American Idol Season 10 Top 12 Finalist Power Ranking: Pia Toscano, Casey Abrams Move Up, Thia Megia, Lauren Alaina Begin to Sleep

After last week’s massive fail of an episode, a few front runners now find themselves scooting down a few notches on my Finalist Power Ranking.  We haven’t really had any real game-changers this year (other than that missed opportunity with Kendra… yeah, I’m STILL bitter), so the long-term predictions haven’t changed much.  Here’s a look at how the contestants stack up going into week two of finals:

1. Scotty McCreery- Scotty stuck with what he knows during his Top 13 performance of Garth Brooks’ “The River”, but how much more material that he “knows” does he have up his sleeve? He’s going to have to have an Idol Moment to keep his momentum going, but it’s not impossible.  Seriously though, has there ever been a contestant with SOOOOO much momentum who never had any kind of defining moment?  I mean, Babylockthemdoors can only be so interesting after 3 or 4 renditions. (No Change)
2. Pia Toscano- Despite not taking my advice and singing a song by one of the Big 3 (don’t let it happen, Peez), Pia was able to build her momentum by offering up a version of “All By Myself” that rivaled the version of Celine herself.  Like Scotty, however, Pia is going to have to mix it up to stick around past the top 3 or 4.  On paper, however, she’s unstoppable. (UP 1)
3. Casey Abrams- Casey must have read last week’s power ranking because he certainly stepped up the vocal quality of his performance this week.  Casey sounded, dare I say it, really good on his cover of “With a Little Help From my Friends”, infusing his signature soul and cool as a cucumber personality into every second of the minute-forty set.  My only concern with Casey is health.. poor guy had ulcerative colitis…. yeeeesh. (UP 1)
4. Lauren Alaina- I knew it was only a matter of time before Lauren, or the “Teflon Cowbelle” as I like to call her, started to lose her scratch resistant coating.  Her version of “Any Man of Mine” lacked the inventive qualities of the version by last season’s Siobhan Magnus, Princess of Barnstable, and her personality during her post-performance critique was more off-putting than Randy in a unitard.  To make it as far as she’s capable in the competition, she’s going to have to step it up vocally and stop being so whiny when she’s spoken to. (Down 2)
5. James Durbin- It’s really hard for me to admit that I’m wrong, but I really missed the boat on James Durbin.  His Top 13 take on “Maybe I’m Amazed” was easily one of the best of the night, setting him up for the perfect Idol trajectory: catch on around the Top 10 and then make a clean sprint to the finish.  He, like so many this season, are going to have to overcome real personality issues to conquer the Idol stage, but it’s been done before.  Just look at Stank-Eye McPhee. (No Change)
6. Stefano Langone- Ok, so his version of Stevie Wonder’s “Lately” came complete with a $0.99 Midi-tone backing track that was played through a Moto Razr positioned next to Ryan’s mic.  Abysmal arrangement aside, Stefano showed some more soulful and passionate singerizing, giving him one of the largest boosts of the week on the Power Ranking chart.  Stefano was also helped out by the general suckage of the bottom half of the finalists, but it was still a good week for people named Stefano. (UP 3)
7. Naima Adedapo- Having near-mint pitch is a key factor to success on Idol, but those who Reggae during their songs are generally exempt from this requirement.  Naima’s take on Rihanna’s “Umbrella” showed not only a gutsiness to America’s favorite former groundskeeper, but also a pretty keen sense of what’s relevant in today’s music scene.  Naima did exactly what she needed to do last week by showing voters that she’s comfortable as a performer and capable of more than just Donnie Hathaway ballads. (Up 4)
8. Paul McDonald- By all accounts, Paul’s Idol trajectory is going to be that of the token contestant who peaks in Hollywood Week and rides that momentum until the utter goes dry.   For Paul, said utter is probably leaking out its last few drops of fame juice.  Lovable Paul needs another “Blackbird” moment if he’s going to stick around much longer. (Down 1)
9. Jacob Lusk- Okay, so last week I likened Haley Reinhart’s singing demeanor to  that of someone who was giving birth to a cactus.  In fairness to the lovely Haley, she passed her cactus on to Jacob, who embraces that spiny offspring with every fiber of his being.  Jacob’s atonal “I Believe I Can Fly” was arguable the night’s worst performance, filled with off-key screeches and a heaping helping of cheese.  He needs to seriously reign it in and re-evaluate if he wants to have a fruitful American Idol berth. (Down 3)
10. Haley Reinhart- Paying her respects to my girl and fellow homewrecker LeAnn Rimes by singing her inaugural hit “Blue” was a great way for Haley to earn a place in my heart.  Her penchant for making strange faces during critiques is, similarly, very endearing.  But Haley needs to have a wow moment to put herself back to her Hollywood week level of acclaim.  With right song, Haley could have a Katelyn Epperly/”The Scientist” moment. (No Change)
11. Thia Magia- Ole Thia-bot, your star is fading faster than a PowerPoint slide transition turned on full blast.  Like Lauren, Thia had a very uncomfortable and anti-humble interaction with the judges post-performance, and her sense of entitlement is already making me have gas.  Personality aside, her rendition of “Smile” was not good, and had it not been for Jacob and his technicolored off note, Thia would be the proud owner of the night’s worst performance. (Down 3)
12. Karen Rodriguez- Everytime I see Karen, I go through a portal to an alternate universe set in the late 80s/early 90s and find myself on the set of a family variety show called “Los Loco Amigas” (The Crazy Girl Friends).  Karen is, of course, the show’s host; busting out into Latin-flavored versions of songs that are already sung in Spanish, like the hat dance, feliz navidad, and yo quiero Taco Bell.  She also wheres horrible smocks that she designed herself.  When I travel back to the universe we’re currently living in, I realize how disgusting Karen’s forced Latina-pride is.  Either way, Mexican variety shows are never a good idea. (No Change)

What do you think of my list?  How would you rank the remaining Idols?  Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to theconservativejournal@gmail.com.  Don’t forget to bookmark The Conservative Journal and sign up for the RSS Feed and the daily e-mail newsletter.

Also, Deluxe Membership is now available, click here to join for free.  View the results of the “BEST OF 2010″ by clicking HERE.  To enter to win one of 2 32 Gigabyte Apple iPad 2s from The Conservative Journal, click HERE.

Thanks for reading!

Angelica

• American Idol Top 3 Recap and Review
• American Idol Season 10 Top 13 Recap & Review: Pia Toscano, Naima Adedapo, James Durbin Soar
• American Idol Season 10 Top 13 Finalist Power Rankings: Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, and Pia Toscana Lead the Pack
• American Idol Top 8 Recap
• American Idol Top 9 Elimination Prediction: Andrew Garcia, Aaron Kelly, and Tim Urban as the Bottom 3

• Travelers Championship Preview
• Weekly Round-Up: Paperwork Edition
• Classic Album Review-Willie Nelson "Before His Time"
• Internet Network Marketing - Nobody Cares About Your Crap!
• Classic Album Review-Mark Chesnutt "Longnecks And Short Stories"