American Idol - The Top 16

All right, I though I'd have time to finish my post on the top 20 before I got to this one, but I want to get in my rankings for this week before the elimination show airs, so I'll just have to back-date my old top 20 picks. And hurry along with my top 16, because I'm hungry also.

Week 3 - The Top 16

• The Girls

1. Siobhan Magnus, singing "House of the Rising Sun," again is on top because she just sounds the best, feels the most, and does it all like she is meant for it. She still bugs me, especially her tortured squinching of otherwise lovely lips. She reminds me of that girl you know who has to be artsy and wear weird shoes, but hey, I'm not going to judge her on that. Yet.
2. Lacey Brown, singing "The Story." Finally she shows that she can sing! I knew it was in there, because I remember being shocked and horrified when last year's nightmare seal was chosen instead of her. I don't know what's been going on with Lacey up until this performance, but with luck this will be enough to get her back on track. She seems to have enough fans out there supporting her when she's wretched, so let's hope they're there when she's great.
3. Crystal Bowersox, singing "Gimme One Reason." Only her voice keeps her in this position, because the performance and style and type of song is already old and stale. Yes, you're a hippyish jam-rock girl with a real rock voice. Try branching out a little, please.
4. Didi Benami, singing "Rhiannon." Oh, it could have been so much better. But in light of how bad it could have been also, it was pretty terrific. I love Rhiannon, and now a whole bunch of new little fans will think that's the way to sing it. A major coup for Miss Benami. She's not giving Stevie Nicks or anyone else a run for their money, but on tonight's show, she was definitely among the best.
5. Lilly Scott, singing "I Fall to Pieces," is still doing what she's done every time. And her schtick is much less malleable than Didi Benami's. It worked okay for this song, but she's going to have to do something different right away or she'll be in heavy danger of getting the boot.
6. Katelyn Epperly, singing "I Feel the Earth Move." Ugh. I heard Carole King and was briefly interested until I heard she'd chosen this Carole Kind song. It's bad enough she's taking her hair out on a limb to do Carole King, but to waste the time on this one? And then deliver it so lamely, with no ambition at all.
7. Paige Miles, singing "Smile," was all over the place. As she was singing, I couldn't tell if she was nervous or upset, and said that I'd never be able to sing that song; I find it so sad I would start catching and crying. Alas, it seems that's what happened with Paige, and worse, she knew it might! Really inexcusable. Why would you pick that song then? I repeat: no picking songs just because you love them! Sing those at home, in the shower. Pick the ones you can sing well for the performance in front of millions of people.
8. Katie Stevens, singing "Break Away," was off key for the whole first part of the song, and not too on key for all of the second half. Unfortunate. She's also still posing for animal crackers while she sings, although she seems to have tamed her eyebrow raising a bit.

I think Katie and Paige are in the worst danger, and rightly so, but Katelyn and Lilly aren't exactly cushioned by swell performances either. I think Didi is probably the safest bet of the day, but judging by past voting displays, Lacey Brown should be also.

• The Boys

1. Alex Lambert, singing "Trouble." Whoo! Very good. Way more nasal on this performance than others, and not really my style in general, but still extremely good.
2. Casey James, singing "You'll Think of Me." My sister and I both thought his performance was better than the original. I thought so mostly because to me the original sounds horrifically flippant and jovial. I preferred this more sincere and straightforward version, although I still think the line "take your cat and leave my sweater" is just pitiful.
3. Tim Urban, singing "Hallelujah." It wasn't Jeff Buckley's version, since he kept to very all-in-one-(half of an)octave notes, but Tim pulled a Lacey Brown here, choosing the simple song that finally showed off his voice. He also pulled a Didi Benami by choosing the scary song but keeping it plain enough that he could handle it well. Clever! And probably in time, factoring in his looks appeal. Eck, not my type, but he does look like a teen actor.
4. Lee DeWyze, singing "Fireflies," was okay. He still lacks control and gets too rough and loose with his singing, but it was pretty good.
5. Mike Lynche, singing "This Woman's Work." Um. . . okay, this is one of my favorite songs, as sung by Kate Bush. I don't know the Maxwell version, but since I've heard some of this recent butchery, I listened to it once, and found it quite similarly butcherous. So Randy's comment that the performance was as good as Maxwell's may in fact be true, but the whole thing still sounded like hell to me, and doesn't make a lot of sense coming from a man. I guess it could be a man coming to that realization also, but. . . fine. It still sounded just gratingly awful to hear those frightening falsettos from Mr. Lynch. I thought it was just bad. "Me Hulk see all things me could give but not!" And then Kara fake crying so she could slobber onto Simon's shoulder some more. Oh, darling, make it go! Make it go away.
6. Todrick Hall, singing "Somebody to Love." His best performance to date, but not good enough, especially for that song! I could do better. They did better in Ella Enchanted.
7. Andrew Garcia, singing "Genie in A Bottle." When I heard he was doing Christina Aguilera, I joked that it was going to be Genie in a Bottle. Oh, sadness when I saw he was actually doing it. It was boring and plain except for the very last bit, and the whole performance was made worse by the fact that he was kowtowing to the judges instead of forging ahead and being himself, which I thought was going just fine and seemed to be working with America. Let's hope America keeps him around to give him more chances, because he deserved to be higher up this list, just not based on this performance.
8. Aaron Kelly, singing "I'm Already There." I don't know what happened, but Aaron fell apart on this one. He was as all over the place as Katie Stevens was during the first part of her performance, but he never recovered anywhere. The song was fine, in his vein, perfectly acceptable as a story told by someone outside the situation. But he sang it terribly. I think he's just too young. It's really too bad, because maybe if he had waited, he could have won a later American Idol. Maybe he'll be able to continue on his own, or maybe they'll bring Nashville Star back and he could have a chance there.

I think Todrick Hall and Aaron Kelly should go, and probably will. But I'd say Andrew Garcia and Lee DeWyze are also in slight danger. I guess Mike Lynche, revulsed as I am to say it, is safe with that vile version of This Woman's Work, and I'd also say Casey is still safe, hope Alex is, and assume Tim is (although 90210 is back on this week---his fan base could have gotten distracted!)