American Idol - Top 12

I know you've all been holding your breath to see my first rankings of the season for American Idol (at least Crystal has). There isn't a shadow of a doubt that a woman will win this season. I believe the producers helped stack the deck on that side because the WANT a female winner, and let a more watered down group of guys into the semifinals. That being said, my rankings truly reflect how feast or famine it is with the dudes this season.

1. Lakisha Jones - Is she better than Mandisa? I think she is, and Mandisa was my favorite last season until she got the early boot. I love her story, her personality and her freaking amazing voice.

1.5. Melinda Doolittle - She was a solid 2nd until she threw the 90-yard touchdown pass this week. An unbelievable performance with attitude, personality and a dominant voice. I think it's so funny how she kinda "turns off" her stage persona the second she sees Ryan and the judges and turns back into the shy, cute backup singer. But as Simon said, she's a Tiger!

3. Chris Sligh - I don't know how long his voice is going to keep him in the competition. That's the bad news. The good news is. He has THE BEST personality of any finalist in six seasons. He's hilarious and fun and DOES have a pretty good voice. And I really want him to stick around long enough to make David Hasselhoff cry!

4. Gina Glocksen - It's Nikki McKibben with a better voice, better personality and a smarter sense of what she needs to do in this competition. She rocked the house last week and I hope she gets to stick around for a while. I want her in Abba week and in Gwen Stefani week, for sure.

5. Blake Lewis - The only other guy I like besides Chris, and he's probably a better overall performer than Sligh. I was really worried about him overkilling the beatbox thing, but so far he has used it well. I'm afraid for him in coming weeks, because he is such a niche performer.

6. Stephanie Edwards - The beginning of the second tier. She has the goods, but she has struggled for the past few weeks. I really WANT her to be good.

7. Jordin Sparks - Jordin should have waited three years before trying out for Idol, and she could have had a better chance to win the whole thing. I just don't see her being able to make the right song choices every week. And I don't see her being able to outlast the other singers in her "genre group", to put it nicely.

8. Brandon Rogers - Like Stephanie, he's a lot better than he has performed. I want to see him do well, too.

9. Haley Scarnato - Another person who I WANT to like. I don't know if she has the goods to keep sliding through, but I want to see her grow as a singer every week.

10. Phil Stacey - He had been my third-highest guy for a while, but there is just something about him that is starting to rub me the wrong way. This is one person who could end up jumping quite a bit on my list.

11. Chris Richardson, hereforeto be known as TimberFed - I suppose he's a good singer, and he's got the ladies. I HATE HIM. He's Justin Timberlake without actual talent. He's Kevin Federline without a bald ex-wife. He's the poser saggy-pants white guy-who doesn't know he's white. He's Jamie Kennedy's B-Rad in Malibu's Most Wanted. I hate him.

12. Sanjaya Malakar - Can someone PLEASE explain to me what the hell he is still doing here. WHY do people like him. HOW on earth is he still getting the tween vote? The only reason I'm not more upset about it is because really, in the 6 guy/6 girl format, who would have been a better male choice? Sundance (I have another not-so-PG nickname for him)? Jared Hand-over-the-face Cotter? None of them are worthy of the top-12, and that's more of the problem. I would love to see Sabrina Sloan (Guadalupe Streisand) get another crack. I'd like to see Alaina get another shot. They would have been better choices for the top-12, but I digress.