I have been an “Idol” fan since the show’s inception–and active on message boards–and never have I been amongst the “crazies.”

To wit:
-I preferred Allison over both Kris and Adam,
-Brooke and Jason Castro over either of the Davids
-Elliott amongst the wonderful spread of talent in season 5.

These all seemed sensible to me at the time–and none really generated much in the way of backlash or responses questioning my mental health.

Siobhan is my pick this season. My track record suggests she won’t reach the finale.

But then again, maybe I’m crazy.

For once.

Her name is spelled Siobhan, please try to show some respect.

SirMac: This has gotten out of hand, and it is my fault.

I agree with Joe – this thread hasn’t got out of hand, nor is it your or anyone else’s fault. This is actually a pretty tame and civil showing of differences of opinion.

Try going on some military sites sometime, where they would hand you your body parts (I should know – mine is the tamest out there).

But she certainly has the raw skills, and I think that people who don’t like her just don’t like her personality.

But Bill Mitchell is right about one thing – versatility is her strong suit. Now if she can just take all that raw talent and create more artistic performances every week, she may deserve to win.

You’re going from bad to worse! Andrew #1, Lilly (please note the correct spelling of her name) #2 and Lee #3? Have you actually been watching the show … all episodes of it?

Lilly is doing “ok”, but no one is doing better than Crystal at this point.

Bill MitchellI can pretty much say Siobhan Magnus is a lock to win this thing.

Sure, and Sarah Palin will be the next President of the United States. Not a chance in hell that either will take place. I like Siobhan for all the reasons you list except one (#8). She may be able to “sing the phonebook”, problem IS she can’t sing without being so pitchy. Until she can, the best she can hope for is an outside shot at making the Top 3.

“I know you seem to be an impenetrable force here…”

Really, you think so? Hmmm, I had never considered that. I thought I was just one more goof in a big happy family of goofs that spend way too much time on a silly show that, in the grand scheme of things that actually matter, is a colossal waste of time.

But so is drinking on Friday night and I do that too

I don’t hate SirMac’s rankings, I just discount them as being inconsequential because I don’t believe they reflect the reality on the ground.

SirMac has the right to express his opinions and I have the right to say I think he is out of his mind.

“When I saw Siobhan Magnus at #12 and Andrew Garcia still at #1 I pretty much decided to discount anything further this author says as random noise.”

Lol, you call that “a vicious attack”?

By “random noise” I mean to say, “completely out of touch, illogical and without any basis in reality.”

Joes Place: John.Bravo. Very well said.

Thanks Joe. I was actually anticipating the need to yell, “INCOMING”.

SirMac:I just don’t agree with being attacked and called “random noise”. And I especially don’t like the trend that people who insult me then decide to hype Siobhan.

I read those comments as criticism, not as attacks and especially not an insult.

Since you get the privilege that the most of us don’t – ie. headline and editorial space on this site – I think you should also be able to take the criticism if we feel your Headline Rankings are completely out of whack.

You know what they say about when to get out of the kitchen.

Matthew Chisling:Bill Mitchell, if you hate SirMac’s rankings so much, just don’t read them.

Or, it could be said that if SirMac can’t take criticism of his rankings, then maybe he should quit posting them.

It’s one thing for the common reader to post their rankings in a forum for comparison sake, but it totally takes on a completely different flavor when someone is given a headline and the space on front of a very well known AI website (and then also shows up on Internet search hits).

It automatically assumes that SirMac’s rankings (and opinions) are more important (or more accurate) than ours. SirMac, as being projected by the owner of this site to be one of the AI experts (headlines, lead articles, etc.), should be able to take the flack when we feel that he isn’t even close.

I respect your right to an opinion. I am not a Shiobhan fan (Crystal is my idol) but your ranking her at #12 does no justice to her talent. There is a very high chance she will go very far in this competition. It is one thing not to like her (acceptable), but to turn a blind eye on her talent is pure stupidity. She will go very far in the contest (whether you and i like her or not) and if you disagree, well i think you should find something else to write for, coz folks wont take your ratings very seriously.

On a lighter note:
Who I think will be the top 12 (in no particular order):
1) Andrew
2) Lee
3) Casey
4) Crystal
5) Lilly
6) Shiobhan
7) Didi
8 ) Aaron
9) Michael
10) Katie
11) Kaitlan
12) Alex

‘Slumberland’: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/slumberland/id349842099

1. ) This Siobhan girl I believe will win it! She is that “funny little thing” as Simon puts it, which makes her marketable with todays top 40 radio. Not my favorite but I believe she will win it.

2.) I believe this is the position Bowersox will land but deserves first place but America won’t vote her in there. Not marketable enough for top 40.

3.) Lee here, or you can switch him and Bowersox, these two will either take second or third. He’s got a great voice and the guy is good.

From here I don’t know or have a good enough guess. Katelynn will rank up higher than what was guessed before, Didi is good but she has to get it together with her song choice and quit trying to please the judges so much and just do her own thing! When she did that cut of “Terrified” she rocked, since she has done nothing but bad choices and gone downhill from there. Toderick won’t make it to the top five and unless Andrew gets his crap together he won’t either. He needs to stop with the gang signage too, alot of America take offense to that and it’s not happening here. This is idol not the back allies or the front of a 7/11 store. Lilly rocks and is good but I don’t expect her to make it past rank 7 as America isn’t ready for her yet. She is making a mark yes but she won’t go as far as her “indie” partner Bowersox. Big Mike won’t make it to top five either, he is too sound-alike in my opinion. This Tim kid needs to go, he just can’t sing and I don’t understand why they filled that open position to him, I think they should of given it to someone else. Page won’t get to top five either and Casey will make it to top five because of the way they are pimping him.

My personal win would be to go to Crystal Bowersox, she not only has the natural ability and talent to go all the way, she has a stage presence that is unreal and rocks. However I don’t think America is ready for her to go all the way.

On the bright side of this I also believe and feel the one’s that don’t take first end up with a better recording contract than first place winners! Which is fine. And yes I would buy a Bowersox cd in a heartbeat!! This girl rocks, she is great!

my thoughts: didi, paige, katie and then lacey are in trouble.

then when the boys: tim, todrick, aaron… then I’m iffy from there.

Crystal Bowersox, on the other hand, has almost the opposite problem, in that I believe that she will play pretty well with Baby Boomer voters. However, her musical style is so decidedly retro (she kind of sounds like Melissa Etheridge covering Bob Dylan) that I don’t really see her as a viable pop artist in 2010. I may be a minority in this, but I actually preferred her last week’s performance to this week’s, in that she tried to cover an artist that at least has some relevance to pop music today (what, exactly, did she gain from covering a fairly obscure CCR song?). I seriously doubt that 19E and Sony will want Crystal to win here (think Taylor Hicks 2.0), so that is also working against her.

I’m not even going to go into Siobhan Magnus at this point, whose polarizing personality makes her the “love her or hate her” contestant of the season (as seen by the comments on this blog). Truthfully, I think that the female contestants who have the best chances of winning AND selling records post-”Idol” are Didi Benami (who can combine the quirky vibe of the top contenders with a much more commercial look and sound) and- yes- Katie Stevens (who is the only “teen pop star” type of the bunch). However, both of these girls will SERIOUSLY need to get their collective shit together if they are to have a chance of surviving. At this point, I think the favorite to win it all is probably Casey James, who has a current, Kings of Leon-esque vibe and is 100% Grade A Cougar Bait. That’s a tough combination to beat in this competition.

2) Crystal Bowersox
She is amazing; however, Crystal must keep up the pace with Lilly, Katelyn and Siobhan, because I can see her going down quite quickly. If she keeps up? She can win this whole thing!

3) Lilly Scott
Unbelievable. She only gets #3 because of previous weeks being not as exciting. But I can see her being number one quite soon.

4) Lee Dewyze
Best guy this year. He will be the last guy left for sure.

5) Katelyn Epperly
WOW! Came out of nowhere! Excellent week. Can’t wait to see more!

6) Alex Lambert
I really want to hate Alex. I hate his mullet and he is soooo nervous. However, this week’s performance was excellent.

7) Casey James
Oh Casey, you are going down down down if you don’t step it up. Yes, he is a shoo-in for top 12, but he is darn lucky that they are making it six guys and six girls. Without limits, he would be in trouuuuuble.

Siobhan Magnus
Yet another person I want to hate. But all you Siobhan lovers, she was my last last person, but the last two weeks have really impressed me. Even though she is annoying, she has a great voice. However, I’m not sure she has the votes to win.

9) Andrew Garcia
Okay Andrew, I like your voice. I don’t know if I like you, but I like your voice. I don’t LOVE your voice. You need to BRING IT this week.

10) Aaron Kelly
Made my top ten based on voice. He is annoying, but the performance this week was good.

11) Lacey Brown
I love Lacey and her positive attitude and smile. But she is SO lucky to still be here. She needs a huge week or she is done.

12) Todrick Hall
I think he is so funky, but MUST work on the vocals.

13) Michael Lynche
As I read this, I am shocked that Big Mike is my 13/16. I really really want to like him, but he just is not WOWing me. Get on that.

14) Katie Stevens
I really hate you. You have a great voice, but you’re a 50 year old in a 16 year old’s body. Please act your age…

15) Tim Urban
15th on looks only. The voice is cringe-worthy.

16) Paige Miles
I. DON’T. GET. IT. What is the deal with this girl? I think she is the most boring person ever. Her performances make me find something better to do. Her voice is okay, but she is just so boring. Come on America, get rid of her!