Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Once upon a time, this year’s female contestants on American Idol were stronger than the guys.

Randy Jackson told us so.

Simon Cowell told us so.

Then the voters started voting. Bye-bye, Ashley Rodriguez. Bye-bye, Janell Wheeler. Bye-bye, Katelyn Epperly.

Unbelievably, bye-bye, Lilly Scott.

Heck,off-key singing seems so in vogue this year, I’m surprised Haeley Vaughn didn’t make the finals.

It’s almost enough to make me wish for the return of a wild card round, where the judges get to correct voters’ oversights.

Almost.

And then the guys went and complicated everything Wednesday night by singing very well.

Anyway, season nine kicks off for real tonight at 8 p.m. on FOX. Feel free to check back in and follow along. I’ll be blogging live with song-by-song grades after each performance.

Now, time for the round one rankings, mixing the gals with the guys for the first time this year.

1. Crystal Bowersox: There are potential theme weeks that could prove problematic for Crystal and her acoustic guitar. The Rolling Stones? That should be a piece of cake.

2. Lee DeWyze: This year’s Kris Allen type. Except he has a more distinctive sound than Kris. And he has better originals on his independent CDs than anything on Kris’ debut album.

3. Siobhan Magnus: I wasn’t a fan until last week’s a cappella opening of “House of the Rising Sun,” performed with a finals spot on the line. That was simply fearless.

4. Michael Lynche: Big Mike didn’t make me cry last week with “This Woman’s Work.” But add the ability to hit those notes with the charm and charisma he brings to the competition, and a top five finish is almost assured.

5. Casey James: Can Casey resist the temptation to play rocker on Rolling Stones Week? Doesn’t matter, even if he uses his baby blue guitar. Mr. Eye Candy should sail through the next couple of weeks.

6. Didi Benami: Her “Terrified” sounded better than the original. Her “Rhiannon” certainly did not. Still, she’s the third best lady still standing after last week’s elimination silliness.

7. Aaron Kelly: Note to Aaron — Choose very carefully. Add your country twang to a Stones song that didn’t originally have it, that the judges wouldn’t expect. Trying to mimic Mick Jagger on a song like “Just My Imagination” or “Some Girls” would be a bad, bad mistake.

8. Katie Stevens: She sure looked surprised to survive last week. Now the 17-year-old from Pomperaug High School is just a couple of decent performances from spending her summer on an American Idol tour. I think she’ll make it.

9. Andrew Garcia: How far has Andrew fallen since “Straight Up?” Well, when he was standing beside Mr. Unripe Banana (aka Alex Lambert) during the elimination show last week, I thought we might have more of Ellen’s bad banana analogies to look forward to in the finals.

10. Tim Urban: The 20-year-old who has never touched alcohol and plays acoustic/alternative/Christian music takes on the Rolling Stones tonight. This should be interesting.

11. Lacey Brown: Lucky Lacey lands hear because I actually think there are some Stone’s tunes that could sound good given her slightly quirky, albeit often off-key, voice.

12. Paige Miles: She’s the poster girl for Vote for the Worst for a reason. Sometime soon, Simon Cowell has to speak the truth about Miss Bubbly and proclaim: “You just aren’t good enough for this competition.”