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.