making the grade

Another American Idol post:  my apologies to non-fans.  You know where to send hate mail.

A couple weeks ago, I made my predictions about the top 12 contestants on AI.  Tonight we'll see how my predictions fared.

Let me refresh your memory for a moment.  I picked

• Katie Stevens
• Crystal Bowersox
• Katelyn Epperly
• Michelle Delamor
• Janell Wheeler/Didi Benami
• Ashley Rodriguez
• Andrew Garcia
• Casey James
• Todrick Hall
• Michael Lynche
• Joe Muñoz
• Tim Urban

Most of the picks were based on talent or my take on how the voting would go, but a few were definitely influenced by my own preferences, which is why when I picked Ashley, I qualified it by saying that I thought it might be a couple of other people too. So though one of those people I mentioned made the top 12, I won't count that as a correct prediction--though my percentage could really use the boost.  I did a much better job on the guys than the girls.  I correctly predicted two thirds of the guys who made it but was only 42% accurate on the girls (for the record, I'm counting Didi has half a correct prediction rather than a whole one).  Overall, I was at 54%.  Not very respectable, but I make no apologies. 

And because I'd like to get all my Idol opinions out there now rather than later, let me say a few words about the actual top 12:

• Katie--I called this early, but I'm somewhat amazed tonight that she actually made it.  She has sort of fallen apart lately, and though I think her voice deserves it, her overall performance doesn't.
• Crystal--Called it, but who couldn't have.  Crystal's the best.
• Didi--Her performance this week was spectacular, and I only hope she lives up to it in upcoming weeks.
• Siobhan--She was the girl that put I put down as a maybe when I was talking about Ashley, so I'm not surprised by this one.  I was on the fence about her the first week, but I've really liked her for the past couple.  I think she's got good prospects.
• Paige--I like her voice, but I can't believe her odd song choices didn't get her the boot.
• Lacey--Completely surprised by this one.  Love her hair, but I don't think she'll last long.
• Andrew--Like Katie, Andrew hasn't lived up to the hype with the judges, but I still hold out a lot of hope for my boy Andrew.
• Casey--Still pretty and still mostly impressing me.  
• Big Mike--His "This Woman's Work" was amazing, and I love how much fun he's having.
• Tim--Oh, how I know teenage girls.  He deserved to have his butt handed to him after the first week, but last night's performance was redemptive.  There was more than one Ellen proud of him.
• Lee--I'm sorry I didn't believe in Lee enough to pick him from the outset.  I think it was because he said "shut up" eighty-five times when he made the top 24.  He's improved a lot since then.
• Aaron--I like Aaron, and I'm rooting for him in an underdog sense, but I am surprised he's still around.

From this point forward, I shall strive to keep all my AI thoughts confined to facebook, in hopes that I don't alienate my imaginary non-fan readers.