Final 12 Rankings and Predicitions - 3/8/08
The final milestone for the remaining American Idol contestants has been reached - we officially have our final 12! You know what that means? It’s time for another set of rankings!
First, let’s review my last set of rankings, where I ranked the final 24 contestants. All in all, not a terrible set of predicitions based on the limited information I had available. I had 4 of the 6 remaining guys right, and 3 of the 6 remaining girls correct.
For the guys, I had Robbie Carrico (ranked #2) and Jason Yeager (#6) in my top 6 boys, leaving Jason Castro (#10) and Chikizie (#8) on the outside looking in. Now, I really thought Robbie Carrico was the real deal, but I even said I thought I had him ranked too high at # 2. Same goes for Jason Yeager, he just didn’t seem to fit anywhere else. Between Chikizie and Jason Castro, Jason has definitely been the bigger (and more pleasant) surprise! He’s hysterical, and he’s pretty darn good.
For the girls, I had A’siah Epperson (#1), Kady Malloy (#3), and Joanne Bargella (#5) in my top 6 girls, leaving Brooke White (#9), Amanda Overmeyer (#8), and Ramiele Malubay (#7) out of it. Honestly, the only switch I would actually make knowing what I know today - I’d swap Joanne for Brooke. Are you going to tell me that Ramiele is more of an American Idol than A’siah, or that bloated, pouty Amanda is more Idol than Kady Malloy? I don’t think so. But it is what it is.
Last year, season 6 was owned by the women. 3 of the final 4 contestants were female. For season 7 I think we’re going to see a dramatic switch. The guys are just too strong! With that in mind, here are your final twelve rankings!
12 - Chikizie - His one highlight was the “Do You Know My Name” song. Otherwise, he’s neither a great singer or great performer, he’s not that good looking, and he doesn’t exactly have the judges in his corner. In short, he just doesn’t bring anything that can push him above the other 11 contestants.
11 - Amanda Overmeyer - Have I mentioned I hate this girl? She has zero personality, and her “rock” performances are pretty crappy overall. Put it this way, while the song she picked the other night was right up her alley…there aren’t that many more of those songs that she can pull off. She’s going to put in another sub-par performance soon, and that’s going to be the end of her. I hope.
10 - Ramiele Malubay - Imagine how much she’s going to cry when she gets voted off. She might be the first contestant in recent memory that can’t actually pull of the singing of her exit song.
9 - Kristy Lee Cook - When Simon was looking at Kristy and A’siah the other night and said “It really doesn’t matter which one of them goes home” - that sort of said everything, didn’t it? I really like Kristy, but she doesn’t stand out against the people ranked above her here. She has a slight chance of making it further by going all country and nailing it, but in the end, she’s just not the next American Idol.
8 - David Cook - This guy is sort of a wild card. He’s going to be able to pull off some really solid performances (like the one from this past Tuesday) because he has sort of that creepy, dramatic demeanor. Seriously, can’t you see him singing Stings Every Breath You Take and doing an amazing job of it because you know he relates really well to the song?
7 - Brooke White - The most pleasant surprise of the competition so far. She sweet, nice to look at, and she’s a pretty good singer too! Notice that after her week 1 dancing debacle that she’s opted to sit down on her performances. No matter what happens, I think Brooke has done the most for her career this season - I think she has a bright future no matter how far she makes it because she definitely fits a niche.
6 - David Hernandez - Consistently solid. That’s really all you can really say.
5 - Carly Smithson - She’s really good, and there’s definitely a buzz around her, but there also seems to be a Carly backlash forming - to the point where I just don’t think she can win it. She’s due for an earlier than expected exit.
4 - Jason Castro - A budding crowd favorite and a possible dark horse of the competition. He pulled off (and then some) the performance without the guitar last week - it was an awesome song choice for him! It’s going to be interesting to see what he does on some of the theme nights - like, what the heck is he going to do on Latin night? That being said, he’s got a growing fan base that’s going to be loyal and carry him through some tough weeks!
3 - Syesha Mercado - She’s attractive, she’s got personality, and she can sing…but we already put Jordin Sparks through last year. I think the American Idol fans are looking for something different this year.
2 - Michael John - Personally I feel like this is too high for him, but I’m trying to balance that with what I think will happen. I get the sense that he’s just a tiny bit full of himself, and I think that’s going to come through more and more as the weeks wear on. Much like there’s a Carly Smithson backlash forming, I think you may see the same around Michael John.
1 - David Archuletta - Yep….
Make sure to get your bets in for the next episode of American Idol!