We are down to the Elite Top 8 of American Idol (hey, it’s March Madness and technically, this is a sports for girls site so I’m required to reference Elite 8, okay!)

So happy to see Megan Joy Corkrey booted. That girl’s voice seriously made me want to put my head through a wall just to make the noise stop. Usually I can just tune out the people I don’t like but man, with her, it was like nails on a chalkboard.

But the competition is going to start getting fierce! Here’s a rundown of the contestants–the good, the bad, the hot…and the just not. Click on the name of any song to head to American Idol to hear the performances. And feel free to leave a comment on the bottom. Do you agree? Am I way off? Who are you faves and who do you want to win American Idol?

My Bottom Three:

1. Anoop Desai, aka Anoop Dawg.

My problem with him is that he is not consistent. One week I really like him and the next I want to hit him repeatedly because he sucks so bad. Week 4 sealed the deal for me and I want him out.

• Top 36: “My Prerogative” This made me stand up and dance. Loved it.
• Week 1 Michael Jackson Songbook: “Beat It” I don’t even want to talk about this.
• Week 2 Country/Opry: “You are Always on My Mind” Amazing! Sounded great and really made it his own—and made me want to buy it. I mean if you can take a Willie Nelson song and do that to it…….WOW.
• Week 3 Mowtown: “Ooh Baby, Baby” Good vocals but BORING…. I couldn’t wait for it to end and then promptly forgot it when it was done.
• Week 4 Top Hits: “Caught Up“  Hot mess. Bad. No one can do Usher but Usher.

2. Lil Rounds:

Mostly because I just can never remember her performances. I am however, loving the new haircut she was rocking in Week 4. And I actually thought she sounded really good and was impressed with her skills, I just promptly forgot what she did.

• Week 1 Michael Jackson Songbook: “The Way You Make Me Feel” This made me want to cry. I love this song. I did not love Lil doing this song.
• Week 2 Country/Opry: “Independence Day” The judges weren’t feeling it but I was really impressed. I mean, she is way out of her genre and comfort zone but she worked it! And when she let go, she nailed it! Judges were right–she should have only done one verse, not two.
• Week 3 Mowtown: “Heat Wave” B-o-r-i-n-g. And very karaoke.
• Week 4 Top Hits: “I Surrender” I really thought she did a great job. The problem was that compared to everyone else, it was lacking energy and youthfulness. But vocally it was hot.

3. Scott McIntyre:

Any other season and I’d probably have him in my Top 3 but he’s up against some major competition and he’s been falling a bit flat for me. I know the judges loved him in Week 4 with his Billy Joel selection but I still found it cheesy and piano bar-esque. Which is a shame because I think this kid has mad talent and I have so much respect for him, his gift and his ability to overcome his blindness to be a star. But, yeah, not loving his renditions of these songs.

• Week 1 Michael Jackson Songbook: “Keep the Faith“
• Week 2 Country/Opry: “Wild Angels” Fantastic.
• Week 3 Mowtown: “You Can’t Hurry Love” I loved, loved, loved the way he started the song and really thought it was going to slow it down and it would have been so hot. But yeah…it ended up cheesy lounge/piano bar.
• Week 4 Top Hits: “Just the Way You Are” Jimmy Kimmel said it best, “what on earth did they do to the blind kid’s hair?”

Stuck in the middle with:

Adam Lambert:

Okay, obviously, this guy can sing. No one can deny that. But man, can he take things over the top and in a direction that I just don’t want to hear. Simon was absolutely right when he said that Adam should never to to Nashville after his rendition of “Ring of Fire” which was just…… I really, truly, do not have words for whatever the hell that was. Although it was quite fun to make my old roommate, who is a big Johnny Cash fan from Tennessee, sit there and listen/watch that performance.

Really hating this whole slicked-back hair “cleaned-up” image he has going on too. I may have hated the whole black-goth-stereotyped image he had going but this ain’t better. It’s just plain weird. I did love “Tracks of my Tears.” It actually reminded me of Daughtry and David Cook when they broke out of their rocker images and sang “To Really Love a Woman” and “Music of the Night,” respectively.

And then Week 4, he does “Play That Funky Music White Boy.” Are ya kidding me? I can barely rock out to that song at a bar after happy hour and lots of tequilla shots. I definitely don’t want to hear an imitation of it on TV. Bad plan.

• Week 1 Michael Jackson Songbook: “Black or White” It was kinda like watching Mick Jagger or Steven Tyler doing Michael Jackson. It was a bit odd.
• Week 2 Country/Opry: “Ring of Fire” You just kinda have to see it to believe it.
• Week 3 Mowtown: “Tracks of My Tears” If they hadn’t made him up to look like Elvis I think he would have had a moment. The look was sooooo distracting. Personally, I thought it was too much falsetto. Only so much I can handle.
• Week 4 Top Hits: “Play That Funky Music” Oy, don’t bother.

My Top 3

3. Allison Iraheta/Matt Giraud:

Matt

has seriously been growing me on me in the last few weeks. When he first debuted with all his super-bluesy pieces, I was indifferent. But then he’s been breaking out and just nailing it every week. The judges were not a fan of his cover of the Fray’s “You Found Me,” but I gotta say, yo man, that was da bomb!

They called it a copycat performance, which granted he did sing it like the song was originally intended. But, unlike most of the contestants when they copycat, Matt actually sounded just as good as Isaac Slade. I thought it was amazing.

• Week 1 Michael Jackson Songbook: “Human Nature” See, this is how to take an old song and do it up! This could have been serious Piano Bar Cheesy but he took it and kicked it up. Judges were saying he was like a new Justin Timberlake. And watching the performance again, I really was wowed.
• Week 2 Country/Opry: “So Small” This is when I took notice. This guy worked the piano and worked this song like you can not believe. My jaw pretty much hit the floor and I knew it was time to pay attention to Matt.
• Week 3 Mowtown: “Let’s Get it On” Who didn’t cringe when they announced what Matt was going to sing? I mean is there any way to do this without being karaoke? Apparently, there is because Mr. Matt sounded original, hot and not like the over-cliched song we all love so much! That was hot.
• Week 4 Top Hits: “You Found Me“

Allison

on the other hand, has been losing ground with me. I still love her and I still think that she is absolutely amazing and so beyond talented—but she has not been showing that in the last couple song choices (don’t get me started on the outfit choices, we all know her pink punk rocker ouftit was a hot mess). She rocked out to No Doubt in Week 4, but she tried to hard to be Gwen Stefani. And there can only be one Gwen. I was cool with Matt’s copycat, but Allison’s left me really wishing for more. I wish she had changed it up and just sang the hell out of it. Where is the girl that did Heart’s “Alone?”

• Week 1 Michael Jackson Songbook: “Give in to Me” She blew me away here. She worked that stage like a pro and sang the hell out of that song.
• Week 2 Country/Opry: “Blame it on your Heart” Um. I neither liked nor disliked. It just was. Vocals sounded great.
• Week 3 Mowtown: “Papa was a Rolling Stone” I think I just fast forwarded the performance. I didn’t care for it. The song just isn’t my cup of tea to begin with and I didn’t think it was something I wanted to hear her sing.
• Week 4 Top Hits: “Don’t Speak“

2. Danny Gokey

From day 1 auditions, I loved me some Danny Gokey. I picked him as my #1 right off the bat—just like I did Daughtry and Cook. And I still love him. But, unfortunately, he did get bumped from my #1 spot.

• Top 36: “Hero” It’s breathtaking and really worth listening to.
• Week 1 Michael Jackson Songbook: “P.Y.T.” It was cool. Wasn’t my fave. But it had some really great moments.
• Week 2 Country/Opry: “Jesus Take the Wheel” I can barely write my critique without crying. I had started crying before he even started singing when they showed clips of him practicing with Randy Travis. You just knew he was going to hit this out of the park, and it would be filled with power and emotion. Judges wish he had only done one verse instead of two but I really think it helped build the song.
• Week 3 Mowtown: “Get Ready” His voice still sounded really hot but my gosh, could he have picked a cheesier song? Did. Not. Like.
• Week 4 Top Hits: “What Hurts the Most” This song makes me cry under the best of conditions. Hearing him sing it, with his story……there are no words to describe just how amazing this really was. Geez, I get chills just thinking about it. And I know how hard it is to sing this song, I try in my car all the time. There are a lot of very syncopated words.

1. Kris Allen

At first, I thought Kris was just a little cutie pie. I liked him, but I didn’t think he was on the level of the other contestants. And boy was I wrong. I seriously, love this guy. I will download his Idol performances and will be at the store buying his CD the day it drops. Every week, this kid comes out and totally floors me. I keep expecting not to like it, and every week I’m loving it more and more. He is definitely the most improved on the show and he is gaining skill and confidence real fast.

His “Ain’t No Sunshine” is on par with David Cook’s “Hello” from last season. Both songs were very, very well known, pretty much out-of-date, cliched and “owned” by only one artist–meaning anyone else that tried to sing the song, sounded like a karaoke version of Bill Withers and Lionel Ritchie. But not these guys. They completely stripped it down, re-did it in a modern way and totally blew the song out of the water. It was un-real.

• Week 1 Michael Jackson Songbook: “Remember the Time” Okay if you give a cute boy a guitar, I’m going to eat it up. This wasn’t my fave performance of the night or anything but it was cool.
• Week 2 Country/Opry: “To Make You Feel My Love” I really was speechless. He blew me away. The whole time he seemed like such a young fun performer and he stripped away all that playfulness and here was this amazing soulful singer. Geez, I sound like Paula. But it’s so true. It was so amazing. I don’t know a female that didn’t fall in love with the kid during this song–young and old.
• Week 3 Mowtown: “How Sweet It Is” I loved the opening and really thought he was going to slow it down but he didn’t. And I liked his version but I have a hard time not hearing this song and immediately thinking about Heather and Oz from American Pie.
• Week 4 Top Hits: “Ain’t No Sunshine“

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About the author: Jennifer Taglione is the owner of this fabulous website Stiletto Sports. Despite writing well over 500 posts, she still maintains that she is not a sports writer! She is however a huge fan of Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Mark Sanchez, the Celtics, and totally kicks butt on March Madness brackets! Connect with her by following her on Twitter @StilettoSportsJ and subscribing to her weekly newsletter. For more info check out the About the Editor page!

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