FINAL 12 - PRE-PERFORMANCE PICKS

It is time for the Final 12 Pre-Performance picks. By the way, I am tired of typing out "Pre-Performance" Picks - so they will now be referred to as P.P.Picks. Rank the singers 1-12 giving 12 points to the person you think is MOST likely to be voted out. When the contestant is voted out Wednesday night, you will get the amount of points you allotted to that singer. Leave your picks as a comment to this post.

Also, don't forget to e-mail me your Prediction Picks (which are totally separate from these PPPicks) before the performances tonight. See the entry below for a description of these picks.

AMANDA OVERMYER
Last week it seemed like Amanda was tired of being made fun of. She was probably angry about the picture of Stripe I included in her description last week. So she will either be performing with a vengeance or she might do something stupid to throw the competition because she hates all of the shiny happy people she has to hang around all day.

MICHAEL JOHNS
I don't think Michael is at all interested in winning American Idol. He might even be happy to make an exit before he is forced to sign away his firstborn son to 19 Entertainment. He is kind of too mature and professional for this show anyways and the deeper he gets in the competition, the less street cred he might have in the genre he needs to be in.

BROOKE WHITE
I originally thought Brooke would be one of the first blondies to go. Now it looks like she will just might take a seat in one of her huge hoop earrings and ride it to the final 6. If they have a LOTR Elvish Theme week, she would be awesome even though she probably hasn't seen the movies - with their PG-13 rating and all.

JASON CASTRO
Well, I was mostly wrong about Jason last week. I thought he was going to fail miserably without his guitar because we would be able to focus more on his weird facial expressions. Everyone still liked him. I don't think he is going anywhere anytime soon.


CARLY SMITHSON
I just don't know what to think of Carly anymore. Supposedly she is still very popular with the voters, but I can totally picture on any given week that people will just not have any motivation to vote for her. There is nothing endearing other than her accent. I still think she has a good voice, but I feel the same way about Josh Groban and I have never had a desire to listen to him.

DAVID HERNANDEZ
I mean, what is the difference, really, between a gay stripper and, say, a female cage fighter. What is the big deal? Just because he danced around naked doesn't mean that he doesn't fit in on American Idol. Strangely, it actually makes him more qualified - which you will clearly see when it is Sodom & Gommorah Theme week.

KRISTY LEE COOK
Did you ever have one of the high school cheerleaders in your speech class? They were the ones who always looked presentable and covered the bases of what they were supposed to talk about yet seemed like they didn't really know anything about what they were talking about. That is what I think of whenever Kristy performs. Dead behind the eyes.

DAVID COOK
I must admit that I didn't like David very much at the beginning. He fails my hair threshold test. He kind of has the voice of a butt-rocker. But I actually really liked his version of "Hello" last week - even though it didn't include one of my favorite solos of all time or a blind girl on stage making a clay sculpture of his head. This might seem weird, but the part that really made me respect him was at the end. He sang "But let me start by saying ..." and I was expecting the "I love you" line which was going to make me cringe in that setting. But then he skipped the cheesy part and went back to "Hello - is it me you're looking for." Tastefully done Mr. Cook.

RAMIELE MALUBAY
How many Filipinos and really short people are there in this country? I mean, she has that vote locked up but I just don't know how long it will keep her in the competition. Some people seem to like her because she is "spunky". I just don't think she will be able to stand out long-term. She is more like-able than Amanda, Kristy and Carly but she might not outlast them.

DAVID ARCHULETA
When this guy hits puberty his luck is totally going to change. Just picture him with Carrico's do-rag and Luke Menard's five-o'clock shadow while playing David Cook's electric guitar. That might be the only way he could lose ground in this competition. He would lose almost all of his nice guy appeal. But the good news is I think Archie has a good 4 years left before his mustache appears.

SYESHA MERCADO
I have a scary feeling that Syesha could be the Brandon Rogers of last year. He and Melinda were the favorites going into the Final 12 and he was voted off that first week. I think he could sing better than Syesha can, but she definitely has the edge on the performance side. It is weird to think that she could realistically come in 2nd or 12th.

CHIKEZIE EZE
I hate to say it, but many people think that Chikezie made it to the top 12 because he was the only African-American of the final guys - so he had that vote locked in. Well, if that is true it sure seems that Syesha would take those votes from him now because she is much better. That could mean trouble for our friend T.C. who might just be taking his chopper home very soon.