American Idol 2007 Top 24

It's finally over folks. The pre-recorded segment of Idol has come to a close with naming our Top 24. Now, the biggest debate ever must begin. What debate am I talking about? The TiVo debate! Do us privileged DVR users watch Idol on delay to skip commercials or do we watch LIVE because it IS Live TV? Ahh the drama that will fill the months leading up to May's crowning of the 6th American Idol!

Okay enough messing around, let's move on! Listed below are our Top 24. Just like last year, I will highlight my Top 12 picks in Blue. Looks like I was 9 for 12 last year. My misses? Bucky Covington, Kevin Covais and Elliott "Mr. Tumnus" Yamin. I had already counted Elliott out in favor of 16 year old William Makkar (that the girls were going crazy over). Fortunately Elliott made it and developed a huge fan base on his way to the final 3. The other 2 misses? I think we all could have done without them! But the unintentional comedy provided by them were priceless! Anyway, this year might be a little tougher to pick that top 12, but I will try my best! We need 6 guys and 6 girls, let's run some numbers!

1. Sanjaya Malakar - is it me or does this guy have the Michael Jackson talking voice? People liked this guy right from the beginning. And for some reason, we all liked Michael Jackson even though he has talked like a woman ever since he hit puberty.
2. Melinda Doolittle - Background Singer - She makes some goofy faces when she sings, but boy can she hit those notes hard! I'll give her the go ahead to the next round.
3. Brendan Rogers - Background Singer #2 - I know I know...Geddeon McKinney didn't get in last year based on my theories that he HAD to, but I'm going with this theory again. Brendan Rogers WILL get in to the top 12!
4. Gina Glocksen - Returning from season 5 - First time a returning Hollywooder moves on to top 24, I believe. I wonder if she even had to wait in line at the auditions. Does America like Gina as much as the producers have hyped her up? Who knows? But we'll make her blue for now.
5. Haley Scarnato - Great Look, Great Voice, Great Personality. That's the trifecta folks, let's send her through for now.
6. Philip Stacy - "I missed my daughter's birth and wear my hat sideways" - I just don't like this guy that much. And well, he wears his hat sideways. No Go for me!
   
   Wait! It's breaktime...so much for the visit to the OC Set for the guys this year. Instead, they coincidentally got to see clips of the FOX produced SIMPSON'S MOVIE. Of course, we all saw them too! hmmm Gotta love 30 million eyes preparing for a potential summer blockbuster! Okay back to top 24!
   
7. Chris Sligh - 1 of 4 of best Group Audition - Simon says he's not one of the best singers but one of the most popular. And he's right. People like this guy. He may turn out to be the next Scott Savol (weird looking, okay voice guy), but for now the people have his back!
8. Blake Lewis - 2 of 4 of best Group Audition - "Beatboxer" - They say his voice is good enough in addition to the beatboxing. But we didn't hear him really sing much! Should be interesting how America takes to him. I'm putting him in the top 12 on faith. (oops I had 7 Guys highlighted. Blake was right on the edge. sorry dude!)
9. Rudy Cardenas - 3 of 4 of best Group audition - (other guy didn't make it) - Simon didn't like this guy in the auditions, but he has come around on him. I ran out of slots in the top 12 to place him, so I'll leave him in the wings waiting for one of the questionable favorites to slip (ahem...that means you Sundance!)
10. Paul Kim - I will always be barefoot and wear the same underwear - This guy has intrigued America with his 2 interviews. First Interview "I want to replace America's vision that All Asians sing like William Hung" 2nd Interview: The barefoot/underwear thing. That will get him some votes off the bat. Can his voice back him up? Idol likes their top 12 Culturally Diverse, I'm going with Yes.
11. Jordin Sparks - shining star from Seattle auditions (tough to do!) She has a bit of the Kimberly Locke vibe going for her. Her voice isn't as big, but her hair is as big. I'm giving her a top 12 nod for HER nod to 80's hair!
12. A.J. Tabaldo - 5th audition and now he's through? Crazy, Idol really must be struggling to find new talent.
13. Stephanie Edwards - "My hair is short and I like to point fingers as I sing" - I don't link finger pointers!
14. Leslie Hunt - Season 6's official "CRAZY EYES" girl (there always has to be one!) Has a very unique voice that she can bring to the table though.
15. Nick Pedro - Quit last season and is back and through to top 24...what is going on??? (I think this is the guy that Paula just was in LOOOOVE with in the auditions and also last year. Watch out Corey Clark! okay fine...I recycle jokes! Sue me!) I didn't give him a top 12 spot, but the judges clearly like this guy. They might start making lots of favorable comments to pull in some votes. We'll see.
16. Alaina Alexander - "Nervous Girl" - I thought her "Without You" rendition was awful. I guess they're basing it on her audition and prior performances. But I didn't see anything worth moving her forward. Sorry Alaina, prove me wrong!
17. Chris Richardson - Justin Timberlake 2.0 - Nothing else to say except......UGH...
18. Sabrina Sloan - I don't remember this girl very much. She'll have to woo America next week!
19. Lakisha Jones - "The one with the 3 year old daughter" - Pro - Great Voice Con - Very Fantasia-like. But Trailer Trash does make for great TV doesn't it?
20. Nicole Tranquillo - Don't remember this girl, but from what they showed of her, she put on a nice performance. Watch out for her!
21. Jared Cotter - "I check myself out in the camera's reflection because I think I'm so smooth" - Dude, I speak from experience, you don't have to fix your hair in any kind of reflection when you don't have any!
22. Amy Krebs - Don't remember this girl much either, but she also sounded good on that final performance. She might be a sleeper, but since I don't remember her, I have to pass her up for someone with more press. I've made this mistake before, but what else can we really do but guess at this point!?
23. Antonella Barba - Idol Producers say it doesn't matter if she can't remember her words in the final auditions, she's pretty...keep her in the competition! Will America agree with the producers? I'm not so sure right now.
24. Jason "Sundance" Head - Rough Hollywood Week, but he made it over Tommy Daniels who clearly has been better throughout. That's how IDOL goes. We saw a couple bad clips of him in Hollywood, but they must've seen something worth bringing him back for. The audition was good, really good. Are they just hoping for him to show that magic one more time? Well, he'll get to pick his own songs in the Semi-Finals, and maybe that's all he needs to grab that Top 12 spot. Good luck Sundance!

So there are my guesses. That was pretty tough. One negative thing about the short Hollywood week is that we didn't get a chance to see more of these people. I still say this is better. There are plenty of weeks ahead to form bonds with this motley crew. We might want to call season 6 "American Idol: The Season 5 Rejects Season" There's quite a few returning for a 2nd go at Idol fame. And I still don't get it, if you weren't good enough before, what are the chances you've gotten THAT much better where you could be the IDOL winner? Everyone that has won Idol pretty much came in with natural talent. They were just born with it (yes, even Taylor. He may be goofy, but he's a talented musician!) I just don't understand what you can improve from one year to the next to make you that much better.

Of course this coming from the same guy that says no 16 year old will ever win the competition! Which begs the question, would Kelly, Ruben, Fantasia, Carrie, or Taylor have won when they were 16? Well, probably not. What's my point? I really don't have one. In case you haven't noticed, I just like to ramble!

In any case, I think the 16 year old debate will have to wait for another year. I believe the youngest in our competition is 17 year old Sunjaya. But they didn't show ages tonight, and I was too lazy to look everyone up. So there may be a surprise youngster in the group that I'm forgetting!

Okay, I've written enough. There's going to be plenty more to write next week with 5 hours of Idol. (yay...) Buckle your seatbelts kids, it's GAME TIME! See you next week.