Zinni's Predictions

GOING HOME
Katie Stevens
Paige Miles
Alex Lambert
Todrick Hall

Zoey's Predictions

GOING HOME
Paige Miles
Katie Stevens
Todrick Hall
Andrew Garcia

Check back later for scores!

Zinni's Predictions

GOING HOME
Haeley Vaughn
Lacey Brown
Tim Urban
Jermaine Sellers

Zoey's Predictions

GOING HOME
Michelle Delamor
Lacey Brown
Tim Urban
Jermaine Sellers

Check back later for scores!

The first performance night has come and gone. Here's what Zinni and Zoey predict:

Zinni's Predictions

GOING HOME

Ashley Rodriguez
Janell Wheeler
Alex Lambert
Tyler Grady

Zoey's Predictions

GOING HOME

Michelle Delamor
Paige Miles
Alex Lambert
Jermaine Sellers

Aired 5/19/09

Bunny: Randy is wearing a really loud suit, and Simon has put on a jacket. We must be at the finale! The two leather-clad rockers, Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, enter to wild applause. Thank goodness they weren't forced to wear satin boxing robes this year. Kris won the coin toss last week, so he has wisely chosen to sing second, although we all know Adam would win even if he didn't show up because he had a scheduling conflict with a puppy-drowning party.

Adam and Kris will each sing three songs tonight: 1) their favorite performance from the season, 2) a song chosen by Simon Fuller, one of the show's creators, and 3) the winner's single, which was co-written by Kara DioGuardi.

RATING SYSTEM

Litterbox Level

Paws-itively Purr-fect

Contestant’s favorite previously done song

Adam Lambert

“Mad World”
Bunny: Why am I not surprised that Adam has been screaming since babyhood? I am very happy, however, that he is doing “Mad World” again. As before, he absolutely kills it. His voice is truly fantastic when he just ... SINGS. That was superb. And again, I have to give him 4 paws.

Burke: I haven't liked him all year, but that was definitely his best song.

Kris Allen

“Ain't No Sunshine”
Bunny: He's at the piano again. He does it even better than the first time. It's every bit as effective as Adam's performance, but in a very different way. Simon calls Round 1 Kris', but that's probably only because he's going to tear him apart later.

Burke: It was just a hair too slow for me. I actually think Adam's first song was better. But that was an enjoyable opening round.

Simon Fuller's choice

Adam Lambert

“Change Is Gonna Come”
Bunny: It starts out pretty good. Of course the screaming begins again halfway through, because that's what America and the judges love. But he's not as shrill as on previous occasions, and he does sing with feeling.

Burke: Well, he's back to his old screamy, over-emoting, super-theatrical, weepy-pouty self.

Kris Allen

“What's Goin' On”
Bunny: He's got the acoustic guitar and three other musicians front and center. I don't think it's the best song for this point in the competition, as Randy said, but it's not his fault, as Randy seemed to forget. It was well done, but sure enough, the wolves are tearing into the carcass already.

Burke: Didn't like the song choice, and it was a weak performance. I think the contestants should be able to choose both of the first two songs.

Winner’s single

Adam Lambert

“No Boundaries”
Bunny: I'm not sure what to say about the song. Pro(s): Title doesn't make me gag. Con(s): It doesn't include the word “rainbow.” Still there's enough evidence to warrant the inclusion of a coronation song cliche count: moment, chances, mountain, higher, believe, dreams, road. Did I miss any? As expected, the judges' last critique of the preordained winner is worshipful, except for Randy. The way he sang it, I had a hard time detecting a melody.

Burke: To me, this proves why Adam shouldn't be the American Idol. He can't sing a popular song without screaming, shouting, and pouting.

Kris Allen

“No Boundaries”
Bunny: This is likely to suit Kris' style far more than Adam's. I think it's a smart move to not use an instrument for this last performance of Season 8. The notes are a little flat at times. However, I prefer his version because he makes it sound like a better song than it really is. The judges give their “we're proud of you for making it this far and you might as well enjoy this moment because we have ensured that you're going to lose” speeches. Arrrrrgh. Hopefully this will motivate his voters.

Burke: Did he have a mustache during the first song? Weak song, weaker performance. I liked it less than Adam's, I hate to say it. The last two songs were the kiss of death for ol' Kris.

Bunny: Carrie Underwood sings “Home Sweet Home” accompanying a generic goodbye package which includes clips of some of the most obnoxious contestants from Season 8, several of which are likely to be in the house tomorrow night to provide us one last laugh. Or agonizing groan.

PREDICTIONS

Bunny: Let's compare the ratings we gave to each. I gave Adam 4 + 3 + 2 = 9 and Kris 3.5 + 3 + 2.5 = 9. Strangely, even though we've made no secret of the fact that we are not Lambert fans, I believe he is the only contestant I gave 4 paws to this season, and twice! That said, I still have to name him Bunny's Bomb (someone has to be). Obviously neither of them bombed and I rated them equally overall. But the only way I can decide is go by season performances as a whole, and as you undoubtedly know, I have always liked Kris better. However, if I want to correctly predict Season 8's American Idol, I have to guess that he won't be it.

Burke: Ratings for Adam 3.5 + 2.5 + 2.5 = 8.5 and Kris 3 + 2.5 + 2 = 7.5, so I feel there was a wider margin between them tonight than Bunny. Burke's Turkey is Kris Allen. I want him to win, but I believe Adam will because he was the stronger competitor tonight. It would have been interesting to see a finale featuring David Cook vs. Adam Lambert or Gaspy vs. Kris if Seasons 7 and 8 had been combined.

Prognosticats: Hairball performance honors go to Kris Allen, yet we believe Adam Lambert will not be the American Idol.

Bunny: See you tomorrow night for the final results show, wherein someone will be crowned, and someone will be owned (and based on the restrictive Idol winner's contract, it may be the same person)! Remember to set your DVRs for MORE than two hours, since they're already planning on running overtime. I love ambitious goals.

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Oops, we almost forgot to post our just-for-fun predictions for the top 12! These are not necessarily the ones we would choose, but rather, who we think America will choose. We'll find out soon enough who gets the best score—Burke, Bunny, or the cats—even though it won't be tallied in the final score.

Bunny:
Felicia Barton
Ann Marie Boskovich
Megan Corkrey
Anoop Desai
Stephen Fowler
Danny Gokey
Alexis Grace
Scott MacIntyre
Kristen McNamara
Jasmine Murray
Lil Rounds
Taylor Vaifanua

Burke:
Kendall Beard
Matt Breitzke
Matt Giraud
Danny Gokey
Alexis Grace
Adam Lambert
Kristen McNamara
Jasmine Murray
Lil Rounds
Michael Sarver
Von Smith
Taylor Vaifanua

Prognosticats:
Kris Allen
Felicia Barton
Ann Marie Boskovich
Ricky Braddy
Anoop Desai
Matt Giraud
Alexis Grace
Ju'Not Joyner
Kai Kalama
Jasmine Murray
Michael Sarver
Jackie Tohn

Family matters took precedence over entertainment this week, and we were not able to bring you a full recap of Wednesday night's 2-hour saga detailing who is in the top 36, who is out, and who is still wacko/annoying/just plain weird. But we have listed the 36 contestants here, along with our predictions as to who will win.

1. Anoop Desai
2. Von Smith
3. Alex Wagner-Trugman
4. Adam Lambert
5. Taylor Vaifanua
6. Jasmine Murray
7. Arianna Afsar
8. Casey Carlson
9. Megan Corkrey
10. Mishavonna Henson
11. Stevie Wright
12. Joanna Pacitti Felicia Barton
13. Kendall Beard
14. Kristen McNamara
15. Alexis Grace
16. Scott MacIntyre
17. Lil Rounds
18. Jesse Langseth
19. Allison Iraheta
20. Danny Gokey
21. Ricky Braddy
22. Matt Giraud
23. Ju’not Joyner
24. Jorge Nunez
25. Brent Keith
26. Stephen Fowler
27. Nick Mitchell (Norman Gentle)
28. Jackie Tohn
29. Tatiana Del Toro
30. Nathaniel Marshall
31. Jeanine Vailes
32. Kai Kalama
33. Anne Marie Boskovich
34. Kris Allen
35. Michael Sarver
36. Matt Breitzke

Last year, we had fun predicting who would win right after the initial auditions were done and before Hollywood week. This year, since we missed a couple cities, we wouldn't have been able to make a fully educated guess, so we decided to wait until the top 36 were revealed. It won't be as impressive a guess if one of us is right, but it will still provide plenty of bragging rights

Bunny: Having chosen Robbie Carrico to win last year, I know my credibility, if I had any, is shot. (Remember, it was right after the original auditions!) However, this year I think my pick will stand up better. I'm going with Megan Corkrey. So, Burke, whaddaya think?

Burke: I chose Brooke White last year, which means I'm crazy good at this. Fifth place ain't bad. This year, I say Michael Sarver goes all the way.

Prognosticats: We don't care about the singing. We don't care about the pitiful and/or inspiring stories. We don't care about the drama. We are still waiting for the tuna. However, if forced, we would have to choose Alexis Grace for the win.

See you next week for the first performance show, where 12 hopefuls sing and 3 advance to the next round!

Since Burke was sick and didn't get to see the show until today, he wasn't able to get his predictions in at the usual time. Since we still have a couple of hours before the top 5 results show airs, we thought we'd post them now in order to keep the overall standings accurate.

Burke's Turkey is Brooke White, and he thinks that she will also be the one voted off tonight. (Just for the record, his Top Dawg is David Cook.)

See you in a bit!

Bunny: Burke and I are on vacation this week in the sunny Southwest, and we're having too much fun to sit in the hotel room to watch and comment on the top 9 performances. So, not having seen last night's show, we're going to make predictions based purely on past performances and our personal taste, just so we can keep the prediction totals up to date.

PREDICTIONS

Bunny: Bunny's Bomb is Ramiele Malubay. And I think she will be the one going home.

Burke: Burke's Turkey is Jason Castro, but I think Ramiele Malubay will be leaving.

Prognosticats: Hairball performance is by Kristy Lee Cook, but Ramiele Malubay will go home.

We'll report our scores after tonight's results show, and then we'll be back with our regular commentary next week. Thanks for joining us!

Bunny: Many are saying we have the most impressive Top 24 on American Idol yet. Without looking back specifically at each season to compare, I would have to agree it’s pretty strong.

And now it’s time to go on record with some top 12 predictions. We’ve listed below those we’d like to see in that group. As the performance shows begin next week, we’ll be posting our predictions of who will go home, and who should go home. However, since we haven’t seen some of the top 24 in the early rounds at all, it’s impossible to do that at this point.

That said, here's who I'd like to see in the top 12:

Guys:
David Archuleta
Robbie Carrico
David Cook
Chikezie Eze
David Hernandez
Michael Johns

Girls:
Kristy Lee Cook
Asia’h Epperson
Ramiele Malubay
Syesha Mercado
Carly Smithson
Brooke White

I will admit that my choices for the guys are heavily biased toward those we’ve seen or heard from already. In other words, I’ve listed no men whom we don’t know at least something about! I’m sure this list would be different if I were making it after we saw them all perform. In the case of the girls, some got more screen time than others, but we’ve seen all of them at least briefly.

Burke: It looks to me like it’s a strong year for the girls, but that could change. Here is my desired top 12:

Guys:
Robbie Carrico
Chikezie Eze
David Hernandez
Michael Johns
Luke Menard
Jason Yeager

Girls:
Joanne Borgella
Asia’h Epperson
Ramiele Malubay
Syesha Mercado
Carly Smithson
Brooke White

Bunny: It looks like you are a proponent of minimal confusion, since you’ve eliminated two of the Davids and one of the Jasons.

Burke: That wasn’t my plan, but since it worked out that way, less confusion is always good!

Bunny: Here are the Prognosticats, carefully contemplating their choices, which are old folded-up business cards, each with a contestant’s name.

Prognosticats: We, unfettered by having to consider such crucial criteria as singing ability and face time, predict that the following will be the American Idol Top 12. And we want that tuna now.

Guys:
Colton Berry
Jason Castro
Michael Johns
Luke Menard
Danny Noriega
Jason Yeager

Girls:
Amy Davis
Asia’h Epperson
Kady Malloy
Syesha Mercado
Amanda Overmyer
Carly Smithson

Bunny: We’ll meet you in front of the TV on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. Eastern for the first performance show!

Bunny: After taking a few days to recover from audition overload, we wanted to take a few minutes and recap our favorites going into Hollywood week. Having picked Carrie Underwood to win in Season 4 based on only the audition shows (I told you I wouldn’t let you forget), I am hoping to prove that my superior talent-evaluation powers are still finely honed.

Burke: *coughs into elbow*fluke*cough*

Bunny: Sigh. Inside, I agree. Still, here are a few contestants who stand out in my mind at this point, chosen from among those I singled out in each audition recap. Bear in mind, I have not read any spoilers on the web or elsewhere about who supposedly have made the top 24. I’m not saying I don’t read Idol message boards and blogs, because I do (after I’ve written my own recaps), but I don’t read “spoiler” threads that claim to have early info on the contenders.

Angela Martin
Audition city: Philadelphia
As I noted in the Philly recap, I think Angela has a great combination of talent, beauty, and a sympathetic backstory. Fair or not, the influence of the latter cannot be ignored completely. However, I have faith that Angela can “de-wedding-ize” her performances and impress the judges and America.

Alaina Whitaker
Audition city: Dallas
The inevitable Carrie Underwood comparisons could hurt her, but I think Alaina has the chops to make it. She’s young, but that didn’t hurt Jordin Sparks. Here’s hoping we hear lots more of her powerful voice.

Perrie Cataldo
Audition city: San Diego
My notes on Perrie and San Diego as a whole are sketchy, but his name has stuck with me, probably for a reason, and he’s one of the few men who really stood out for me.

Rachael Wicker
Audition city: Omaha
The unanimousness (is that a word? Unanimosity? No, that sounds bad) of her going-to-Hollywood vote was ruined by Simon, and I usually agree with our favorite wardrobe-challenged judge. But in view of the fact that he has said no to other contestants who have gone on to prove him wrong to varying degrees, I don’t hesitate to go out on a limb and say I like Rachael’s chances, as long as she learns not to overdo the little yodel in her voice. She’s unique.

Robbie Carrico
Audition city: Miami
What struck me most about Robbie is his naturalness; it didn’t feel like he was trying too hard to impress, and his singing seemed effortless. That’s an extremely important quality, in my opinion.

Ramiele Malubay
Audition city: Miami
The fact that she could do justice to an Aretha song says a lot about this dynamo. If she can catch even part of the wave of popularity enjoyed by Jasmine Trias, she’s got the talent to back it up.

Syesha Mercado
Audition city: Miami
Syesha’s confident rendition of “Think” has made her a definite contender in my mind. I have a feeling we’ll be hearing a lot more of her clear, compelling voice.

Natashia Blach
Audition city: Miami
Maybe the reason Natashia sticks in my mind is the fact that she sang one of my favorite songs (“At Last,” admittedly an overdone song on American Idol), but my notes show that I really liked her voice, and I usually didn’t write that unless the contestant really made an impression on me. While I wouldn’t pick her to win the whole thing, I think she’ll make it to the top 24.

Cardin Lee McKinney
Audition city: unknown (Best of the Rest episode)
I’m hearing that there are a lot of Cardin fans out there, and deservedly so. I liked her attitude during the audition and she’s got lots of talent and a good Idol “look.” She’s another one who got a No from Simon, but I think she’ll learn from the judges’ appraisals and keep improving.

Obviously, I was the most impressed by Miami, and not so much by Charleston or Atlanta, although it’s possible Cardin auditioned in one of these cities.

Burke: Not a lot of them stood out to me, and unfortunately, I don’t have the time to write out details right now, but here are a few who did stick in my memory:

Kristy Lee Cook
Audition city: Philadelphia

Brooke White
Audition city: Philadelphia

London Weidberg
Audition city: Charleston

Suzanne Toon
Audition city: Miami

Brooke Helvie
Audition city: Atlanta

Joanne Borgella
Audition city: Unknown (Best of the Rest episode)

Bunny: My overall pick to win—just for the fun of it—is ROBBIE CARRICO. I’m not saying he’s my favorite, because he isn’t (it’s far too early for me to choose a favorite anyway), but I did like him, and I have to pick somebody.

Burke: My overall pick is BROOKE WHITE.

Prognosticats: The felines' favorite is NATASHIA BLACH.

Bunny: If you'd like to go on record here with your pick to win, feel free to leave a comment! We'd be interested in why you made your choice, if you care to share. (Please keep it polite. There are places on the Internet for heedless contestant-bashing. This isn't one of them.) Thank you for reading Predict Idol, and come back and check in with us again!