[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by brianwspencer

This season started off so strangely.

The guys were awful.

Blake was good. Phil was good for the second half of his song, but without a doubt, WORST OF THE NIGHT on the first half of his song, all warbly and way off-key. It pains me to say, but I thought A.J. did a fine job the other night as well, as I really want to not like him because I don't think he's very good.

Those three were the only ones worth mentioning, the others were either bad, uninspiring, forgettable, or very bad.

The girls, sadly I didn't get to see them all because my stupid cable kept going in and out.

Lakeisha is obviously the girl to beat, and she has been since the auditions. I've taken a liking to Jordin from her very first audition and she's my sentimental favorite from day one and I hope she does well. I only saw her on the recap last night but she looked like she was having a good night. Stephanie was good too, especially kicking things off. Melinda seems to be one of the top 4 competitors of either sex. Gina could be the sleeper in here. Great shot.

Antonella is a joke. It was her idiot best friend who I blame for Bailey Brown going home during Hollywood week because they wouldn't let her sing her part with them, and then she forgot her words during the performance.

I have a creepily photographic memory for stuff like Idol. It is scary, but I love it.

Top 5 after week 1:
1.) Lakeisha
2.) Blake
3.) Melinda
4.) Jordin
5.) Stephanie.

I think your analysis is spot on . I do think Sabrina is #5. I didn't like the song but the girl showed she can sing. I also think that the jury is still out on the guys, but it doesn't really matter because the best guy couldn't hold a candle to the fifth ranked girl. They should keep the five ladies and jettison everyone else. I also think the this has been and is shaping up to be the worst season ever. The only thing that could save it is if the top 4 -5 girls do make it and battle to the end. That's pretty unlikely, because America will screw it up just like last year when Chris got kicked off early. He was the best by far and should have been a run away winner.