I normally post a power ranking on the weekend before the Hollywood endgame, but I decided to go another direction this time. Instead of giving you more of my tired opinions, I did some research. I found the full list of contestants this morning, all sixty one of them. I figured that it would be more interesting to take some time, do some digging, and find a way to paint a picture of everyone as best I can. I’ll talk about the ones that we know, of course, but I spent most of my time looking for a way to paint that “best picture” of the ones that we don’t know. I found some real gems. All of the sixty one remaining contestants are in the remarks below, in alphabetical order.

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The singers: Aaron Sanders, 26- I couldn’t find any video. He’s the sideburns guy that shows up on camera here and there on the show. I haven’t heard him sing yet. He looks like a young Walt “Clyde” Frazier, the basketball player.

Adrian Michael, 18- He forgot the words during round three, so the judges must really like him to have kept him in. I’ve seen some video, Adrian playing guitar and singing original material. He’s not all that polished but he is pleasing, with a George Benson style but without George’s signature sing-along guitar riffs.

Alex Ryan, 17- I haven’t seen him, so I took a look at his GTI (Golden Ticket interview, all of the contestants have one on Idol’s main website if you want to look them up). Not having heard him sing I’m just guessing, but he said that he is a huge fan of Adam Lambert and Freddie Mercury. He might be another of those Adam bar-jumpers. He looks the part, and he’s a musical theater member. He claims that he can do a Rubik’s Cube in a minute and a half.

Ashley Sullivan, 25- You know her by now. The 64 dollar question is either “why is she still here?”, or “will she stay composed long enough to sing a whole song?” I have no answer for either question, but I have my fingers crossed for the second one. I am not looking forward to more drama. I just want to hear her sing her butt off, then see her get politely bounced and pointed to the nearest 12 step program. “Hi, My name is Ashley, and I am a fruitcake”.

(Hi, Ashley)

Ashton Jones, 24- I wrote about her in my recap of the round three show. I couldn’t find any outside video of her, but I did find a bunch of Ashton Jones songs from some guy with the same name. I don’t think that she has a strong, polished, or interesting enough voice to seriously contend, but she is in the mix for the live shows at least. She grades out solidly on all three of them, if not amazing on any.

Bekah Boom, 16- Her voice is really sweet, but I’m not so sure that she is polished enough to be a contender.

Brett Loewenstern, 16- We know Brett. I expect him to make the live shows now. He has some potential to be this year’s Alex Lambert, and Brett is a good bit more polished than Alex was. He would be an asset to the tour, I think, with his interesting voice and his geeky charm. I really like the kid.

Brittany Mazur, 21- Miss Tucson has a little girl quality to her voice, and some power. I’m a little bit surprised that she is still in, but maybe she’s been improving. She would have had to. In her videos she gets wildly out of tune whenever she steps off the beaten melodic path.

Caleb Hawley, 25- His voice has a warm natural tone, but he can sound pretty awful at times when he isn’t careful. I think that it’s a breathing issue. He doesn’t save enough breath, and he tries to push high notes out with only a mouthful of air left.

Carson Higgins, 22- I talked about him at length in my last recap. He is a stage actor who sings, not a singer, but I don’t care. His future is obviously going to be on the stage, but can we borrow him and let him entertain us for awhile?

Casey Abrams, 19- How is he only 19? He has a skill set that had to have taken years to develop. He’s not the best singer in the competition, but he has the most electrifying combination of skills and charisma. Oh, and he can sing a little, too.

Casey Schuber, 17- She fingerpicks the acoustic guitar like a champ, and she can play the piano. There is an electric guitar on the wall, promising other abilities. Her singing style reminds me of Joni Mitchell more than anyone else. She is polished as a singer, and polished as a guitar player, but she is a little bit wooden when she combines them (much like Caleb, though without the intonation and breathing problems). I am skeptical of her chances in the competition. Her style is pretty low key, not exactly what Idol looks for. I couldn’t be higher on her for the long haul, though. She is going to have a career in music in some capacity. It’s not impossible that she will end up on a stage someday, accepting a Grammy for best singer, best writer, best producer, something. She does it all, and she’s only 17 frigging years old.


Chelsea Sorrell, 22- She has several videos up on youtube, mostly singing Carrie Underwood covers. She definitely aims for the Nashville sound. Her voice is very sweet and she has a rich tone, and she sings in tune. Her stage presence isn’t much at this point, and that will be hard for her to overcome. She will need to be more animated, I think, to avoid being branded as a karaoke singer.

Chris Medina, 26- I’m a bit surprised that he’s still in, but I sure as hell ain’t rooting against him.

Chrissy Feliciano, 23- She toured with Metal/Rap artist Marz a couple of years ago, filling the role that Fergie fills with the Black Eyed Peas, though more in the background than Fergie is. I can’t really say much about her as an individual singer, but she is far from an amateur.

Clint Jun Gamboa, 26- The only thing working against him is the embarrassment of booting Jacee out on Group Night. Will that kill him? Junebug is on the short list of the guys in the running for “best overall male voice” in the competition.

Colton Dixon, 18- His sister Schyler also made it to Hollywood this year. Colton has a video, on youtube, of an original song. If he wrote it (I think that he did) color me impressed. The lyrics are amazing. He sounds a lot like Elvis Costello. His musical vision is interesting, even if his voice isn’t particularly unique.

Deandre Brackensick, 15- He was part of the stage Mom teenager group that sang so well on Group night. He is the one with the curly hair and the ponytail. I think that he’s Hawaiian. I found a video of him singing a Hawaiian song in (I assume, it wasn’t English) his native language, and playing the ukulele. He has a really good falsetto, and I wouldn’t be surprised in the least to see him make the live shows.

Denise Jackson, 20- She was third in a montage of unnamed auditioners from Milwaukee that I thought I mentioned, but I can’t find in my notes. I wasn’t impressed then, and she hasn’t gotten enough airtime to prove anything. She was in the group with Jacee and Brett, and her two aired lines weren’t anything to go on. She’s here, so big ups to her. Maybe we’ll get to hear her sing next week. I don’t expect to see her continue in light of the competition lined up against her, but she made it this far. 61 left. They all have at least a punchers’ chance.

Erin Kelly, 20- As far as I know this is not Aaron Kelly after the operation. This Erin Kelly is a tiny round ball of enthusiasm and energy, with a wild mane of dark curly hair and a lot of cute/sexy charisma. She plays the piano, and according to her GTI she loves Mary J. Blige. If that’s her style, I am surprised. She looks the part of the rocker chick. I’ve never heard her sing, so who in the hell knows what we’ll get? I really hope that Idol gives all of the anonymous contestants that survived this far at least that one shot at singing on TV. They deserve to be heard, and we deserve to hear them.

Haley Reinhart, 18- She was perfect in round three. She will probably need to be perfect in Vegas too, if she is going to survive. I like her manner, and her energy. I don’t love her voice, and I don’t see enough polish to overcome the lack of power and command. It’s going to be “deep breath, now go be perfect” for her until she is bounced. She is a limited talent, but I am very impressed by her drive. I’ll root for her, but I am realistic. The competition is just incredibly stiff now. She will be up against it.

Hollie Cavanagh, 17- The little platinum haired belter went a lot deeper in the competition than I thought that she would, so the judges see something in her that I don’t see.

Jacee Badeaux, 15- 22.8 million people watched him break up into tears when he was given the pass to round three on Group Night. I would bet that at least 15 million of them were crying, too. I sure as hell was. I would bet my own money that the judges will give America the chance to vote for him. How can you not root for him? Oh, and he can sing his butt off, too. That helps. Somebody told me once that this is a singing competition.

Jackie Wilson, 28- We haven’t seen her since she repeated her audition song on FHS, but she is still here. I look forward to hearing her sing again, and maybe get a better handle on her. It’s possible that she is amazing. It’s also possible that she is a mirage, kept in by the judges because they slurped her too much in her audition. I expect that she is something in the middle, maybe tilted towards amazing if we are lucky. It’s time to find out, isn’t it?

Jacob Lusk, 23- Does anyone out there remember those old seven-up commercials, with the Jamaican guy that kept saying “coola-nut”? Seven-Up. The Un….. Cooola. Seven-Up hasn’t had a major advertizing campaign for awhile now. They are very underrated as an advertizing company. They had the old Jamaican, and Professor Irwin Corey, and recently (well, several years ago now) the “Make Seven-Up Yours” campaign. The best one was the T-shirt that said “Make Seven Up Yours”, with the “Make Seven” on the front, and “Up Yours” on the back.

Anyway, if Jacob doesn’t make the live shows I will be almost as shocked as I would be if Casey Abrams didn’t make it. He could sing “Coola Nut”, and bend it into a three octave trip up and down the scale, and not one note would be out of tune. Every viewer over 45 years old would have a flashback so intense and confusing that they would either start googling like crazy to find out what in the hell they are flashing on, or just go into the fetal position and wait for the guys in the white suits to take them away.

Jacqueline Elliot, 24- I had to watch her GTI to get anything. She is a soft spoken Texas girl that lives in San Jose now; she loves her mother and Tina Turner. She values humility, and she feels like she can turn it on when she is in front of a crowd. Can she sing? 61 left, of course she can sing. Will we ever get to hear her sing? Well…..

Jalen Harris, 15- Another of the stage mom kids. He is the kid with the Michael Jackson tone to his voice. I didn’t hear him sing any high notes, so it’s just the tone for now. He isn’t perfect, and he takes a LOT of chances with the melody. I would be surprised if he wasn’t one of the next few out. The competition is getting incredibly stiff, and he’s a talented but relatively green 15.

James Durbin, 21- JD has plenty of voice, obviously, but I am a bit skeptical about him. He isn’t going to be as unique as I originally thought that he would be, with so many Adam types, even if he has the closest thing to the Adam Voice. He shouldn’t have a problem making the live shows, but he’s going to have to motivate the voting public once he gets there. So far he hasn’t been very motivational. He’s been mostly arrogant and insecure. He needs to get over his, well… need to prove that he sounds like Adam Lambert, and show us who James Durbin is. I still like the kid, but I’m ready to see more than the “hey, look at my range” tricks. Let’s hear some singing.
Jerome Bell, 27- We haven’t seen him for awhile, but he’s still hanging in there. My take on him originally is that he takes too many chances and overdoes his vocal tricks. Since I haven’t seen him for several shows that’s all that I have to go on. The fact that he made it this far is a good sign that he hasn’t gone off the deep end yet. I look forward to hearing him again. He’s the guy that sings on cruise ships, if you remember me talking about that.

Jessica Cunningham, 24- Jessica is a repeating contestant from last year. She was in the first “Bad Romance” group, the one that sucked, though she didn’t sound all THAT bad on her turn. I found a newer video of her singing, and she sounded a good bit better (woodshed?) than she did last year. She’s a pure belter, with very little finesse and a habit of flattening out and spreading her tone (think Fran Drescher) when she is working down a melody. Jessica does fine going up, so I would guess that she’ll get it figured out soon. Soon enough? She has developed some nice vocal tricks, including a bit of a growl, and she moves very well. Overall I’d have to say that she is a long shot, but again we are down to 61 singers. She’s done damned well to make it this far.

Jimmie Allen, 24- He’s another one that we haven’t seen for awhile. His voice isn’t very strong, but it isn’t Lacey Brown weak. He has several other things going for him, and lots of experience. I was very impressed by his live intonation in front of a band. Anyone that has watched Idol over the years knows that staying in tune when you are on the big stage isn’t as easy as it looks.

John Wayne Schulz, 22- He sings in the Brad Paisley style, with a smoooooooth voice. He’s already won the hearts of cowboy lovers all over the country. If he makes the semifinals, he might be hard to get out. He is reader (and friend, of course; my mailing list is all friends and family) Karen Stene’s favorite contestant, and Karen doesn’t even like country music.

Jonathan Ojeda, 21- Interesting wild card. He has his own website, and he’s already self published an album with good production values. He is, to me, a hybrid of Michael Jackson and El Debarge, though not nearly as good as either of them. Who is? His voice isn’t very strong, so he’ll need to have something else to bring to the table. With his experience, he might.

Jordan Dorsey, 21- Junebug and Jordan were both tossed under the bus of public opinion on Group Night. Junebug is so good that it probably won’t matter. Jordan? I don’t know, he’s not THAT good, is he? He might end up being this year’s….who was that rocker chick with the bad hair that kept telling everyone that they weren’t any good last year? Mary Powers, that’s right. I’ll be shocked if Jordan makes the live shows. If he does, I’ll be shocked if the American public doesn’t toss him under the bus as soon as possible. Odds of winning Idol for Jordan Dorsey: Somewhere between Ashley Sullivan (8 trillion gazillion to 1) and Jersey girl Tiffany Rios (infinity to 1 over infinity; only above zero because she is carbon based and under the age cutoff).

Jovany Barreto, 22- I don’t much like him, but he can sing in tune. He has a punchers’ chance.

Julie Zorrilla, 19- I have this weird feeling that I am going to start liking her right about the time that she gets tossed. I’m warming up to her, but the burner is on two.

Karen Rodriguez, 21- I really liked her on Group Night. She might be one of those “lets save her for later” contestants.

Kendra Campbell, 21- I’m surprised that Idol hasn’t featured her. She is almost cartoonishly good looking, and her videos are all over the place. Her voice isn’t all that interesting, frankly, so that might be why. She goes by Kendra Chantelle (Chantelle is her middle name) on stage and on her videos. Let me know when you are back from googling her pictures. I’ll wait.

Is everyone back? Ok, let’s move on.

LaKeisha Lewis, 23- I couldn’t find any video and Idol hasn’t featured her, so I have no real idea of how good she is. She is about as wide as she is tall. I watched her GTI, and she seems personable and nice. If I was to guess, I would go with the stereotype and expect some Aretha or Whitney. Whitney is her favorite artist, and she grew up singing gospel. I’d really like to hear her sing.

Lauren Alaina, 15- We know Lauren. She’s gonna be here for awhile. Colleen Bellcourt backed off slightly from her love of Lauren, picking Casey now, but she was quick to say that she still loves Lauren.

Lauren Turner, 24- I love this kid, just based on the short glimpse of her that we got on Group NIght.

Luke James Schaffer, 25- He is a repeat contestant from last year. He was the guy in the stocking cap that was singing and playing guitar with another guy in the waiting room. He made it down to the final 71 last year, final 61 this year. He doesn’t have a very strong voice. He reminded me of a karaoke Bryan Adams imitator last year. I’m curious to hear him again, and see if he used his woodshed time well.

Matthew Suyat, 24- Another ukulele player. His lower range and his rap voice is like Shaggy, but his upper range is more like a weak carbon copy of Luther Vandross. He is interesting, but I’m not sure that Idol is a good fit for his style. If you are going to sing like Luther, you need to have more power.

Melinda Ademi, 16- She is playing dress-up, I think. My own kid does the same thing when she doesn’t think I am looking, talking like a gangster and playing the part, and I go through the cold sweats before I realize that she is only imitating, not feeling it herself. Melinda is playing the same role that the teenaged mall queens of the 80’s played, like Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. She looks like Kim Kardashion, but she sings like a modern version of Debbie Gibson. She sings so well that she might make the live shows, but it’s going to be several years before she actually feels the emotions that she is pretending to feel. Thank God for that. I call all of these singers kids, but this kid really is a kid. It’s obvious in her body language when she isn’t singing. She isn’t all that different from Jessie.

Molly DeWolf 22- I really want to hear her again. Her audition was cool, but not enough to get any sense of what she can really do. Molly is Harvard Girl, or Long Nose Girl, or White House Page Girl. Just so you know, if you forgot.

Naima Adedapo 25- I had her as a serious sleeper for weeks, and she certainly proved that out by making it this far. Going forward, I just don’t know. I got to hear her on Group Night, and I wasn’t blown away. The song that they sang wasn’t a very good vehicle, so I am not jumping off the bandwagon, but I remain pretty ignorant of her actual talent. All I have to go on is a feeling. I like her. By the way, for background, she is an extremely religious person who takes her cultural roots seriously. Her crazy costumes are based on her African religion and culture. Her husband dresses even more dramatically, and they both talk about their faith every time that a microphone gets within striking distance. They have a couple of children that are totally adorable. If she makes the live shows, we’ll see them a lot.

Natalie Hanson, 20- She sang in the group with Brett and Jacee, and they showed her singing a couple of lines. I like her style, but I have no idea whether her voice is strong enough. Boy is she tall. I know that Brett is short, but she towers over him like a mother to a child. She’s got to be over six feet tall, and Brett might not be more than 5-3 or so. Short People got… No reason… oops, sorry. I love short people.

Paul McDonald, 25- He isn’t getting any coverage. My take is that they have nothing to say to him, other than see you next week. He’ll get his shot sooner or later. He has a ton of experience and he’s very polished, and he has an interesting voice. I am excited to see what he will do to counter the manic Casey, the theatrical JD, and the rubbery Jacob. If he can bring them down, he gets to deal with the insufferably adorable Robbie. I’d tell the girls to google Robbie now (to be fair after the Kendra “incident”), but all I would get is a bunch of condescending email about how Robbie is ugly as hell, and what do I know about what women look for and why are men so shallow we look for inner beauty and care more about what a man is than what he looks like and I dream of a man that takes out the frigging garbage and knows how to make me feel special we love guys that show their feelings oh my God why does he cry so much why doesn’t he act like a man for chrissakes why is he so distant and cold I really wish just one time that a man could show his feelings crap he’s crying again I need to go out to the woods and find a guy that has never seen a woman what do you mean you are checking for ants get away from me you smell bad can I just go find a gay guy and turn him to the dark side this is all too complicated for me I’ll just go find a guy that knows how to put on a condom and doesn’t complain about it oh that’s the best out there this sucks why didn’t I take the first one seriously he cried too much or he wouldn’t get in touch with his inner child I can’t remember I should just find someone that isn’t cynical slap that idiot maybe he’ll grow up I just want to find some warm body with a health plan why oh why are all the good ones taken fog up the freaking mirror and buy me a ring I’ll deal with it I can’t live like this maybe I’ll get some work done and get back in the game why is everybody looking at me funny can I get that old bastard home before he has a heart attack or something Betty White is my hero I need a snickers…. Way too complicated for me. I thank God everyday for outdoor plumbing and a shallow libido.

Phil Brooks 16- He plays the guitar and the piano. I like his voice, and he has good command of the blue notes. It’s a testament to the depth of talent this season that he doesn’t stand out more. He is very smooth for such a young kid, obviously driven to succeed, and very talented.

Pia Toscano 21- She reminds me of Ashley Rodriguez in every way. Ashley has the better voice and is more polished. Pia is probably going to be up against it next week.

Rachel Zevita, 21- First audition of the year, and she has made it much farther than I would have guessed. Her tone reminds me of Janelle Wheeler’s, but she has a bit more power. She needs to control her vibrato, which can get away from her.

Robbie Rosen, 16- Ok, he has a big nose. Sue me. I’m not personally interested, but if I was that way I would think that he’s cute. Dude can sing, and that’s what matters anyway.

Scotty McCreery, 16- Does anyone know what to do with him? He is what he is, even at 16. I remind the baseball fans out there that he looks like he could be Evan Longoria’s stunt double, and he is a baseball star at his local high school. How wild would it be to see him in the major leagues in a few years, on the same team with his doppelganger?

Sophia Shorai, 28- Lilly Scott-ish singer, she changes from blonde to brunette seemingly every week. Most of you know that I spend more time studying baseball history than I spend studying American Idol, and that I have been doing it for almost four decades. I always compare the singers with weaker voices to pitchers without a power fastball. Sophia has no fastball at all. Pitchers with no fastball need to be exceptional in every other way to succeed. Sophia has that problem. She needs to be perfect, because she has no vocal power. I wouldn’t sell her out, though. She might be Jamie Moyer.

Stefano Langone, 20- I want to hear him again, and I really like him. It’s a tough crowd, though. He would be a lock for the tour – last year. This year? He will have to fight for it.

Symphony Music Howlett, 20- That’s her given name, and it’s on her birth certificate. Her mother is a belly dancer, and both of her parents were hippies. I found a ton of stuff on her in that bottomless pit of amazingness that we call youtube. I found her singing (lots of video of her singing), being interviewed (she is very poised and comfortable) and even doing some belly dancing. She also does some circus performing, including the trapeze. She plays several instruments and writes songs. Interesting kid. Oh, and she is cuter than a care bear. Anything else? Her style? To me she sounds like a Jewel type, maybe with a stronger voice. She compares herself to Norah Jones. She ain’t Norah Jones. She has a much stronger voice, but not even a tenth of Norah’s style and finesse. She ain’t Jewel at this point, either. She makes a LOT of mistakes, even in the videos that were presumably edited, and she isn’t really a guitar player yet. I don’t know if she is a contender or not. I’m pretty surprised that Idol hasn’t featured her so far. I mean, common. A trapeze artist that belly dances, whose name is Symphony Music? If you can’t come up with a way to make that interesting, you just aren’t trying. Maybe they are saving her for later, like they did with Sha-Von last year? I would guess that a contestant with her background, talent, looks and name would get their attention.

Tatynisa Wilson, 20- She must be really good, for her to have survived her horrible round three performance when she forgot her words. I found a video of her, and apparently she is a Rhianna wannabe. From a singing standpoint the video was a big nothing. That genre lives and dies with pyrotechnics, dance moves and a huge wall of prerecorded musical tracks. The vocals are an afterthought. All that matters is singing in tune, and most of the time the vocals are canned anyway. They spend most of their time working on their choreography. I don’t hate the kid, but I don’t know why I should care until I hear her sing. Oh, and remember the words.

Thia Megia, 15- If I was her manager, I would tell her to sing “Across the Universe”, and move on. She would kill that song. Don’t sing anything at tempo until you see the whites of their eyes.

Tim Halperin, 23- He was monotone boy from the LA auditions, had a crush on J-Lo. I found a bunch of his videos. The kid has been busy, and his videos aren’t basement tapes. He’s on stages, in front of crowds. What does he sound like? That’s easy. He is an almost perfect doppelganger for Jackson Browne. He might be a contender. He won’t be scared on the big stage.

Tiwan Strong, 28- We haven’t seen him since he did some Sam Cooke at his audition. I really like this guy. I am looking forward to hearing him again.

Wade Brown, 17- No footage of him singing, anywhere other than in the background of a home video taken during Group Night rehearsal. He is the only one from that group that is still in the competition, and he didn’t sing any lead. I took a look at his GTI. He is very soft spoken, and he worships Fantasia and his late Great Grandmother. I get the feeling that he’s a gospel belter, but an understated and humble person. I didn’t get any sense that he is a professional, but I really want to hear him sing. Can we hear him, Idol? Can we hear all of them?