American Idol 6: Ranking the Idols - The Top 11

I definitely did not beg Brandon Rogers to be the first to go! And despite forgetting the words to his song, I don’t think he should have been the first to go. This is a wake-up call our Idols probably needed; mistakes can be this costly! I believe Brandon got caught up in the lights and lost himself. A mistake he’d never make again if given another chance… but he didn’t get one.

So as the top 11 begins, I rank the Idols like so (with last week’s rankings in parentheses):

1. Melinda Doolittle (1) – holding steady. Her performance of “Home” was somehow underrated by the sitting judges, but Melinda just keeps stacking those awesome performances like Legos and will pave herself a road right to the finals.
2. LaKisha Jones (2) – LaKisha is capable of vocal acrobatics, she’s just smart enough to dole them out in proper measure. Even Mariah Carey hasn’t figured out how to do that. Restraint: so powerful, so necessary, so right. Once again, KiKi is knock knock knocking on Melinda’s door.
3. Jordin Sparks (5) – Somebody said Jordin was going to have to nail one to get any higher than fifth… that somebody was me, and there she was! Having the sitting panel tell her she just announced herself as a contender has got to be a shot in the arm. It will only make her stronger.
4. Blake Lewis (3) – Argh. My one reservation about Blake – he’s like the guy at the party who thinks he’s funnier than he truly is. So he gets this twinkle in his eye when he’s telling his not-as-amusing-as-he-thinks joke and you’re just thinking, “Whatever, dude.” When Blake was talking about how he reworked a song that has been reworked more times than Joan Rivers’ face, I saw that glint. I winced. I heard the song and thought, “Here comes the sound of the other shoe dropping.” Blake, just sing the melody. What saved him was some nifty dancing that went un-complimented by the judges. He has quite the arsenal.
5. Chris Richardson (6) – There you go. If you want to modernize a song (Blake, Chris S.), do it with your vocals. Stylize them in a modern way. Chris’ idea to do some modern runs in “The Boss” was actually quite brilliant. No, he didn’t hit all of them, but his intentions were pure enough to make that forgivable. At least he didn’t do unspeakable horrors, like…
6. Chris Sligh (4) – Where do we begin? His performance of “Coldplay Love” left me slack jawed. I liked that he had some nice soaring moments of his vocal. I hated the track. It sounded like an early ‘90s soap opera theme. To borrow a line from Randy Jackson, I couldn’t wait for it to be over. Let’s all remember Chris has a plan. This was an experiment that should have been scrapped. Young people, not all songs need to changed. 2007 is not offering anything so compelling and new that everything must confirm to it. Sing the melody, Chris.
7. Stephanie Edwards (7) – This is an amateur competition. That is the beauty of American Idol. It is a beautiful thing that a neophyte error like the one Stephanie made can be made. The key to “Love Hangover” is the disco section. The part before it was practically a dirge. So much so, my disco-dancing older sister would bump the 45 to 78 until that part came (once upon a time, young people, there were records!). There are probably plenty of “tease” jokes to be made, but Stephanie’s a classy young lady. I will spare her that.
8. Haley Scarnato (11) – It is a rare feat to move up the rankings for forgetting lyrics, but in the midst of that, we found out who she was! We saw a personality! She was a frustrated young lady who was just kicking herself at her misfortune. It was actually endearing! We learned the girl has a plucky spirit. And Simon is right, she does have a rather striking presence – she commands your attention when she’s onstage. If Brandon had managed to do something besides wince, maybe made some sort of appeal, it may have saved him. But as the Joe Jackson song says, it’s different for girls.
9. Gina Glocksen (9) – You know, “Love Child” is one of my favorite songs ever. In Gina’s hands, I have to admit that I felt secure. I figured she could do a reasonable job. She did. There was a lot of stuff about her being “incoherent,” but we have liked many songs we haven’t been able to understand all of the lyrics to, right? This is not a third-grade recital. It’s American Idol. Pronounciate? There is just something exasperating about Gina. I dunno.
10. Phil Stacey (10) – Is he still here? I haven’t found a reason to get excited by Phil Stacey. Haley gave me something, but Phil has not. That’s really all I have to say about that.
11. Sanjaya Malakar (12) – Sanjaya, if you’re reading (and I know you are), listen to me. I know you are not the worst singer Idol has ever seen. Far from it. I am not feeling the urge to check your scalp for sixes. You’ve just got to decide that you are doing this for yourself. You know you can sing. Do it; sing loud, sing proud. The world is full of haters. This is your chance. In reality, you are getting better each week. You are gaining confidence, and that’s a good thing. The first chance you have to sing “Moondance,” grab it. Don’t know the song? Get it. Thank me later. You can turn this around – two words for you: Kimberley. Locke.

Still all about MeKisha. She and Melinda are really running like number 1 and number 1A these days. Jordin is a distant third with the pack on her heels. Many, many weeks to go before the Idol is crowned. Let’s enjoy every twist in the road of the journey.

Sting7 has been a respected published writer for many years, as a music editor, entertainment critic, columnist, and interviewer. He also has a curious love for pro-wrestling! You can email Stinger atstingseven@yahoo.com.

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