Quite the turnaround this week on American Idol.  In the Top 24, it was the women who shined and the men who served up a large helping of mediocrity.  This week, in the Top 20, it was the reverse.  The American Idol judges say it over and over again, but it cannot be stressed enough: song choice is just about the most important part of the competition.  For the most part, all of these people can sing and, given the correct song, can win over America.  If it's the wrong choice, even if you're a great singer, you may just stamp your ticket home.  Despite some fans being quite certain that so and so will be sent packing tomorrow night, for the ladies, there are definite question marks.  There are five ladies that have a legitimate shot of being eliminated tonight. 

The Contenders:

Amanda Overmyer – The hair, the stomp-dancing, the yelling, everything: it was enough to scare voters away.  We've all been waiting to see if Amanda could do something outside her Joplin-wheelhouse.  Last night she tried and failed miserably.

Kady Malloy: I actually didn't think her performance was as bad as everyone else  It was a wretched song choice, the verses were pretty painful, but when she busted out it was as good as anyone.  But still, will two judge-derided performances in a row seal her fate?

Kristy Lee Cook: Even when she's at her best (like last night), you still get the feeling that she doesn't belong.  It's like she's pretending to be a pop singer.  There's something inauthentic about Cook.  Her voice doesn't have the strength to compete with the best of the ladies. 

Alaina Whitaker: The fan response has been less than it should be for Whitaker.  I thought she was pretty darn good last week, but her second performance was severely hampered by a terrible song choice.  I think she'll stick around, though.

Asia'h Epperson:  I agreed whole-heartedly with Simon.  She's not a good enough singer for that song.  Sure, she really went for it on the high stuff, but the first half of her performance was the worst minute of singing since the Top 24 began.  Just horrendous.  She is the dark horse to be sent home tonight. 


Who Will Go Home:

Amanda Overmyer:  This is my lead pipe lock of the week.  She hasn't done anything to put America in her favor, and her atrocious and frightening performance yesterday should seal her fate.  I don't care how different you are – sucking is sucking. 

That leaves one more.  I'm going to say Alaina did enough in week one to stick around.  Asia'h, just for the sheer audacity of her song choice last night, will fool voters into thinking she's the real deal.  That leaves two hot blonde chicks: Kady and Kristy Lee.  I went three for four in my predictions last week.  I want to keep up my good standing in the world of prognostication.  I feel very good about my two male picks (Jason Yeager and Luke Menard).  Neither of those will be a surprise, and since we know there's always a surprise elimination on Idol at this juncture, I'm going to go ahead and say...

Kristy Lee Cook:

That's right.  Despite being much better than Kady last night, Cook is my pick to go home.  Dial Idol and our polls are down on Kady and a little better for Kristy Lee, but that Dial Idol system doesn't work as well when there are so many contestants still around.  I think America will respond more to the personality and potential of Kady, not to mention the important-for-voters fact that the judges appear to be really rooting for her.  This opens up the possibility of pity votes – America might root for her too.  As for Kristy Lee, she just screams boring.  There's nothing tangible about her personality or performances that would make people think for a second that she has a chance to win American Idol.  So there: that's my bold prediction for the week. 


Oscar's Top 10 Girls Performance Rankings

Since everyone in the middle was so...middling, I presume there will be a lot of arguments with this list.  Numbers 3-7 were all very close for me, and just know that to interchange any or all of those five wouldn't bother me one bit.  I thought Brooke was far and away the best (maybe my favorite performance of the season so far) and, despite me actively disliking her, I thought Carly was really good. 

#1 - Brooke White
#2 - Carly Smithson
#3 - Syesha Mercado
#4 - Alexandrea Lushington
#5 - Ramiele Malubay
#6 - Alaina Whitaker
#7 - Kristy Lee Cook
#8 - Kady Malloy
#9 - Asia'h Epperson
#10 - Amanda Overmyer



-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of FOX)