Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Anyone who can do basic math knew this was coming.

It’s double elimination week on The X Factor, where I imagine producers decided we need twice as much motivation to tune in since it’s Thanksgiving week.

Or maybe they decided we needed twice as much motivation to tune in again after that Rock Week farce.

Oh, and The X Factor is on a Tuesday/Wednesday schedule this week to avoid airing on Thanksgiving night.

Check in Tuesday.  I’ll be live blogging and grading each performance during the two-hour episode.

Meanwhile, here are the rankings for the final nine.

1.  Melanie Amaro (2): The nearly overlooked one lands here for the first time because of her consistently sparking vocals.  After all, the first X Factor USA winner should be vocally talented above all else.  Melanie might need a little coaching to develop that X Factor, but her voice sure won’t disappoint.

2.  Josh Krajcik (3): I wasn’t a big fan of his Foo Fighters performance, but at least he rocked on rock night.  And, using Paula’s measuring stick, he’s yet to deliver a performance that sucked.  Wow, pretty low standards to stake claim to a $5 million prize, huh?

3.  Drew Ryniewicz (1): Oh, barefooted one, you missed a wonderful opportunity to change things up on rock night.  Which leaves me wondering:  If not then, will you ever do something different?  Check out most past winners of American Idol. Risk-takers are often rewarded.

4.  Marcus Canty (4): The choreography was better than the vocal last week,  especially that delicious slide through the dancers’ legs by church-going Marcus.  I’m still waiting for him to deliver the delicious vocal I suspect he’s capable of, one that would put him among the show’s elite.

5.  LeRoy Bell (8): He lands here not because I think he’ll finish this high but because he’s simply a much better singer than those listed below.  Last week, he received unfairly harsh show-opening critiques for his rendition of “We’ve Got Tonight,” especially considering the garbage performances that followed.

6.  Lakoda Rayne (10): They managed to avoid the bottom two last week.  To avoid the bottom three this week, they’re going to have to turn in one of Tuesday’s top performances.  Hint to to the quartet:  Do not let Haley open the song.  Plea to viewers:  Wouldn’t you prefer watching/listening to them than anyone listed below.

7.  Chris Rene (7): Now that Astro shot himself in the foot, maybe Chris can go back to rapping.  Because if last week is an example of what we’ll get from Chris the singer … well, his debut album had better come with a free set of earplugs.  It was that bad.

8.  Rachel Crow (6): I now definitely believe Rachel was lip syncing when she performed “Rather Be Blind” two weeks ago.  “Satisfaction” was abysmal,  in terms of both singing and song choice.  The fact that it received rave reviews merely shows these judges are like our friends on Idol — not above pushing favorites, regardless of how well they do.

9.  Astro, aka Brian Bradley (5): Regardless of what you want to say about his show-ending tantrum last week, it demonstrated this fact:  Astro isn’t ready for the pressure or the responsibility of being the first X Factor USA winner.  Not unless X Factor equals temperamental child star.  Please, Simon, tell me it doesn’t.