If you haven’t been watching American Idol in the past two months then it’s now time to tune in. The finals of American Idol begins on Tuesday with a Michael Jackson theme which will hopefully give great performances from the 13 people that were voted and selected. With some new twist in the semi-finals we ended with thirteen finalists instead of the usual twelve. The new format with the wild card round also gave us a gender imbalance that sent 8 boys and 5 girls in the finals.



A lot of my early favorites like Stevie, Ann Marie and Felicia did make it even on the Wild Card round. But a handful of my other favorites made it straight to the Top 13 like Danny, Michael, Adam and Jorge. The hard part of assessing and choosing bets with the new format was we only heard and seen most of them with one song and performance. But, anyway, here's my attempt in giving light to these new entertainers who will grace Primetime TV starting next week until May.

Megan Joy Corkrey
Megan will probably be my Carly Smithson of this batch. Megan has always been one of Simon's favorites ever since her first audition in Utah. I like her and her unique vocals. It’s very different from the usual diva voices of the competition. I don't know if America is ready for out-of-the-box voices like Megan's but I hope that she will go a long way in the competition. I even love her weird quirky “Corkrey” dance!


Allison Iraheta
Allison, 17 years old (as Randy kept on repeating), is someone we should all watch out for. Her vocals are unbelievable! So many past Idols sang Heart’s Alone and hers was one of the best I’ve heard. The judges were right when they said that she’s not even putting effort to her singing (altogether now: “raw natural talent”). I just hope that she will not turn into another Amanda Overmayer who became predictable and boring in the long run. Allison’s advantage? Celebrity support like Miley’s.


Alexis Grace
Alexis is a cute little thing who “dirtied” and styled herself just for the competition (Thanks to DioGuardi’s suggestion). Her voice is refreshing just like Allison’s. She got spunk and I am sure that a lot of people will love her and her great personality. I am just worried that she and Allison will use the same styles and sing the same stuff. Unfortunately for Alexis - Allison is the better singer by at least two notches.


Lil Rounds
Lil’s one of the most pimped contestants this year since the early auditions. She seemed nice but I am not buying her whole big voice stuff. It’s very usual, mainstream and it’s dime a dozen. She will surely go a long way (as high as Top 3 maybe) but I am truly not a fan. Her sob story rivals the one of Gokey's so it's fun to see who will get more emo air time between the two pimped finalists.


Jasmine Murray
Jasmine is definitely my Kristy Lee "what are you still doing here?" Cook for this year. I still can’t forgive her for bombing Sarah Barailles' "Love Song" and for wearing wrong eye make-up week after week that makes her look alien-y. Hope she gets the first boot! Her spot should have been Ricky Braddy's or Jesse Langseth's (or even Ju'not's. Felicia's or Mishavonna's). Case in point: there are way better singers than her in the Top 36.


Anoop Desai
Anoop’s journey to the Top 13 was special, suspense-laden and dramatic that made everyone asked "Gokey, who?". It was such a sweet victory for this "Dogg" and I cannot help but be happy for him. He may not be the best singer of the group but he's definitely one of the most likable. He may not give us the best performance each week but he will surely give us entertainment. I can't wait to see more of Anoop! Remember: American Idol is not just a talent show...it's foremost a TV show!


Adam Lambert
I heart Adam and his gayness! His YouTube vids are certified VoteForTheWorst material; but I'm hoping against hope that he will be careful and just stick to what he got now. He’s also capable of pulling a Tatiana so let's watch out for lapses like that. Adam’s vocals are just to die for. He’s really talented and I will not be surprised if he is the next American Idol. He got the chops! He’s also fierce and doesn’t give a crap on what people think. Proof? He’s still googling himself! He doesn't give an F on those leaked kissing pictures.


Danny Gokey
I have this thing for unique voices this year so one of my obvious picks is Danny (and not because of his sob story). This Robert Downey, Jr. Jr. dude can really go places with his ala David Cook last-big-note voice. Definitely one of the people to watch out for – dead wife or not, over-pimped or not, front-runner or not. Another thing to look forward to? Danny's American Idol glam-up make-over! Can't wait!


Jorge Nunez
Jorge is the male Latino version of Brooke White. I noticed him as early as his audition in Puerto Rico. I really love this guy and his voice (accent or no accent). The cry-fest at the end of his semi-final song made a lot of moms swoon (but I think he’s gay). Puerto Rico is so proud and leading the pack of supporters are J Lo and Marc Anthony who even SMSd Jorge their encouragement through Ryan. He’s definitely their saving face for all the drama that Tatiana created.


Kris Allen
Kris is the underdog of the Top 13. He himself was surprised that he was able to sneak in from favored contenders like Matt & Megan in Round 2. He have to really wow America to keep him from being voted early on. But he's cute and is dubbed as this year's heartthrob so he might go places. Do we see another Castro in the making? Seriously, his version of "Man In The Mirror" is way better than Giraud's "Viva La Vida". I wonder why people were so surprised he is in the Top 13.


Michael Sarver
Oil rigger Michael actually has a great voice but it was overshadowed by his genuinely nice personality. He suffered an Internet backlash just recently from Anoop’s 20,000 vote difference in round 2. I will not be surprised if he will not be included in the 10-man Idol Tour this summer (read: Top 11/12 at the most). There are definitely better performers in the Top 13 than Michael. With Anoop now holding the "best personality" card, I wonder where that will leave Mr. Sarver.


Matt Giraud
The gazillion fans and DioGuardi are the two main reasons why Matt was given another chance even after tanking the Grammy award winning song of Coldplay. I am not too solved on him and I prefer Ricky Braddy who got an almost identical style (but a lousier persona) over him. He will definitely give us soul, blues and pianos week after week but he also threatened mentioned that he might try pop. He’s also a bit smug (but so is David Cook so I rest my case).


Scott MacIntyre
He’s out of tune most of the time but Scott deserves the spot to compensate for all the shitty things that happened to him. I also understand the power of the sympathy vote. Need I say more? Mr. Inspiration is definitely the hardest person to boot out from this competition. Let's see how this will be played out.



My Favorites: Adam, Anoop, Jorge, Danny, Megan, Allison
My "I Don't Want To See You": Jasmine
My "should have been" in the Top 13: Ricky, Jesse, Ju'not, Felicia
Who will go home this week: Jasmine / Michael
Who MIGHT be the next American Idol: Adam

Credits to American Idol for the photos.