Top 10 Girls

Here we go. The women don't really have anything to prove now since they sang circles around the guys last week. But are they going to continue their dominance or will they take it easy this week? Will LaKisha and Melinda continue to be in a different league or will they come back to everyone else's level? It's going to be fun to see.

Gina Glocksen - I think Gina sounds great on this song. This song became really popular again because of Carrie and her outstanding performance in Season 4. Gina is great on this but not as good as Carrie. She lost a little of her power at the very end but I liked it. I'm still a little surprised at how strong Gina's voice is although she does have a tendancy to "blow out" her voice by the end of the song. She needs to watch the shouting vs. the singing during the power notes at the end. Grade B+

Alaina Alexander - Alaina is singing one of my favorite songs from last year, Not Ready To Make Nice. She started the song off well but when she got into the 2nd verse I feel like she lost a lot of it. The emotional part of the is supposed to be a little shouty but she missed those notes as well. She was pretty flat for most of the 2nd half of the song. It was just ok. Grade C

LaKisha Jones - Interesting. LaKisha sounds amazing on this song however it lacks some energy. When Paris sang this last year she blew the rough off with all of that energy. LaKisha is just singing the song but nothing more. Her voice is so technically perfect though. It's beautiful to listen to. She knows exactly how to work it with her songs. Grade A-

Melinda Doolittle - Wow. I love this one. Her rendition sounds like something Natalie Cole would do but still something totally new. I loved all the little nuances she did in the song. She definitely made the song her own. And her voice is spot on! Melinda has total control over her voice and knows how to change it up with her phrasing. This will probably be the best of the night. Grade A

Antonella Barba - What the hell is she wearing? We're back in the 60s? And then she comes out with a Celine Dion song? Total disconnect! She's basically doing the same thing she did last week. It's pretty evident now that her voice is pretty thin. When you've got fuller voices like LaKisha and Melinda, Antonella's wispy (but still good) voice really lacks. It's a little pitchy all throughout. Better than last week but the weakest of the bunch so far. Grade C-

Jordin Sparks - tough start for her. She was in front of the beat and pretty pitchy. wow, her voice is all over the place. As soon as she goes down to the lower notes her pitch goes off. She's mostly on in the mid range but her power notes were all over the place as well. Sadly, this is a huge mess compared to last week. This one could be even worse than Antonella. But I think her tears could help her. Grade D

Stephanie Edwards - ugh. I hate this song choice. I have no idea what it is but it isn't good. I can't tell if it's the song or not but Stephanie seems to be in front or behind the beat all the time. It's awkward. Really, the highlight of the song was just the very end. But compared to last week this was a really bad performance. Grade C+

Leslie Hunt - she chose the perfect song for her voice. Now you can really hear the velvety tone of her voice. I'm not sure how I felt about the scatting but the singing was really nice. I wish the song had a little more to it though. She sounded nice but it was an average performance. I think Simon is absolutely correct. Because her voice is husky and jazzy she can't really compete with the belters like LaKisha and Melinda. Grade C+

Haley Scarnato - Well, her voice isn't strong enough to drown out the background singers. Once they start singing you can't hear her at all. that's a problem. It was a good performance. She had fun with it but I think the song was too big for her. Definitely better than last week though. Grade B-

Sabrina Sloan - I kinda feel like she was shouting at times throughout the song. It definitely wasn't as good as last week. She brought it together in the end but there were a lot of rough spots along the way. She has a great voice though and I think she'll be safe for another week. Grade B-

Overall, I thought the women were actually weaker than the guys this week. I'm not sure if they felt they were safe bceause last week or what, but the songs they chose this week really didn't showcase their talents as well. The best were Melinda, LaKisha and Gina.

The two going home are Alaina and Hayley (Leslie Hunt is very close to being here as well). Jordin actually did the worst tonite but I think she's proven herself already that she'll get a free week. Hayley actually did pretty well but I dont' think she has a big enough fanbase to save her. Antonella should be going home but Vote For the Worst has her picked for the women. She'll probably be staying until the Top 12 unless you get out and vote for your favorites.

Top 10 Guys

Here we are again. The Top 10 guys are ready to sing and I hope they're better than they were last week. After seeing the women perform, these guys have a lot to prove tonite. I hope they're up for the task. Once again, I'm commenting as they sing. First up, our resident vampire NosPHILatu.

Phil Stacey - I can't stop looking at his pointy ears. He really does look like Nosferatu. Once again, he sounds great. He's got a good, strong voice but the song is a little boring. He's very comfortable perfoming and being on stage. It was a good performance, I just wish the song was a little more entertaining. Good job though. Grade B+

Jared Cotter - Great song choice for him. This song fits his voice perfectly. His voice is a throwback to the Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke type of sounds. It's missing a little of that soul that they had but it's still good. There were a couple of pitch problems and his voice was a little "rough" on some of the higher notes but overall another good job. Grade B

AJ Tabaldo - Huge improvement from last week. I thought he should have been gone and is lucky to be here now. I thought the intro was a little weak but as soon as the music kicked he found his groove. You can tell he did because he busted out with his gay dance moves once again. Girl, you need to keep those arms DOWN! Stop with the gay dancing! Grade B

Sanjaya Malakar - Whoa dude! It looks like it the battle of the gays. Sanjaya and AJ seem like they're trying to out-gay each other. What's gayer, AJ's dancing or Sanjaya's clothes? That's a tough one. Hmmm... he has a good voice but there's no real power behind it and therefore he can't do anything with it. He sounds fine but the performance is boring. There's no real emotion in his voice. It's a little pitchy at the end. Overall just a very average performance. Gosh, he even has no emotion or power in his voice when he's talking to the judges. Grow a pair dude! Grade C-

Chris Sligh - Yes! I love that southern, new orleans type of voice that Chris has. Great song to showcase his talents. I love that he's not trying to oversing the song, he's just doing what he does and it sounds great. Like Phil, Chris knows how to work the stage and sell a song. Again, I want to hate this guy but I can't deny that he did an amazing job tonite. Grade A-

Nick Pedro - I was a little doubtful when I heard he was singing Fever but he really pulled it off. I thought this was a really good performance for him. This was so much better for him. I kinda like his smoky type of voice. I am used to hearing Buble sing this with a fuller, stronger voice but Nick's vocals worked as well. He definitely pulled it off. Grade B

Blake Lewis - Hm, Virtual Insanity. That should be a really good song for him if he nails it. It's definitely the type of song that fits his style. He started the song very pitchy but finally settled into it. The vocals aren't as strong as they were last week but the song is so different from what everyone else is singing that I think he'll still do well. He definitely know what works for him. Plus the beatboxing added a lot to the middle of the song. Not as good as last week but I don't think he's going anywhere. Grade B+

Brandon Rogers - Ouch! That's a horrible start to a great song. He sounds like he's singing through his nose most of the time. This was a horrible performance compared to last week. I didn't like it at all. It was boring, didn't sound good and he had no stage presence. Grade D

Chris Richardson - I love that he's pulling out a Jason Mraz song. Like Blake, Chris knows what he's good at and strays from singing the same type of songs that everyone else is singing. I love his voice and he definitely had fun with the song. He got a little tangled with the words at the beginning but he didn't let that stop him. He sounded great with his full voice on some of those high notes at the end. This was a great performance. That's two weeks in a row for him. We finally have a real "pop" guy in the competition. I don't think we've had one yet. I'm loving this guy! Grade A

Sundance Head - He still has something to prove (i.e. like he can actually sing). Knowing that he's the Vote for the Worst pick means that the worse he does the more votes he'll get. I have a feeling that all of the criticism is getting to him now and he's losing all of his confidence. Will he be able to bounce back tonite or fall further? Well, it looks like he was able to shake everything off for this week. He looks almost like how we saw him in his audition. It was a good performance. I just wonder if he's got it in him to stay in this competition. Between all of the criticism and the birth of his son I think he may end up deciding to quit the show sometime in the future. Great performance though. Grade A-

Well the guys really took the lead from the women and stepped up their game this week. Overall it was a MUCH better week than last week. My favorites for this week were once again Chris R, Blake and Chris S.

The 2 that are going home (assuming Vote for the Worst doesn't screw things up) are Sanjaya and Brandon. This is an easy week. If anyone other than Sanjaya and Brandon go home it would be an upset.

Congratulations JHud!!

Awards season is finally over and JHud pulled it off! She took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. I was so confident that she was going to win and had been rooting for her all the way. But when Eddie Murphy surprisingly lost his category I suddenly got very scared and didn't think they'd give it to her. But she did it! She won an Oscar for her very first movie. And I thought she gave the most heartfelt and emotional speech of the night. You can tell that she was truly moved. Congratulations Jennifer! I can't wait to see what comes next.

Separated At Birth?

Simon's favorite (and eventual competition winner) on Britain's X-Factor singing competition was the single-named Leona. When the Top 12 girls performed, one of his favorites was Sabrina.


So is it the voice or the look that makes a star? Simon says...

Top 24 Poll Results

Top 12 Girls

I'm excited for tonite. I can't wait to see if my theory about this Top 24 is going to hold out. I believe that the women have much more vocal talent then the men this year, but the men have a lot more personality (although they didn't really show that much personality last night). It's going to come down to America wanting talent or personality for their Idol.

Here are my scores for tonites performances. Once again, I'm typing as they perform.

Stephanie Edwards - I'm excited for Stephanie. She's my wildcard pick for the women. I think she has an amazing voice and can't wait to finally see her perform a whole song. Ooh, I love her voice. It has a bluesy, jazzy type feel to it. She has great control and knows how to work the stage. Wow, great performance right off the bat. She's keeping my wildcard dreams alive. I think she's going to do really well. Grade A-

Amy Krebs - She has a nice voice. There's nothing extraordinary about it but it's really nice. The performance was a little boring though and she did lose a little control on the runs but overall it was alright. I think it's just not as exciting because we've heard this song from Carrie and Constantine who both did a lot better with it. Grade C

Leslie Hunt - She has a very interesting voice. It's got warm husky tones to it that I wasn't really expecting. I didn't really like the way she performed it though because of all her "punk/rock star" movements that don't really fit with the song. The other thing is that this song will forever be ruined whenever I hear anyone sing it because this was the song that propelled Kelly Clarkson to the front of the pack when she performed it. No one else will be able to touch that performance on this song. Leslie did alright though. I'll be interested to hear her on a better song (Cher maybe?). Grade C+

Sabrina Sloan - Wow, she's got a powerful voice and she picked a great song to compliment it. I loved her playful attitude with the stage, audience, and camera. She seems to have done a lot of homework before starting the show and it's definitely paid off. She knows what she's doing and she's doing it in a big way. Awesome performance. Grade A

Antonella Barba - She comes out look like Mikalah Gordon singing God Bless the Child and it was a little scary but I loved the liberties she took with this song. I love the new r&b vibe that she gave to it. She has a good voice but you can tell she's still not as confident as the other girls. I thought she did pretty well, although I hated that she dropped to a lower note at the end instead of going for the power note. If she was more confident in her talent then i think she could do really well. Grade B-

Jordin Sparks - Wow. She has a great voice. She's going to be the next Diana DiGarmo. I'm wasn't really sure about the song at the end. I love me some Tracy Chapman but this was a little odd. However, she changed it up to fit her style and it worked. She showed off her huge voice at the end which i think she needs to showing a little more. Grade A-

Nicole Tranquillo - Ugh. I didnt like that performance at all. Not really sure why but her voice doesn't do anything for me. She has a little too much facial expression. It seems like she's trying to make it look like it's so difficult so she can say "wow, look at what I can do. These notes are so hard to hit." I didn't care for the song either. Grade D

Haley Scarnato - Well she does have a "Celine" type of voice so it was a good song choice, but it's nowhere near as good as Celine. There were a lot of pitch problems throughout. There wasn't a lot of stage presence but she was alright. She wasn't horrible but she wasn't amazing. Grade C+

Melinda Doolittle - I'm excited to finally see Melinda perform. She's an early favorite of mine and one of the best voices in the competition so I want her to knock it out of the park. Yes! She rocked this one. She's got a voice like Aretha/Tina Turner. She definitely knows how to perform and looks extremely comfortable on the stage for being a backup singer for so long. She had a lot of fun and sounded amazing! The crowd was so into it! Great job. Grade A

Alaina Alexander - I have no hopes for Alaina. I thought she was just ok during her audition and dreadful during Hollywood. I'm not sure what Simon sees in her so she needs to prove me wrong tonite. Well it was a good song choice for her. It fit her voice perfectly but she still had some pitch problems all throughout. She was better than I thought she would be, but still not good enough. It actually felt (as Simon would say) very karaoke. Grade C-

Gina Glocksen - Interesting. This is not the type of song I would have expected Gina to come out with. I guess because of her look I pictured her more as a rocker. It started out a little rough. I think she needs to work on her lower register because it's not as strong as it should be but once she hit the chorus her voice took off. She was shouting a little on the first big note but half way through it it suddenly clicked into "singing" and sounded great. She actually sounded a bit like Kelly at the end. I liked it. Grade B

LaKisha Jones - Here we go. I think LaKisha has the best voice in the competition and seems very humble about everything. I hope she doesn't change. I am very excited to see her perform the big song from Dreamgirls. Now everyone is going to see if she compares to Jennifer Hudson. Declared the winner now! LaKisha is DA BOMB! She sings this lighter than JHud but no less emotional or effective. Awesome! Grade A+

So there you have. The Top 24 have all performed and I have to say that my theory was proven correct. The women definitely outshine the guys. I have to agree with Randy in that I would only take about 4 guys through to the next round and keep all of the women. The real competition is in this semi-finals to see which women will be fighting for that last spot into the Top 12.

Based on the tonite's performances I think that the bottom 3 are going be: Nicole, Amy, and Alaina. Antonella should really be there but I think she has a big enough fanbase already that she may stay in for one more week. Who will be going home? Nicole and Alaina. Both were pretty bad.

And now that we've seen everyone I am predicting the final 2: My 2 pre-season picks held up. Melinda and LaKisha are your final 2 with LaKisha winning.

Top 12 Recap - Guys

1-866-IDOLS...

[+] got my vote
[!] should be worried

01: Rudy Cardenas [+]
Kicked off the real start of Season 6 and I think he did a good job. It's pretty much impossible to be the first person and get all positive feedback from the judges, because then they have no where to go but down. I like Rudy and did you notice that when he sings big notes he sounds a little but looks A LOT like Clay Aiken (one squinty eye, half smirk)?
02: Brandon Rogers [+]
Still my favorite singer even though he sounded a little bit out of it. Plus I have a crush on him.
03: Sundance Head [!]
Oh god.
04: Paul Kim [!]
I think Paul oversings everything and is lingering in the boyband era of the 90's. And the no shoes things has been done (and better) by Kelly Clarkson. Oh, and literal song interpretations really bug me ("guilty feet have no rhythm" then point to your bare feet!?).
05: Chris Richardson [+]
Alright, he's cute...we know! But he used "vicariously" (correctly) in his video speech. So cute! Ok, about his singing: I liked it! I think he was a little bit thin on the vocal overall but if he gets a couple of weeks in he'll gain confidence.
06: Nick Pedro [!]
Poor guy. He almost subconsciously sabotages himself. He seemed so timid.
07: Blake Lewis [+]
He said he was excited "with an exclamation mark". Well he looked G-A-Y with an exclamation mark. Don't get me wrong, he looked good. Just gay. Oh, and the song was great and he stood out head over shoulders above the other guys.
08: Sanjaya Malakar [!]
I'm heading into Perez Hilton territory with this remark, but can I am going to nickname him "San-gina". Ha ha. I crack myself up! I hope he's ready to join his sister at home. No offense, but man you gotta have SOME self-confidence at this point! You're in the Top 24! He looked at the floor the entire time Ryan Seacrest was talking to him...oooh, maybe he had a little crush.
-------------
The rest are safe. So if I had to choose, Thursday we will be saying goodbye to Sundance & Paul.

Other comments: Chris Slightly Large/Hurley (your choice) is being called the early favorite but I completely agree with Jesse that that automatically makes me not like him. Plus, don't start arguing with the judges yet. A.J. Tabaldo = Season 6 RJ Helton (quasi-gay, sensitive singer).


And Phil Stacey sounded good but he reminded me of someone...

Top 12 Guys

Well, it looks like Phil Stacey is indeed singing tonite so that means one of my favorites, Tom Lowe, is definitely out of the competition now. Too bad. But I expect we'll be seeing more of him in the future.

So tonite is the night that it all officially begins. I'm very excited to see how everyone does and to get the competition under way. I think it's going to be interesting because all along I've been saying that the guys aren't as talented vocally as the women but they have more personality. It'll be interesting to see how their personality comes out tonite. So without further ado, my critiques of the Top 12 Men. I'm writing this as they're performing.

Rudy Cardenas - I have never heard this song before but Rudy performed it well. He was definitely having fun on stage. I think he's got one of the better male voices but I did notice tonite that he doesn't annunciate very well. There were a couple of times that I couldn't understand what he was singing at all. But overall I enjoyed it. Grade B

Brandon Rogers - The opening was a little slow and boring but it finally picked up once the song got going. However, I never really got into it. He sounded alright, performed it alright and got the crowd to clap along but I dont' think it ever really "clicked" and took off as a great performance. He has a shot of making it into the finals but needs to pick better songs. Grade B

Sundance Head - I feel like Sundance has a lot to prove tonite because he had an amazing first audition but was horrible in Hollywood. The only reason the judges kept him in was because of that initial audition. Let's see how he did. First of all, I've never heard of that song before so immediately I was thrown off. But his awesome bluesy voice is completely gone. Instead we're left with some Meatloaf sounding voice that we've never heard from him. It's just ok but nothing extraordinary. His stage presence really lacked as well. It remind of Ruben shuffling his arms up and down each time he sang. Sundance looked really uncomfortable. He knows that he has a lot to prove and I think that pressure is getting to him. Grade D+

Paul Kim - Well the first thing I noticed is that his voice isn't very strong. The band was drowning him during the first half of the song. The second half was a little louder but it was really pitchy, especially when he started to go into the falsetto. I feel like Paul has just an average voice and nothing more. I thought that was a horrible song choice as well. There's nothing "star quality" about that song and not a song the crowd can really get into. And please put your shoes on! For a lot of people that don't like feet, seeing him on there without shoes (and constantly bringing it up) is kind of gross. Grade C-

Chris Richardson - Finally! Someone actually picked a good song and rocked it as well. His voice is different from the rest. He definitely has some nasal quality to his voice but he does sound like Justin Timberlake. It was nice to finally see someone really have fun their song as well. So far, I think he's been the best of the night. Grade A-

Nick Pedro - Wow, his opening notes were horrible. I'm not sure if he was able to hear the music or not but he came in completely wrong. It didn't really pick up from there. Coming in on the second verse he had the same problems. He was able to finally pull it together in the end. Overall, that was a really bad performance. His vocals were bad, the song was awful and there was little emotion. Another week like that and he's a goner. Grade C-

Blake Lewis - Tonite he looks like an old 80's british rocker (i.e. Morrissey). He's an interesting one. He's not the best singer but I actually liked it. I was glad he didn't beat box tonite and just focused on the singing. He seemed to be enjoying what he was doing and I think it translated well. I think that once he's get a little more comfortable in the competition he'll start mixing the singing with the beatboxing and really impress everyone. So far, only he and Chris R. actually sound like pop stars. Grade B+

Sanjaya Malakar - It's a good song choice for him. He needs to stick with this Stevie Wonder/Michael Jackson type sound as that is his niche. He has some pitch problems in the beginning but gets through it. Overall he sounds good but the performance is really lacking energy. He's got a smile that lights up a room but his entire performance was so boring. Grade D

Chris Sligh - I really didn't want to like this performance. People were already naming him as the winner and I feel there are better singers in the competition. However, this was the perfect song for his voice. He sounds great on it. It got the crowd engaged. You can see his experience with fronting a band coming into play here. He looks completely comfortable on the stage. He definitely had a good time. Best performance of the night. Grade A

Jared Cotter - It was a good song choice for him. He sounded alright until he got towards the end. He had some problems with some of the higher notes and I would have liked to see him try to sing them with a full-chested voice instead of a falsetto, in the head type of voice. The end was pretty bad though. And sadly, that's what we're left with. I think it's enough (just barely) to keep him in for another week. Grade C+

AJ Tabaldo - I have to admit, I was really surprised. In my opinion, he's the one most likely to go home first because we know nothing about him and from what we've seen I haven't been impressed. This, however, was a good performance. He sounded good, it was a decent song, and he was having fun. My big critique is his appearance. Stop with the gay dancing (i.e. dancing with your arms above your head) and don't pop the collar. Both make you look really stupid. Grade B

Phil Stacey - Once again, he's proved that he has problems beginning a song. He was way off key at first but once he got into it he sounded amazing. I had a problem comparing him with Clay (who also sang this song during Season 2) but he definitely sounded great as well. It was nice to hear his full voice but he's nowhere near the "bald rocker" that Chris Daughtry is. But this was a great performance. Grade B+

Overall, I was a little disappointed with tonite. For the most part the song choices were pretty bad. Everyone tries to play it safe and do some softer, ballady type stuff and that just makes for a boring night. And I'm not the biggest fan of Stevie Wonder so hearing guy after guy trying to sing his stuff gets old (especially since we always here the same critique 'it's really hard to sing Stevie' when it's done). Kudos to Blake, Chris R. and Phil for singing something a little different and more contemporary tonite.

My bottom 3 for tomorrow are Sundance, Sanjaya and (it's a tough call between Paul and Nick but I'm going to choose...) Paul. I'm not really sure who is going to go home. I feel like Sundance and Sanjaya did the worst but have the bigger fanbases so I don't know. But since I graded them the lowest I think it'll be them. Sundance and Sanjaya are going home.

Tom Lowe Sings the National Anthem

It's such a shame that Tom didn't make the Top 24. He has one of the best (if not THE best) male voices this season. After watching his initial audition I was really hoping he'd sneak in but he didn't. Now, after watching him sing the National Anthem (which is ironic since he's British but what can you do?) I am convinced that he would have done extremely well; possibly even won! Just listen to him on that full-chested power note near the end. It's awesome! I'm sure that Tom is well on his way to becoming a huge star here in America.

Elliott's First Single Sneak Peek

AOL has posted a sneak peek of Elliott's first single "Movin On" as well as clips from 3 other songs from his upcoming album. Judging from his first single and those clips, it's going to be a great album. He sounds amazing on these. I think this album could do really well when it's released. You can hear it at
http://music.aol.com/franchise/firstlisten/elliott-yamin-new-songs

My Top 12 Picks

So now that we have our Top 24 I'm going out on a limb and picking my Top 12. Before I get to that though, let's talk about the Girls vs. the Guys. This year is interesting because the guys are more about personality than about actual vocal talent/ability. If you think about everyone that we've seen so far probably the first names that come to your head are Chris Sligh, Blake Lewis, Sundance Head. It isn't necessarily because they have outstanding voices, it's more because of what else they have going for them. Chris has the funny personality and the big hair. Blake is the beat boxer. Sundance has an interesting name. All of the are likable and all have decent voices (well, to be honest I can't remember what Blake sounds like because we've pretty much only seen him beat boxing) but that's not why we remember them. The women, however, are stronger because of their voices. In fact, most of the women seem very shy and intimidated by the whole process. Lakisha and Melinda are two of the (if not THE two) best singers in the competition. Yet, you can barely get them to say a word when they're not singing. But then they open their mouths and you're totally blown away by what they can do. So it's really going to be interesting to see what America does. Usually, they've given the title to the person with th best voice of the competition (Kelly, Fantasia, Carrie) but last season they gave it to Taylor who was more personality and performance than vocal ability (and I'm still trying to figure out how/why Ruben won).

So, with all of that here is my list for the top 12:
Guys:
Blake Lewis is a good looking guy that stands out because of his beatboxing talents. He's going to be this year's Ace Young, who has something a little different from the rest of the competition (like Ace's falsetto) that will end up hindering him in the long run because America will eventually get tired of it. But unless he really screws up in the semis I don't think he'll have a problem making it into the Top 12.

Chris Richardson stands out because of his vocals. So far he seems like a quiet guy that sounds and looks like Justin Timberlake. I think that if he picks the right songs he'll make it into the Top 12 fairly easily. I'm just worried that we might not get a lot of emotion from him and America will be left wondering who he is and what he's all about.

Chris Sligh is the most obvious choice of the Top 12. He's got everything going for him, good personality where he doesn't take himself seriously (Mikalah), huge hair (Justin), good voice (take your pick), and America is in love with him already. He's already the pick to win the whole thing so I don't see how he can screw it up so badly that he wouldn't make it in.

Phil Stacey has a lot of rumors surrounding him right now. When he first auditioned I thought he was just ok and was actually surprised they let him through. Then when we got some clips from Hollywood Week he had a completely different sounding voice. It was a lot stronger and fuller. I really liked him after that. Now there are rumors that he's been disqualified from the competition and is actually on tour with his band during March and April (according to his MySpace page). So who knows if he's actually on or not. He could have that posted to throw people off. However, if he does get disqualified then I am hoping they replace him with Tom Lowe (and if they do then Tom Lowe takes this spot in the Top 12). Whether it's Phil or Tom, I think both of them will be able to sing their way into the Top 12. Both are strong singers that people will really enjoy.

Rudy Cardenas, in my opinion, is the best male vocalist this year. He has a great control of his voice and always sounds strong (even in the higher register). Once the competition actually starts I think he's going to start blowing people away with what he can do.

Nicholas Pedro is my wild card pick. This last spot can be filled with a couple of guys. His closest competition will be Sanjaya and Sundance. Like Rudy, Nick has a great voice with lots of control. My only concern is that he'll actually sound too much like Rudy (who is the better of the two) and could potentially lose this spot to someone else. Sanjaya is a good singer but I don't think he's good enough for the Top 12, however he does have the personality factor that most of the other guys have and that could make him a crowd favorite. Sundance showed enormous promise during his initial audition but completely fell apart in Hollywood. In my opinion, Hollywood was the real Sundance and I have a feeling we're going to see him fall apart again in the semis so I don't really see him making it through. But if people keep him around, hoping we get what we saw in the audition, then he could potentially make it in on this last spot. Nick has shown the most consistancy from what we've see so I'm giving this final spot to him. Hey, last year I picked Elliott as my wild card and look where he ended up. :)

Girls:
Antonella Barba is a pretty girl with a good voice. I think her challenge is going to be believing that she deserves to be there with all of the other girls. She has already claimed that she's not as good as her bf who is a trained singer (when in fact she's better). She seems to be building a fan base already so I think they'll be able to carry her into the top 12 (especially since there are some girls that have no business being in the Top 24 [Hayley and Alaina]).

Gina Glocksen had a huge fanbase from last season where people were disappointed she didn't make the Top 24. Now that she's here you can bet that they will carry her into the Top 12. Plus, she's different from the rest because she's a rocker. Hopefully she'll actually live up to that because we haven't had a good female since Nikki McKibben (oh wait, she wasn't good at all).

Jordin Sparks is this year's Lisa Tucker. She's got a good, strong voice for someone so young. She has a likable personality that I think people will click with. With the right songs, she could be up there with Lakisha and Melinda.

Lakisha Jones is the best singer this season. Will she win? Who knows, but she definitely deserves to. She has a powerhouse voice that blew me away during the auditions. And then she blew me away again during Hollywood Week. You can bet she's going to get a lot of comparisons to Jennifer Hudson and Mandisa, but with the wave that JHud is creating I think Lakisha will end up benefitting from it and ride it far into the competition. Now people are saying that JHud should have won her season so let's give it to Lakisha instead.

Melinda Doolittle is probably the best technical singer of the competition. And seeing that powerhouse voice come out of such a shy and timid girl makes her endearing. People are going to be rooting for her to do well and I don't think she'll have any problem getting into the Top 12.

Stephanie Edwards is my wild card pick for the women simply because she's an unknown. She sorta looks like Fantasia with her hair but sounds like LaToya. That could be a winning combination. I was very impressed with the brief clip we saw of her during Hollywood Week If she continues to sing like that during the semis she'll make it into the Top 12.

So there you have it, my Top 12. Now it's going to be very interesting to see what actually happens on Tues, Wed and Thurs and see if my picks hold out. But that's the fun part of the show and I'm definitely looking forward to it.

FINALLY!

It's about damn time that auditions are over and we're finally in Hollywood Week. Seriously producers, did we really need a month of crappy/boring auditions just to get to Hollywood Week? And then all you give us is one hour before announcing the Top 24? You could have at least expanded it to a 2-hour episode. Now, the reason for the one hour is that there wasn't much that happened in Hollywood Week and they felt that there wasn't a lot to show. Well, after sitting through a month of that crap I think you could have easily created another hour of "drama". But whatever, it's over. Hopefully they'll learn for next year.

First off, let's comment on the best moment of the night. During the group round we had a group of Chris Sligh, Blake Lewis, Rudy Cardena, and Tom Lowe. Oh snap, these guys were awesome together! That could have been one of the best group performances on Idol to date. And I was glad they finally showed Tom Lowe. His hot self should have had more TV time. My guess is that he doesn't make it so they didn't bother showing him or don't want to showcase him yet because he's British and auditioning for an American show. I just hope he somehow sneaks into the Top 24 tonite. The other 3 are definite contenders though.

Second, I was so happy to see Amanda (one half of the best friends) go in the end. She's a bitch. I liked Antonella a lot better and was happy to see her make it through. I was also sad for Baylie Brown. She's beautiful with a great voice. I think she would have done really well, but not sure we need another Carrie just yet.

Third, I was REALLY disappointed with Sundance last night. During the auditions I was so sure that he was going to be one of the final people on the show. But last night showed some serious weaknesses in him. He couldn't sing anything right, he couldn't remember his words, and he definitely let his nerves take over. It's obvious the judges really really like him and are keeping him in but I'm not sure how forgiving America is gonna be. If he doesn't get this right he's going to be gone pretty soon. The good news for him is that he can choose any song during the semis. He should be able to make it through, but once he's in the finals and the theme weeks start coming then he may be in trouble.

Fourth, thank God the judges finally cut Perla. I can't believe she even made it past the initial auditions but whatever. And I'm glad that Simon even admitted she was only making it based on her personality and not her voice. I think that can't really rely on personality anymore. It worked for Mikalah but Brenna really screwed them over last year. Everyone hated her and wanted her off the show so badly. I think Perla would have been the same way this year. Brenna pretty much screwed up the "personality" spot for a while.

Fifth, I thought that it was really cute to see Sanjaya be so sad that Shamali didn't make it to the Top 40. You could tell he felt bad about it. But I think he'll do well.

So tonite we find out for sure who the top 24 are. I kinda feel like it's pretty obvious who they will be but you never know. At least it all officially starts next week! Now I'm finally excited for this season!

New Music Videos: Kimberley Locke & Clay Aiken

Could a Brit be the next American Idol?

Tom Lowe has made it to the Hollywood rounds on American Idol Season 6, but this isn't is first brush with fame. He started as a backup singer for Take That! and then at the age of 18 he was in a UK boyband called North & South (which sounds like the influence for our US version of 2ge+her). He toured successfully in Les Miserables and Cats before moving here to pursue a degree in East Asian Studies at Harvard.

Now school is over and this may be his last chance at fame. What do you think?
Can a 28 year old, ex-boyband, British, smarty be our next American Idol?