OK, I know this is the sports blast, but there is a bit of a lull in the sports world here in beantown. The Sox are just starting spring training which is cool and all, but all the stories out there are all the same with how all the new guys like Coco and Lowell and Loretta and Beckett are going to do this year and will Schill and Foulke regain their forms, etc... The Celts are a below 500 team heading towards the lottery with a very injured club at the moment with Al Jeff, Perk and Szczerbiak all out. The Pats are way off from anything interesting going on and the Bruins? eh....
So let us turn to the biggest event television has to offer at the moment. The Winter Olympics? Hardly, even though I have watched my fair share and have been entertained here and there. Great job by Bode so far by the way. New Hampshire's own pride and joy has gone 0-4 in his events and just twisted his ankle playing hoops 3 days before his last and final chance at a medal. So no, I'm not aiming to talk Olympics chatter. I'm here to throw out my American Idol predictions for the final 12.
American Idol, although a television show, is a game so there is something remotely sporting about it trying to outlast every other singer out there as the group gets whittled down from hundreds of thousands to hundreds all the way down to 24 before getting down to the final 12. So currently we have 12 males and 12 females for the next 3 weeks as two from each group will get cut every week until they trim to 12. At which point we'll be left with 6 males and 6 females. Although the voting by America ends up being a popularity contest along with voting regionally also, usually the best talent does win out and seem to make it to the end. Not always the case with this show so I'm sure my predictions could really look screwy in 3 weeks but if we are basing this totally just on talent, then these are the 6 females and 6 males who should be competing at the end in the final 12.
First the females and I'll even list them in order of who I see as the strongest competitors.
1. Paris Bennett - Powerful and effortless soul singer who is spunky and very likeable as well. She just has 'it' when it comes to singing. This #1 ranking is just a hair above the #2 girl who is....
2. Katharine McPhee - Another one who possesses 'it' as her singing is also just effortless. Very cute as well so her looks can also get her far as she's also humble about everything. To me, she and Paris are both far and away ahead of the other 4 in this list. So when it really comes down to crunch time in this game, like final 3 or 4, these 2 should be the final 2 females standing. Looks very clear to me.
3. Lisa Tucker - Very good singer, who is a bit raw, but still learning on the job. Not as strong as the first two obviously, but holds up solidly as third best here.
4. Ayla Brown - Hometown favorite from Wrentham, Mass. I would love to see someone from the Northeast win this thing finally as all winners have come from the South in the past four editions, so Ayla has a darkhorse chance at it and really surprised me with how much better she was than I originally thought.
5. Kellie Pickler - The typical southern cute gal this show always seems to get every year who does her country-pop thing. She's better than most of the field.
6. Mandisa - The oldest female competitor has nice chops and can rock it.
As for the rest of the girls, they all look the part as they look great but I just don't see their talent rising over these top 6. The best of the rest I would say would be Stevie Scott since she can sing better than the others not mentioned yet, but her song choices are rough with her opera background. Becky has gotten by on mostly her model looks. Brenna is annoying and her act will grow old. Kinnik is ok but nothing special. Same with Melissa who I think got way more credit than she should have so far. Her tone, maybe for some people, is not for me. And lastly Heather, who is the worst one of the litter. Tonight 2 girls are going home and it should be Heather and any one of those other 5 in my bottom 6.
Now let's get to the males.
1. Ace Young - Has got it all for what this competition looks for as an American Idol. The looks are there as he's easy on the eyes and will have all the girls around the country picking up the phone and voting on that alone. But where we've seen that before on previous editions, this guy is different as he can really sing. He has natural ability and it seems to come easy to him. The only thing holding him back right now is his nerves as he does look nervous at times up there. If he can deal with that, he should be this season's golden boy.
2. Chris Daughtry - Awesome raspy-rock voice that comes very effortlessly. He's got the 'it' factor working for him as well as he's got that natural ability with his voice. I see him going far. A final 4 of Paris, Katharine, Ace and Chris seems likely here.
3. Elliott Yamin - However don't count this cat out. He is sneaking up on the competition and last night Simon told him he was the best male vocalist American Idol has seen ever! I like this guy alot but I worry about his likeability factor with viewers voting as he comes off as kind of a punk type kid. Which is the main reason I have him as #3 here behind Ace and Chris. But in terms of natural singing ability, the race is on between these top three as I see them all pretty equal really. I can easily see Elliott also there at the end. His ability to sing more types of songs may leapfrog him over Chris anyway who may find it tough with other genres of music.
4. Taylor Hicks - A true darkhorse in this competition as this guy is wacky. At first look with his gray hair, he looks 40 years old. But he's 29 and got much soul and spunk and also is fun to watch.
5. Gedeon McKinney - Very good guy who also has some natural ability and is confident in himself. In previous seasons, he may have found himself as the top male, but unfortunately for him, this season has 4 strong males ahead of him. He should go far though.
6. Jose 'Sway' Penala - Got the falsetto thing going on which always a personal favorite for me so I like this guy but I still see him behind these other guys. However, I see these 6 far ahead of the bottom 6.
The best of the rest would have to be Will Makar who I see getting alot of votes just based on his plain cute looks as he brings back memories of the Brady Bunch kids. Peter or Bobby anyone? However, he's nothing special in terms of his singing. Then it really goes downhill with the old-time crooner David and the southern-rock specialist Bucky. But the bottom three have to be Patrick who is very forgettable, Bobby who is a joke, and Kevin who is a little dweeb with little talent. So with tonight's vote-off show, the bottom 2 males should be any 2 of either Kevin, Bobby or Patrick as all three just have no business performing on the same stage as those top 6.
So there you have it. In my mind, American Idol is already at their top 12.
