastic. And not entirely impossible. John Petrucci said that he was writing some music on twitter a few weeks ago, didn't he? And he'd finished writing for his solo album at that point, so who knows what that might've been for!
I'd say it's definitely unlikely, but it's not outside the realms of plausibility, and I'd love to see it happen.