Idol Chatter & Voice Views

American Idol whittles it’s field of 20 to a top 10 Thursday night.

Though I don’t think anyone will be surprised if the judges add a wild card pick or two.

After all, we have 90 minutes of airtime to kill.

As the choices are announced tonight, I’ll greet each with a thumbs up or a thumbs down.

In the meantime, how about some predictions?

The Gals:

Will sail through to the finals: Angela Miller, Kree Harrison
Should sail through to the finals: Candice Glover, Aubrey Cleland
On the bubble: Amber Holcomb, Breanna Steer, Janelle Arthur
Should be going home: Tenna Torres, Adriana Latonio, Zoanette Johnson (please!)

The Guys

Will sail through to the finals: Lazaro Arbos, Curtis Finch Jr.
Should sail through to the finals: Burnell Taylor, Devin Velez
On the bubble: Vincent Powell, Nick Boddington, Paul Jolley
Should be going home: Cortez Shaw, Elijah Liu, Charlie Askew

If there are wild cards, or is a wild card, you’d have to think the judges will select them from the much stronger girls side, meaning fan voting is the one and only hope for former show favorites like Nick and Cortez.

The judges just arrived on stage. And judging from Maraih’s dress — which screams “I’ve got boobs, too” — she’s trying to keep pace with Nicki’s racy new video.

Have you heard about it? Seen it?

Okaaay, as Nicki would say. “Freaks” is one video I won’t be embedding in a newspaper blog.

Fifteen minutes into the show, results …

The Guys

Paul Jolley: Thumbs neutral, depending on what happens with the rest of the picks. Paul is capable of adding diversity to the finals as the only guy who tends to sing country. His victory song is “Alone.” Which sounds great until Paul launches into the chorus. Pretty sure this isn’t going to make anyone forget Carrie Underwood’s version. But, that was better than either of his previous Vegas performances.Grade: C+

Burnell Taylor: Thumbs up. I wasn’t sure voters would recognize his talent despite the high praise he’s gotten from the judges. He’s far from the flashiest singer. But he is looking much flashier than he did during the auditions. He’s singing India Arie’s “Ready for Love” as his victory song. Unfortunately, that was a very sleepy victory lap and probably his weakest performance in Vegas. Grade: B-

Curtis Finch Jr.: Thumbs up. Didn’t like Curtis’ song choice last night, but I loved his execution. He’s sounding like the best singer among the guys. His victory song will be John Legend’s “So High.” And it’s going to be another very nice vocal from Curtis, who demonstrates how high he can go with his voice. But, hey, Curtis, those high notes were just a wee bit irritating. Just a wee bit. Grade: B+

Devin Velez: Thumbs way up. He didn’t get nearly the attention of Curtis Finch and Burnell Taylor early in the competition, so I thought viewers might overlook his vocal prowess. They didn’t, thankfully. He’ll sing Israel Houghton’s “The Power of One.” And promptly uncorks easily his weakest vocal since Idol landed in Vegas. Oh, well, if he was going to drop a clunker, better now than next week. Wow, that would not have been finals worthy. Grade: C-

Lazaro Arbos: Thumbs way up. The crowd is going to go wild over this choice. Well deserved after last night’s performance. No way the finals would have been complete without him. He’s going to sing “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” And he’s doing it very well. Well, OK, he stumbled a bit on that chorus. But don’t be surprised if vocals like this take him very far once the finals begin. Grade: B-

And that means the end of the road for Charlie Askew, Nick Boddington, Cortez Shaw, Elijah Liu and Vincent Powell. The only one I feel a bit bad for is Vincent Powell.

The Girls

Janell Arthur: Thumbs neutral. Janelle was very good in her audition. She was very good in Hollywood. She was not very good in either Vegas performance. But she’s one of the most personable contestants. She’s going to sing Dierks Bentley’s “Home.” And she’s delivering a pretty good vocal, probably better than last night. Problem is, she’ll be going up against Kree for the country vote. Grade: B-

Candice Glover: Thumbs up. The judges have been plugging her since day one, which turns me off a little. But at least it’s a deserved plug because she is definitely among the top five female singers. Her song: Mary J. Blige’s “I’m Going Down.” Folks, we might be ballad-ed to death on Idol Season 12. But she’s singing very well again. And from that ending, you wouldn’t know this was just for fun. She just served notice to all the other girls that she’s — please forgive me — in it to win it. Grade: A-

Angie Miller: Thumbs up. No way she wasn’t making the finals. She is an absolute fan favorite already. Just look at the Facebook and Twitter numbers. Her victory song: Beyonce’s “I Was Here.” Her opening is actually a little weaker than we’re used to from Angie. But she found her groove, somewhat, when the chorus kicked in. Maybe she’s just overcome with emotion. I expect her to go deep into the finals, too. Wow, she has Keith in tears. Grade: B

Amber Holcomb: Thumbs neutral. Largely because her selection means either Aubrey Cleland or Kree Harrison did not make the finals; both deserve to. I haven’t been as high on Amber as the judges have. She’s singing “I’m Every Woman.” Again, I wasn’t overwhelmed by the performance. That said, I like Amber’s attitude and she could be one of those contestants who improve dramatically over the course of the show. Grade: B-

Kree Harrison: Thumbs way, way up. OK, I admit I was worried. In my mind, Kree has been the best singer/artist in Vegas. But I worried she might get by-passed because she hadn’t gotten much airtime early in the season. Interesting victory song — Susan Tedeschi’s “Evidence.” Thankfully, it’s not another ballad. And Kree serves notice once again that she’s going to be a contestant to contend with. Grade: B+

That means Breanna Steer, Aubrey Cleland, Adriana Latonio, Teena Torres and Zoanette Johnson are heading home.

But hold it: Ryan says there will be an 11th singer on tour. But not in the finals?

It sounds that way. And there will be some sort of sing-off next week between the girl who finished sixth this week and the guy who finished sixth this week.

Hopefully that means Aubrey or Breanna might get to go on tour, at least.