Idol Chatter & Voice Views

American Idol’s Top 3 of Leah Marlene, Noah Thompson and HunterGirl. (ABC Photo)

The American Idol Top 3 will square off Sunday night with the Season 20 title on the line.

The three-hour season finale will feature at least three performances by each of the finalists — a Bruce Springsteen cover, an original song each released last Friday and a duet.

Duet partners — Katy Perry for Leah Marlene, Luke Bryan for HunterGirl and Melissa Etheridge for Noah Thompson — were announced Wednesday.

Here are Idol Chatter’s final rankings for Season 20. Last week’s rankings are in parenthesis.

1. Leah Marlene (2): She lands here because … 1. She’s delivered the most consistently outstanding performances of the Top 3. 2. She’s the best singer among the Top 3. 3. She’s the most versatile performer of the Top 3. 4. With the way she’s rearranged songs, she’s shown the most artistic creativity of the Top 3.

2. HunterGirl (4): I can understand why HunterGirl received that platinum ticket back when Season 20 began. She has a fabulous country voice. That said, she’s failed to deliver many “wow” performances that I’d watch again just for the fun of it. And an American Idol should deliver those type of performances, preferably on multiple occasions.

3. Noah Thompson (5): After making the finals, Noah posted a thank you to fans on social media, admitting he “came into this competition scared out of my mind.” Well, he’s come a long way and he delivered wow performances the past two weeks — his covers of “Working Man” and “Painted Blue.” Each night, his other performance showed how far he has to go to be a consistently outstanding artist.

So that’s the way I think the Top 3 should finish Sunday.

Will they?

Having watched Idol for all 20 season and written about the show since Season 7, I doubt it.

Instead, I’d predict this result:
1. Noah Thompson
2. HunterGirl
3. Leah Marlene

Why do I predict Noah as the winner?

He’s a super likeable guy who may have touched the most heartstrings of the Top 3. He has a great backstory; a friend signed him up for the show; Noah wasn’t certain he was good enough. And he says he’s doing Idol on behalf of his young son, who’s been featured in several of his bio segments.

What’s more, singing show voters — both on Idol and The Voice — has shown a preference for male country singers in recent years. Two of the four winners on Idol since ABC has been airing the show have been guys who performed country music. Going back farther, 10 of the last 14 winners of Idol have been guys who play guitar.

So don’t be surprised if confetti falls on the least experienced of the Top 3 at the end of Sunday’s show.