Preview: American Idol - Top 12 Girls

Yesterday I wrote about the top 12/13 guys and today I'll discuss the girls.  After last night's episode, the girls better be unbelievable tonight or we may be looking at a pretty lousy season.  I thought the guys were collectively "blah" last night - no terrible performances but nothing great either. 

I still don't have a grasp on how the voting is going to work in these semi-final rounds.  Seacrest seemed to hint that as many as 8 guys might be voted off already this week?  That can't be true, can it?

Anyway, as with the guys, I'll give a rundown below of each girl and how far I think they can make it in the competition.  For clarification, if I say "Ceiling - Semi-finalist" that means I think the contestant will not make it to the top 12.  The semi-finals are right now.  Without further ado, and with an added feature, here are the Top 12 girls:

BAYLIE BROWN: 

Baylie is your classic cute blond contestant.  She has a nice voice, but gets a little more credit than she deserves because of her looks.  Every year Idol has a cute blond make it to the top 12 and then fizzle out somewhere in the 6-10 range.  This year is no different.  Ceiling:  Top 10.






BRIELLE VON HUGEL: 

Brielle belongs on Jersey Shore, not American Idol.  She is known not for her singing voice, but because her mom was with her every step of the way in Hollywood and was pretty much the most obnoxious person ever.  She did get a ton of screen time, and if someone coaches her up right and tells her to drop the Jersey-tude, she might have a shot.  But I doubt it.  Ceiling:  Semi-finalist.




CHELSEA SORRELL: 

I think Chelsea is pretty legit.  She sings country and has the Idol look down pat.  From the few performances I saw, she sang great and would seem to be a front-runner.  But is the Idol audience tired of country yet?  I think they might be.  Ceiling:  Top 6.






DEANDRE BRACKENSICK: 


Wait, he's a guy?  And he performed last night already?  My bad...let's move along.








ELISE TESTONE: 

Elise has that raspy voice thing going for her...which I guess is nice.  I'm just not a big fan dawg.  She seems a little too old for Idol - and as a girl, that will hurt her.  I can't remember a female contestant that was in their mid-late 20s that made it very far.  Can anyone else?  Ceiling:  Semi-finalist.






ERIKA VAN PELT: 


Erika got a lot of much needed screen time in the audition and Hollywood rounds.  That is probably the best thing I can say for her.  To me, she is one of the weakest girls, and probably gets lost in the "blond shuffle."  There seem to be 27 blond girls who are all similar.  Ceiling:  Semi-finalist.





HALEY JOHNSEN: 

To be honest, I have NO clue who this girl is.  That cannot be good.  Plus, her name is almost identical to the girls following her.  Therefore....Ceiling:  Semi-finalist.








HALLIE DAY: 

This girl got a bunch of screen time, I think because she was cracked-out and her chubby, unattractive boyfriend/husband saved her from that lifestyle?  That is my recollection anyway.  Good voice + solid screen time = Ceiling:  Top 12. 







HOLLIE CAVANAGH: 


Hollie I think was the last girl to make the top 12, and was chosen over a few girls who had a lot more screen time.  Therefore, she must be decent, right?  I did hear a few clips of her performances and she sounded surprisingly good for such a young girl.  I think she could be a dark horse here.  You know, as long as she doesn't get confused with Haley or Hallie or...  Ceiling:  Top 5.




JENNIFER HIRSH: 

I know she is a little older and that conflicts with what I said earlier about girls in their mid-20s not having much success on Idol, but she is my pick to win it from this group of girls.  I am basing this mostly on a few clips I saw of her during the final elimination show from last week...but she sounded great!  Good personality...and she's not a blond, so she won't be lumped in with the 5 girls above.  Ceiling:  Winner.




JESSICA SANCHEZ: 

This girl can blow it out the box (my second Randy Jackson-esque comment in this blog).  She is young so she can get the teeny bopper vote.  And she is the only non-caucasian girl, which should score her a few extra votes as well.  It is between Sanchez and Hirsh for the top girl in my mind.  Ceiling:  Winner.






SHANNON MAGRANE: 

Shannon is best known for being about 7 feet tall and for getting hit on by Steven Tyler while her dad was in the room.  Also, I think her dad was a former MLB pitcher or something....doubt that gets her any votes.  She is reasonably attractive and has a solid voice.  Based on her previous screen time, I think she can last a few rounds and make the top 12.  Ceiling:  Top 12. 





SKYLAR LAINE: 

Skylar is another country singer, and every time she has performed for the judges, they mentioned that she "is like a young Reba [McEntire]."  I'll put $100 on a Reba reference tonight...and give you 10-1 odds as well.  She has a good voice, is personable and should be able to hold her own with the other country girl, Chelsea Sorrell.  Ceiling:  Top 8. 





Tune in tonight so you can hear Randy, J-Lo and Steven gush over how amazing these singers are...evne when they sound like crap!