#5 - Chris Sligh

Sligh is a crowd favorite.  It came as a surprise to many this past week or two when we all realized that he could also sing.  He's a funny dude, has the personality to win Idol, and I could see him improve upon his already good perfromances as Idol moves along.  He's so different from any of the other male contestants that he's always going to stand out from the pack.  This will help him advance, but he's still a longshot to win it all.


#6 - Sundance Head

So much potential that he has to be in the discussion.  However, he's not a good performer, isn't very confident on stage, and has been as inconsistent as you can get.  He finally belted out a song like we knew he was capable of last week when he dominated “Mustang Sally”.  Some more performances like that and he could move up this list, but I really can't imagine him being the next big pop star.  When he's on, his big, bluesy voice is stunning, but it's rarely on.


#7 - Stephanie Edwards

She's got a voice, we know that, but Stephanie isn't very memorable.  She's definitely a notch below Lakisha and Melinda and Jordin, and I don't really see a way for her to leapfrog all three of those girls.  Sometimes contestants will surprise us as the show moves along, but this year there doesn't feel like there's a whole lot of uncertainty on American Idol.  Not only has no one really done anything we didn't expect, I don't really see any candidates who might possibly show us something that we haven't yet seen. 


#8 - Sabrina Sloan

Sabrina's in the same boat as Stephanie for me.  I can't say anything bad about her as a singer, but she isn't very memorable and I don't think she has much of a chance against the upper echelon of girls in the competition.  One of these girls, like I've said, could surprise the hell out of us with a great performance on one particular night, but will they have the ability to take on Melinda and Lakisha for weeks on end.  I don't think so.  And that is no knock on any of these girls; it's out of their hands.