They're Crazy and They're Kooky

First a quick Idol Gives Back review of tonight's cast-offs. Alex Lambert did not surprise me. He never did show off the supposedly great voice that the judges kept claiming he had. If you don't have the nerves to sing in front of a bunch of tweeners who cheer everything you sing no matter how bad, then perhaps you should consider another line of work. Todrick Hall's departure did not surprise me that much. Maybe if my DVR had allowed me to see Tim Urban's performance I might have picked Todrick to go instead. That blasted machine is just destroying my batting average. It's too bad to some degree because Todrick was one of the few guys who actually seemed to enjoy being on stage. Katelyn Epperly's departure is as sure a sign as any that the tweeners have taken over the voting, as they have systematically removed all of the female eye candy that Simon and the producers shoehorned into the Top 24. All we are left with are teenagers and weird indie types, which is what makes Lilly Scott's departure so surprising. Not that she had any chance of winning with all of the other weird indie types still in the field, but I would have thought that she would have stuck around at least long enough to make the summer tour. I find it funny that Lilly didn't know what America wants to hear, because indie artists like she claims to be are not supposed to care about stuff like that, or else they would be pop artists and not indie artists. Isn't that what makes an indie artist, well, indie?

So now we are down to the final 12, and in no particular order here are the pros and cons of each of them as it related to their chances of winning this thing:

Michael Lynche
Pro: He's got a good voice, he's comfortable on stage, and he's got an engaging back story that all together have him as the current favorite.
Con: One year ago tonight you could have said the exact same thing about Danny Gokey. At least Big Mike doesn't have to worry about Paula the Angel of Death picking his song when they get to the top 3.

Crystal Bowersox
Pro: Like Mike she has a good voice and is comfortable on stage, and in a year when the producers want a chick to win she is the best of the bunch.
Con: It's hard to imagine someone who sings in subways winning American Idol. Being talented and different can only get you so far on this show, just ask Adam Lambert, or Lilly Scott.

Casey James
Pro: Chicks dig the eye candy, and chicks control the voting.
Con: He's still a poser, and chicks catch on to that pretty darn quickly.

Siobhan Magnus
Pro: With all due respect to what the judges think about Paige Miles, Siobhan has the best female singing voice in the competition.
Con: She is, how should I say it, kind of weird.

Lee Dewyze
Pro: Has been consistently solid, though not spectacular, so far in the live shows.
Con: It'll take more than that to win this competition; consistency is not that important to the ADD kids who text in millions of times.

Katie Stevens
Pro: She has a good voice and is the same age as Idol's #1 demographic.
Con: She keeps trying to make the judges happy, and if there is anything the judges hate it is someone who keeps trying to do what they say.

Andrew Garcia
Pro: Has shown some creativity in his song choices, reminiscent of Kris Allen.
Con: No one is going to notice his creativity if he keeps picking songs originally sung by women.

Didi Benami
Pro: She acts like Brooke White and sings like Megan Corkrey, two prior Idol contestants who lasted far longer than they should have.
Con: Neither of those two won.

Aaron Kelly
Pro: He's cute and a teenager, two things both the cougars and the tweeners love.
Con: Nobody is voting for this kid because of his vocal talent, at least as long as he keeps singing like he's in a HS musical.

Lacey Brown
Pro: Now that the judges have told her what type of artist she should be her performances have been much more focused.
Con: One trick ponies have a limited life span on this show, just ask Chris Daughtry.

Tim Urban
Pro: He has actually shown some improvement during the live shows.
Con: He is still playing with the house money, and the house always gets their money back.

Paige Miles
Pro: Has a nice voice and isn't as quirky as all of the other girl contestants.
Con: Can't seem to pick a good song to save her life. Maybe the theme weeks will help her focus on choosing a good song, but God help her when they get to iTunes week.

While it is clear that Michael and Crystal are the favorites to win, there is no guarantees at this stage. Remember that Danny Gokey, David Archuleta, LaKesha Jones, and Chris Daughtry were all declared the ones to beat at this stage of the competition and none of them went on to win, and only Wonder Boy made it to the final 2. So we'll see. Now that the competitions will be only on Tuesday nights hopefully the curse that seems to be affecting my DVR on Wednesday's will stay that way. We'll see about that too.