American Idol: Top 12 Standings

I reviewed last week’s performances, and I think it’s pretty safe to say that the females of American Idol season 10 are having a bit of a hard time this season. Take a look at my current standings for this season’s Top 12 as of last week’s performances.

12. Karen Rodriguez

Karen’s star is fading awfully fast. Blaming her pitchy performance of Selena’s “I Could Fall In Love” on a “couple technical difficulties” during the results show last Thursday was eye-roll inducing. For Karen to survive this week, she’s going to have to step outside of her Selena/J-Lo repertoire, sing something that gets people talking, and sing it well.

11. Jacob Lusk

It’s time for Jacob to realize that his performance of “God Bless the Child” was his season 10 shining moment. He has now tried to re-create this moment twice, and it is not paying off in his favor. I think he is going to need to rein in his vocals and try something a little more subdued. Sometimes the quieter performance can be quite powerful (i.e. Kris Allen’s performance of “Falling Slowly” during season eight.)

10. Haley Reinhart

I like Haley, I really do. She’s been able to show the versatility in her voice this season in her past couple performances. That aside, she seems to lose her nerve midway through her performances, which causes all sorts of pitch problems. Haley needs to stay confident in her ability to continue to survive each week.

9. Thia Megia

I seem to be the only one that doesn’t get the weird, old fashioned tone to Thia’s voice. Personally, I don’t think she has a voice that will go over well on the radio. Singing-wise, Thia needs to adapt her style and show that she can be current. Personality-wise, I’m sure she has one, but I’m just not sure why she’s opting to operate in robot mode all the time.

8. Lauren Alaina

Oh, how quickly they fall from grace. Lauren’s problem last week was that her performance was boring. She can definitely sing, but she has to work on her stage presence. I suggest finding space in that mansion that the contestants are currently living in and practice on moving while singing. If she can match her stage presence with her singing, she will probably save herself from an early ouster.

7. Stefano Langone

For me, Stefano was like the best of three evils going on last week, in the sense that I liked his remixed song more than Thia’s and he has a truckload more stage presence than Lauren. So, welcome to the number seven slot Stefano! He needs to work out his pitch issues, because being a cutie pie is only going to get him so far.

6. Paul McDonald

Paul definitely stumbled last week. I appreciated his song selection, but it wasn’t quite the right fit to his voice and his vocals were kind of a mess. I like Paul’s voice a lot, but it’s so unique that he has to find the right song every week. I don’t think that Vote For The Worst’s backing carries that much weight when it comes down to voting, and a misstep in the song selection department could be what inevitably ends his run.

5. Naima Adedapo

Naima closed out last week’s performance show with a bang. I have never seen a contestant just bring it like that. She proved that it is possible to remix a song and have it work. Albeit, she did lose her breath between the rapping and the dancing, but I think if she can balance her breathing, she’s going to be one of the more entertaining contestants that Idol has had in at least a season.

4. James Durbin

I got to hand it to James for his performance last week. He managed to rein in his vocals and deliver a wonderful performance. It’s amazing what can transpire onstage, when he’s not depending on that screech of his to pull out a performance. If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll keep that note hidden for at least another week.

3. Scotty McCreery

I am really digging Scotty’s voice. He’s pretty much as close to flawless as we’re going to get this season and I’ll take it, Clay Aiken-esque stage mannerisms and all. We know Scotty can sing, but we have yet to see some range from him. (Although, the thought of a season run full of ballads is sort of hilarious.) He needs to do an up-tempo number as to not become stagnate.

2. Pia Toscano

I truly believe that Pia is the girl’s only hope at winning season 10 of American Idol. She has had pitch problems get her at the start of her performances, but I am theorizing that they were possibly due to nerves. Heading into Top 12, I would hope she’s not as nervous, and I would also hope that there isn’t a Mariah/Whitney/Christina/Celine ballad in store for us this week. Pia should go with an upbeat number to show more of her personality on stage, because her downfall is that we have no clue who she is.

1. Casey Abrams

After last week’s performance, Casey proved to me that there really is a singer to go along with his contagious personality. Casey is going to definitely need to watch his song choices, but so far he’s done a pretty good job. I hope his health doesn’t derail him from the competition, because it would be unfortunate to lose him. For me, along with Naima, he’s making the season interesting.

These are my contestant standings heading into this week’s performances. Agree? Disagree? Sound off in the comments.

American Idol airs Wednesday and Thursday nights at 8 p.m. on FOX.