Hollywood’s Not America

Patrick Ecclestein / FOX

American Idol may be twelve episodes into its new season, but the real competition is just about to start.

We’ve seen thousands of contestants chasing after their dreams while we witness the good, the bad, and the ugly from Auditions Round and Hollywood Week. Now we’re down to twenty four singers who, so far, seem to be making the judges proud. The question is: can they live up to our expectations as well?

Here are the Top 24 contestants whose next steps in the competition I’m looking forward to the most, and why.

The Girls

Ashley Rodriguez. She seems to be one of the public’s favorites, but all that excitement towards her still hasn’t hit me. She’s a good singer, but that’s it – just good. “If I Ain’t Got You” and “Battlefield” were far from being bad performances, but none of them caught my attention either. In my opinion, she was rather generic during the first rounds and I believe she’ll need to work on putting some personality and originality into her performances to stand out from now on, so I’m interested in seeing if she has the potential to work that out.

Crystal Bowersox. Crystal is why I love this cheesy show. She’s the kind of girl who may have never stood a chance on getting a big record deal without an American Idol-like exposure, just because she’s not exactly like every singer currently with a hit on the radio. I absolutely loved her renditions of Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” and Sheryl Crow’s “If It Makes You Happy,” and I’m really excited to see what she will be doing next!

Didi Benami. One of my favorite contestants this season. Sure, she’s very emotional – which might turn some viewers off – and has a background sob story that Idol keeps reminding us of every single episode. But what counts here is (supposed to be) the singing, and on that matter I have nothing to complain about – I really liked her “Hey Jude” audition and loved her take on “Terrified.” Like Kara, I’m proud. And wishing she keeps doing a great job.

Janell Wheeler. She did a great job with “American Boy,” that turned out to be one of the highlights of Hollywood Week, but failed to strike a chord with “Love Story,” that didn’t suit her voice at all, so she gets to tonight’s show with a 50/50 score. I believe she’s a pretty good singer and if she manages to do a good job on her song choices, she may have some really good performances to deliver.

Lacey Brown. Lacey did an amazing job with her performance of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” during Hollywood Week – but notice that she had already sung that song on her audition. Is she going to struggle with song choices? Let’s hope not!

Lilly Scott. I believe she has really good chances of being the “breath of fresh air” the judges always long for. She’s current, she’s unique, she’s a great singer, and she probably has a long road ahead of her in the competition.

Michelle Delamor and Paige Miles. Along with Joe Muñoz, they had practically zero airtime so far, which may not be as bad as it sounds – take a look back at last season and you’ll see that at this point of the competition winner Kris Allen and fourth placer Allison Iraheta were practically unknown contestants. They’ll need to face this week’s performance as the first impression we’ll have of them, though – otherwise they’ll just end up being painless eliminations to the public.

The Guys

Andrew Garcia. He has the charisma, the style, and – definitely – the voice. He’s renditions of “Sunday Morning” and “Straight Up” were both flawless, and I’m really sorry we didn’t get to see more of his “Chasing Pavements” performance. Andrew possesses the same musical creativity that made David Cook, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert stand out in the competition – and that happens to have worked out pretty well for all of them… If he manages to keep being original and truth to his own style like he’s been doing from the start, he may have a smooth ride all the way to the end (what I wouldn’t mind at all, ‘cause let’s face it: any guy who can master a Paula Abdul dance hit from the 80’s can only deserve a spot in the finale.)

Casey James. If the fans are going to crown him the next American Idol we don’t know, but they have already crowned him this season’s eye-candy. That may not be enough to succeed on the competition, but it’s not all Casey’s got – besides the looks, he definitely has the voice. “I Don’t Need No Doctor” was one of my favorites so far, and showing he had the chops to face “Bubbly” was a great move, that I’m hoping he repeats through the rest of the season.

Tyler Grady. Tyler has a really charming ‘70s vibe and having a defined style may be a good thing for him, since most contestants don’t. If he manages to stick to it without coming out too far-fetched, he has really good chances of going far.

What do you think? Let us know your opinion, and don’t miss American Idol tonight, as the Top 24 girls battle for a spot on the Top 20.

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