American Idol 7: Which Idols Will Fall in the Second Semi-Final Round?

Last week was a good week for us “pre-game analysts”! While, Sting correctly nailed the demise of Amy Davis, Colton Berry, and Garrett Haley, David’s crystal ball correctly saw Amy and Garrett fall! Now, with just 20 Idols left, things get tougher – for us and for them! (A reminder for readers: When you see regular text, it’s Sting talking, boldface is David.)

Let’s start with the ladies. In the halls of Foxes On Idol, some of us wondered if the “interchangeable blondes” would end up causing one of them to fall just because of their physical similarities to each other. Not in week one. Amy Davis made it easy not to vote for her. She’s gone back to where the boys are. Joanne was a little bit more of a surprise, but just a little bit, since the other ladies did pretty well, and Joanne obviously struggled.

While Joanne was a surprise before the performances, she wasn’t so much afterwards. Indeed, after I saw the Wednesday night songstresses, I changed my prediction from Alaina to Joanne!

I still think the physical similarity factor will raise its head. I mean, can you honestly say you know Alaina from Kady from Kristy Lee? Well, I have to admit, it’s a bit difficult. But I know Kady stands out a bit for me because her eyes seem too close together (hey, it’s what I noticed – sorry!) and Kristy Lee’s eyes were doing all sorts of bizarre things when she was singing last week!

The ladies who stand out because of what they do seem to have distinctive looks (Amanda and Carly) and the ones who have distinguished themselves with performances (Syesha, Alexandréa) get an immediate pass. That leaves Ramiele (who may be dehydrated from all the crying she did), Asia'h, Brooke, and the aforementioned blondes.

This is going to be a difficult week. All of these ladies have shown they are talented enough to stay, even if the judges didn’t like the performances as much as we did. I have a hard time thinking Asia’h is going to stumble. She performs like her life depends on it. Ramiele, I think, has a solid fan base out there. I suspect she will unfurl something upbeat and fun, and effectively charm. She should be safe another week.

Frankly, I am not so enamored with Brooke. Something about her screams “easy-listening” and that’s not going to fly. That leaves the other blondes. The weakest of the three last week was Kristy Lee, which I think is going to force her to press to be impressive and it won’t work.

So, I think next week, we say goodbye to Brooke and Kristy Lee. David?

Wow, shooting down two blondes at once! I don’t know – I wasn’t that enamored with Asia’h, but I guess other people liked her performance – and it’s American Idol, not David Idol, so I need to take that into account (oh what a wonderful world it would be if it were David Idol – but I digress).

I agree that Kristy Lee is lucky to have survived the first week after such a bad performance. I don’t know if the “I sold my horse to audition” story can pull her through another week, so she’d better do something extraordinary. Alaina also needs to be extraordinary again, but for an opposite reason. She had a very good first performance, which she needed to overcome her lack of previous TV exposure. She still needs another good second performance to keep it going. Contrary to Sting, I think Kady is in more danger than Brooke. Brooke was at least showing her shiny happy personality. Kady was a bit boring. She needs to step it up. However, I don’t think she will do so enough to survive, which means I’m predicting Kady and Kristy Lee will be the two blondes leaving us.

Now, for the men, it is a case of momentum. Some have it, some don’t. David Archuleta and Michael Johns are probably being measured for top 12 couch spots as we speak. Jason Castro is Mr. Buzz at the moment. He should have enough momentum to get through another week with even a borderline performance. Everyone else has work to do.

It seems people are predisposed to liking the sassy Danny Noriega, and I think he learned a valuable lesson last week with his song choice. He’s no fool. He thinks he’s destined to win this thing and he seems like he is used to being doubted – and proving people wrong. I am not betting against him. David Hernandez has been all but forgotten. He lost “Arizona Idol” only to Jordin Sparks, so he may have a little chip on his shoulder. I like him to advance another week as well.

David Cook’s performance of “Happy Together” is splitting people like Blake Lewis’ “You Give Love a Bad Name!” Loved or despised! I am not so confident that he will make another week, but I think he will. Maybe just one more. So that leaves Jason Yeager, Luke Menard, Robbie Carrico, and Chikezie.

Robbie has a distinctive look, albeit a scruffy one. (Is it me or does he look like he needs a good hair wash?) But he hasn’t distinguished himself vocally. He has a ton of performance experience to call on, and I feel he will. Chikezie looked like a man who sent someone else to the chair on his behalf on Results night. If he was eliminated, no one would have been surprised. I think he will pull himself together and make the most out of his break.

Luke, handsome as he is, is a wee bit overconfident. I don’t have a lot of faith in his ability to choose songs that will inspire people to vote for him. It’s a classic mistake on Idol – choosing songs you like is not the same as choosing songs the audience will support. He does not know the difference. Jason Yeager’s lack of back story (before last week) will be costly. Unless he can pull another dead grandparent, a cute kid, and maybe a few cuddly white bunnies out of his hat, his time will be up. I know none of that has anything to do with his singing, which is quite good really, but that’s just how I see it.

David?

I can barely believe David Hernandez made it through the first round of the semi-finals after having given a generic performance as the very first person in a two-hour show. Maybe that means he has fans and can make it further. Maybe it just means he was lucky. I don’t know if he will be so lucky again this week. Another guy who was lucky to make it through was Jason Yeager. He was dull and I thought faced serious danger last week. Now he doesn’t have a Garrett to receive even fewer votes than he does. The same goes for Luke. Chikezie needs to watch his attitude, lest he piss off voters, but I think he’s okay for right now.

That’s three guys who I think are in danger – but I can only pick two. Given that David Hernandez did make it through the situation I described in the first week, I think he’ll do it again this time. That means I’ll go with Luke and Jason.

So, this week, I see the end for Brooke White, Kristy Lee Cook, Luke Menard, and Jason Yeager. And I’m once again only differing by one contestant, as I substitute Kady for Brooke.

We’ll find out Thursday how well we did!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent articles on Foxes On Idol:

Sting7 has been a respected published writer for many years, as a music editor, entertainment critic, columnist, and interviewer. He currently lives in Europe, loves cold lemonade, ice cream and kittens! You can email Stinger at stingseven@yahoo.com. David Bloomberg is the Editor of Foxes On Idol, and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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