American Idle

Now that group one led by Danny Gokey has come and either sang their way into the Top 12 or went home (for now, anyway) the fact of the matter is, who out of the group still has a shot during the WildCard round?

Umm-kay…first things first. Stephen Fowler and Stevie Wright have about as much of a chance of being a WildCard as Ricky Braddy (above photo) does being straight. That said, anything is possible and Sanjaya is living proof. There is a very good reason why Sanjaya hasn’t put out one album and that’s because he can’t sing.

Fortunately for us, there are WildCard hopefuls, pros included, who can.

Anoop Desai will obviously be a strong candidate to make it into the WildCard round, because he lost out on the opportunity to make the Top 12 by only 20,000 votes. Not having Anoop Dog in the WildCard would be not only surprising, but also irritating. Anoop obviously deserves a shot at winning American Idol 8 and there are those out there who still believe he can.

Another one who will likely be selected based on her notoriety is Tatiana Del Toro (second photo), whose nauseating laugh made me want to kill myself. I know other Americans feel the same, but the truth is we’ll probably hear from her again. I wished I had a gun. And in case you didn’t know, Del Toro is also an accomplished actress. Oh, God, no.

The judges may have been down on Ann Marie Boskovich and Jackie Tohn (third photo), but to me they are just as much of a threat as Alexis Grace, the only girl from group one selected for the Top 12. Both Boskovich and Tohn have labored in the musical hells of Nashville and Hollywood, finding that Idol may actually be their ticket to a music career. Tohn may have looked like an 80’s hooker last night, but if she makes it on as a WildCard, watch out. She’s got the musical chops; you just didn’t see them last night. So what if they’re pros already, you know? LOL

Ricky Braddy would be another logical choice for the WildCard round, since he is already developing a massive following from his dance, which is a hit on YouTube. Braddy can also sing and if it weren’t for the fact that America hardly knew him at all before he hit the stage this week, Braddy might have given Sarver a run for his money, too.

And don’t count out Casey Carlson (bottom photo), the eminently likeable brunette from Minnesota who probably raised the blood pressures of about half of America’s hard working men. Even though she’s ticketed for a career in something other than music, the chance for people to see Carlson butchering another song in anything is cause for celebration. Look for a potential country album from her, though.

Speaking of country, another country pro who might make it on the WildCard round is Brent Keith (Smith), a singer who is already a country artist; he’s just one who fell on some hard times after getting a tour sponsored by Wal-Mart. Heh. The problem for him is he told America what he did was just a business. Oof! Hopefully that comment didn’t kill his chances for a comeback.

Well, the new bizarre voting process on American Idol 8 has officially begun and nine people got kicked to the curb. For now. In the first three rounds three singers out of 12 will be chosen for the Top 12 — and then it’s anyone’s guess what happens in the WildCard round, which will take place during the fourth week of the competition. In that round another three singers will be chosen, comprising your Top 12, America.

What we do know, however, is that the first three singers have been chosen from the first group and they are (in order) Alexis Grace, Michael Sarver and Danny Gokey.

First things first. Grace is a good singer, uses the vibrato too often, but got the Kelly Clarkson tag from Simon during last night’s performance, which guaranteed her a spot in the Top 12. If it were any other year that tag would have earned Grace a ticket home. But Clarkson is about as hot as the sun right now and so voters had no choice but to vote the tiny mother from Memphis in.

America then selected Michael Sarver, the oil roughneck from Texas for the Top 12. While I don’t disagree with the choice, I do think the better singer was left out (and it wasn’t Anoop Desai; it was Brent Keith but that’s what a bad song choice will do). Speaking of Anoop Dog, the d-oh-double-gee lost out on his Top 12 spot to Sarver by a measly 20,000 votes.

Expect to see both Brent Keith and Anoop Dog in the WildCard round. The other possibility is Ricky Braddy.

And it was great to see Danny Gokey get the final spot in the Top 12, even though it did cause me to have to watch Tatiana Del Toro throw a hissy fit and bawl for several minutes on national TV. Seriously, I could have gone without watching that!

Unfortunately, you’ll probably see Tatiana and her dumb large ass back at the WildCard, too. Ann Marie Boskovich is also a WildCard possibility.

So now that the judges have whittled through the first group and America has voted, what do you think of Grace, Sarver and Gokey? And which of the other singers has a legitimate shot at the WildCard?