Top 36 After Week 1

Hello,

This past week was the first of four weeks of the Top 36 performing, here is my updated Top 36. There are the three weeks of singing and then the wildcard round. The number in the parenthesis shows what position they were in on my first ranking following the announcement of the Top 36.

1) Alexis Grace (13) After a very soulful version of Aretha's "Never Loved A Man" she flies to my top position. I dropped Megan to second place because she has yet to perform on the big stage and she may bomb. I hope not. Of course, since we have seen so little of her who knows?

2) Megan Corkrey (1) She's performing this week!

3) Jasmine Murray (2) Again she hasn't performed on the big stage yet, but she will this week. This will be an incredibly tough week to make it to the Top 12, thank goodness for the wildcard!

4) Lil Rounds (3) She will be singing on the relatively week 3 and should make it to the Top 12 easily. I am looking forward to Corkrey, Murray and Rounds all making their debuts on the big stage.

5) Michael Sarver (6) ew.com's "Idolatry" calls him a "good bar singer". They may have something there but I really like him. He has something about him, he's an artist I can see myself getting behind.

6) Anoop Desai (4) He chose that wet noodle of a song, Monica's "Angel of Mine". He would have dropped further but he had shown a lot before that disappointing song choice Tuesday night.

7) Danny Gokey (7) He delivered a solid version of Mariah Carey's "Hero". He would be higher but he's already starting to annoy me. The judges pimping him so hard and how he appears to be using his wife's death to gain votes are both holding him back. I'm not ready to cast him aside yet, but he needs to be a little more sensitive regarding his wife's death. No more friends and family showing pictures of his wife while he's singing.

8) Matt Breitzke (5) Again the only reason he dropped is he hasn't performed yet on the big stage. He performs this week- Wednesday.

9) Scott McIntyre (8) He will be performing on week 3, I am really looking forward to his performance.

10) Mishavonna Henson (9) Another great performer on Week 2. I think most of the wildcard contestants will come from this group. The Week 2 group is extraordinarily strong. Another performer I'm looking forward to her singing.

11) Jorge Nunez (10) He should sail through to the Top 12 as he's on Week 3's weak group. I was really impressed with his Puerto Rico auditions, that is why he is so high on my list.

12) Jesse Langseth (12) I think she'll either be fantastic or terrible. She's performing Week 2.

13) Brent Keith (11) I really like him but I think we have seen the last of him. Making it to the wildcard round is unlikely at this point.

14) Matt Giraud (14) Another very good singer on an extremely tough Week 2.

15) Taylor Vaifauna (20) She soared to 15 due to the fact that she had performed better than I gave her credit for. If she doesn't make it through on Week 3, I think she'll get a second chance in the wildcard round.

16) Felicia Barton (17) Another singer I'm really looking for to. Check out youtube.com for video of her singing the hell out of an Alicia Keys song. (I think if "AI" can get Keys she should be a mentor, as so many contestants have sang her songs this year.) Barton will be on Week 3's show.

17) Ann Marie Boskovich (18) Even though she didn't knock anyone's socks off Tuesday, she still moves up one spot in my Top 36. I like her and definitely think she should get another shot in the wildcard round.

18) Nick Mitchell (Normand Gentle) (16) He performs this week also. He drops on my list as I'm afraid he's mostly a novelty act. Of course he wouldn't be so high if he hadn't amused me quite a bit so far.

19) Arianna Afsar (22) She and Allison Iraheta are mainly moving up due to less than compelling performances by Stephen Fowler, Stevie Wright and Casey Carlson. Arianna will be singing Week 3.

20) Allison Iraheta (24) She sings this week. We'll see if her ascent continues.

21) Adam Lambert (23) I wasn't impressed with his "Bohemian Rhapsody" in the San Francisco auditions. He can sing, he just hasn't given me enough to get excited about yet.

22) Ricky Braddy (NR) One of the main contestants that Paula is pimping. I find that annoying, other than she rightfully pointed out how little screen time he had received up to last week's performance.

23) Nate Marshall (25) I hated his "Disturbia" during Hollywood week. I'm still 50-50on whether I think he's a viable contestant or not. He's singing Week 3.

24) Stevie Wright (20) I didn't think she was as bad as everyone else did, but we won't be seeing anymore of her. Stevie I suggest to practice a lot and wait for 2 or 3 years and try again. You'll only get better.

25) Alex Wagner-Trugman (28) He's still pretty much an unknown at this stage. He's performing on a weak Week 3, so that helps his chances slightly of advancing to the Top 12.

26 and 27) Kendall Beard and Kristin McNamara (26 and 27 last week as well), so far both are essentially interchangeable to me. Both sing Week 3, which probably won't help differentiate them very much in my eyes.

28) Casey Carlson (19) Oh Casey, Casey, Casey :(

29) Stephen Fowler (15) See above!

30) Kai Kalamma (29) He would be lower but there is no place for him to go with Von Smith (Shouty McShouterson), Jackie Tohn and Tatiana Del Torture in the competition. Did he get through to the Top 36 mainly because of his back story?

31) Von Smith (31)

32) Jackie Tohn (30) I have never liked her and Tuesday's performance helps me feel justified.

33) Tatiana Del Torture (32) Hopefully we have seen the last of her.

Not rated this week and last week due to not enough screen time. That usually means these contestants are cannon fodder. The three final contestants are Ju'not Joyner (singing Week 3, which may help), Kris Allen (singing Wednesday), Jeanine Vailes (she is singing on the very tough second week). Let's hope for the best for them.

Remember this week's episodes are Wednesday and Thursday. themusicaddict