American Idol: The Top Nine

As some of you may know, I am an American Idol fan. I have grown up with music in my life and I enjoy a good competition. Some days I am unsure as to what this competition is really about. I think that some of the contestants that get passed from level to level on Idol are truly only being passed because of their looks or perhaps because people find them to be genuinely nice and do not want to see them fall.

This year's competition is definitely one of the toughest but that does not mean that there is not a line between the good and the great. Let's face it, they are all good, but they are not all great. They do not all have a great vocal range.

Watching from week to week there is one person that stands out for me, that I cannot believe has made it this far. That person is Megan. Let's take a look at Appearance and voice.

Granted, Megan has some style, she has picked some nice looks for herself, minus the arm sleeve tattoo and white baby doll dress; that was a train wreck. Black would have been more suiting. You just cannot look cute and innocent when you have an arm sleeve tattoo; sorry Megan. Just to make things clear, I am not saying that Megan is not a sweet innocent person, I am saying that the cute baby doll look does not work because the tattoo clashes with it. Anyway, moving on; this week's attire was nice. The dress was beautiful, the makeup was well done, her hair was gorgeous; she looked amazing. This is not however, a reason to vote. If the voice isn't there, the appearance does not matter. The appearance is just the icing on the cake.Megan is gorgeous, she has a beautiful child, and we all can appreciate her as a mom. What she does not have is the voice of an American Idol Winner. Her range isn't that great. She does not have a smooth voice (I do realize not everyone has a perfect smooth voice, but it makes a person more likeable). She cannot pick a song to save her soul. Come on Megan, Rockin' Robin? What are we, seven? That song is for a children's sing along... it actually is on the kids sing along cd for cryin' out loud. This week's song was not much better. It hurt my ears to listen. I cannot believe people still voted for her and that they voted for her over Matt Giraud. What reason could you possibly have to vote for someone who is not the best? If you voted for Megan, you are either family, or voting for the wrong reasons; possibly you are tone deaf. If you are tone deaf, I am sorry to hear that. Megan is a great person I am sure, but honestly, not the best singer in this competition. Listen to Simon.

Lets move on to the past for a minute. The person that I am floored has left American Idol so soon is Alexis Grace. She most definitely is a better singer than a few of the others who are left in the contest. She has such strong pipes that I thought she would make it to at least the top five. America, I think you made a small mistake on that one.

The following are the contestants that are in the bottom three for me: Megan, Scott, and Kris.

Kris has shown the most improvement and is wonderful to listen to. He feels like a truly genuine person; he does not seem to be full of himself but he could definitely exert a little more presence.

Scott is wonderful, but every song he does feels the same to me. Nothing has really stood out and I think it will catch up with him unless he makes a drastic change this next week.

Megan as stated above is just not the best, she is the bottom of the barrel for me. Wonderful person but just isn't as good as the others when it comes to voice.

The following are my top three contestants: Adam, Lil, Anoop, and Matt. As you may have noticed, I named four people. Right now Matt and Anoop are at a tie for the third spot.

Adam has a beautiful range, he showed us he can be different and that he is out there to give it his all. Though some of us may have found his Indy Rock "Ring of Fire" a bit shocking, I think it showed that he is not afraid to take a chance. This week's performance was no less mind blowing and showed us all even further what he is capable of. It would appear that this guy can do anything he puts his mind to; that is what we need in the industry. He is most definitely the face of fresh.

Lil Rounds. I think Lil is wonderful. She is on top as far as the girls are concerned. She does need to start making some better choices in songs though. She showed us she can sing. Now show us what else there is; how amazing can you be?

The other two contestants are in the middle right now. There are reasons why I put them there.

Allison, though she is an amazing vocalist, needs to start showing more variety. A lot of her music is the same; same range, same tone. We know she can belt it out. I want to hear something different. She would be in the top three for me if she would show some different qualities and possibilities in her voice. Show us something tender and touching.

Danny. Now you may have noticed by now that he was not my number one. Here is why. I think he is a great singer but his voice always sounds the same. He is over confident and it makes him look cocky. I was slightly appalled by the fact that he did not heed Smokey's advice; though he maybe had a good reason as to why he did not. His performance this week was mediocre and the same as every other week. It feels as if "fame" has already gone to his head; he thinks he has this competition in the bag and I think he should think again. If he does not do something about the aura he is giving off; he will not win.

With all of the above said, this is who I currently think should win: Adam. This is who I think may win but for all of the wrong reasons: Danny.

Good luck Idol contestants. It will be a long and close race but hopefully the best vocalist wins.