Here are my power rankings, and these are based on where I think they should go realistically (with only slight bias).
1 - James Durbin
2 - Jacob Lusk
3 - Casey Abrams
4 - Pia Toscano
5 - Stefano Langone
6 - Haley Reinhart
7 - Lauren Alaina
8 - Paul McDonald
9 - Scottie McCreery
10 - Thia Megia
11 - Naima Edadapo
First, the judges on the show have started to just fill roles in their post-performance critiques. Randy, as he always has, takes a very musical, note-by-note approach. That's fine, except that what he sometimes thinks are "hot", I don't agree with. Jennifer Lopez has transitioned nicely into the Paula Abdul vacancy, and she's an even bigger star than Abdul was so she has even more influence on these guys. This may sound crazy, but after the audition episodes, I thought that Steven Tyler was going to triumphantly take over the Simon Cowell role of tough-love critic. Then, he decided to take his cues from...Ellen Degeneres? Now he is just pumping these singers so full of inspiration that I'm afraid of an explosion of Care Bear lovey-dovey rainbows every time he opens his mouth.
Do I have a solution? Sure, I'm glad you asked! Randy, keep doing what you're doing - you and I may differ, but your opinion has been proven and it's respected. J.Lo, right on. You know where these people could possibly be headed, and you have good advice. Steven Tyler, please please please be the singer of good music that you are, and give them good advice and point out musical aspects of the songs. Also, keep cursing on camera - it's so funny to play "Is that a cable provider audio error or just Steven being Steven?"
Now to the competition. With Karen (aka Selena/J-Lo 2.0) voted off, there are now two more contestants who I think have no business being in the competition this late - namely Thia and Naima. Both are great singers, but they just don't have the chops to hang with the rest. The next two weeks, in a perfect world, would have the two of them leaving in no particular order.
A couple singers have been surprising to me - or rather, America's response has been surprising to some fairly unique voices. Where Casey seems to be a favorite in the competition, and Paul has been accepted for all of his dance moves and odd voice, I think that Haley has been sending in some absolute gems for a few weeks and has been getting killed for it. She's got that growl in her voice, which I think she uses tastefully, and isn't afraid to move around while she dances which is good. Granted, I know that it sounds differently when you're in the theater with them, so J.Lo saying that it looks awkward may have some merit to it. But I really think she's got a great voice, and where Randy says "what do you want to be? who are you as an artist?" I could construe as saying that she's super-versatile. Think about it, she sang Alicia Keys and then Lee Ann Rimes - in back-to-back weeks. That's why she's so high on my power rankings.
Lauren is legit, she had a bad week and was sick last week so she's not in the top 5 because of that and, honestly, that everyone in the top 5 might be a little better than her. But she could be a Carrie Underwood-type.
I'm pretty sure Scottie has already gotten calls from country producers offering him a job, and you know what? Keep it up bro! He knows what he can do, and he stinkin' does it. Right on.
My roommate told me this after hearing the last episode, and I agree with him. He said that he hopes Paul gets voted off soon, because if he does the fear is that he'll be shoehorned into a major record label-type of act. And I honestly think that he could be great if left to do his own thing without having to appease the American Idol producers.
Pia and Stefano are the two dark horses, who were kind of unheralded but now have proven to be amazing if given the right song. Pia has something about her where she can take on the divas and do them justice. Also, she has such as strong, controlled voice that she can go even higher after holding out a sustained note in the upper register. Listen for it next time, it's pretty remarkable. If Stefano could use last week as a blueprint, I see him becoming a Ne-Yo/Bruno Mars type. And I really like both of those guys.
James, Jacob, and Casey are still my favorites to win it all, and it's just a matter of who gets sick as to who will win. Jacob, though, needs to ease up a little. I like that he goes all the way up to 6th gear on the intensity, but I like to hear the soft and beautiful voice like he did on the last line of his song last week.
And Casey, do you now see why Nirvana has never been done? Yeah. I like the risk, but horrible execution. I won't say anything bad about James, you can't make me.
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