Welcome to the Final 12 of Idol. We're no longer talking about Men Vs. Women. We're talking about Genre vs. Genre. Let's rank them up.

1. R & B: 3 of the 6 winners were pure R and B singers (Ruben Studdard / Fantasia Barrino / Jordin Sparks) and 2 of them had roots there (Taylor Hicks / Kelly Clarkson). If you want to win Idol, you almost assuredly have to dabble in R & B.

2. Pop. Clarkson is the only predominantly pop singer to win Idol. Sparks also floated back and forth quite nicely.

3. Country - Carrie Underwood was the other winner, and she was a pure country singer.

4. Rock - There have been no winners who have been rockers. Bo Bice (2nd) was the closest.

Idol Genres: R & B: 3 (Syesha Mercado, Chikezie, Ramiele Malubay) - Syesha is the clear favorite here. Both Chikezie and Ramiele have struggled, and Chikezie was in the bottom twice. However, this genre has been potently strong: The worst finish of an R & B singer ever was third - Vonzell Solomon in Idol 4.

Pop: 3 (David Archuleta, Jason Castro, David Hernandez) - Pop boys have traditionally gone far in this competition - but they have never won it. Still, with at least one of them showing up in the Top 4 for the past 3 seasons (Anthony Federov, Elliot Yamin, Blake Lewis), expect the same to happen here.

Country: 2 (Brooke White, Kristy Lee Cook): Sure we can talk about Carrie Underwood, but the next highest finish after that was Joshua Gracin (4th) all the way back in Idol 2. And neither lady has even those sorts of chops. Underwood's country opponent (Jessica Sierra) finished in tenth, so expect one of these ladies to finish very soon.

Rock : 4 (David Cook, Michael Johns, Carly Smithson, Amanda Overmyer): The genre that's has the least amount of success historically has also been the one with the most representation this season. This may be the power group this season, but because the audience hasn't been historically there, expect this group to get thinned out early.

But before we rank them, we first have to look at #'s 13-16 OUT

Asia'h Epperson

This was the only real one who was surprising, but not shocking. She had a brutally awful performance in week #2, and the best she could do was bland in week #3. The voters gravitated to people who sang better, and hence, we're left with Syesha as the only African American Female in the Final 12. That's the first time EVER that we've only have one African American Female in the finals.

Kady Malloy

This elimination...not so surprising. Kady needed an Archuleta-like performance, and instead we got Kellie Pickler. And she sang like she knew her number was up.

Danny Noriega

I put both of these guys in the bottom two last week, and that's exactly what happened. If Kady's performance reminded me of Kellie Pickler, Danny's performance reminded me of Sanjaya. Make that Dan-jaya, although posting up videos of how you want Santa to forcibly do the Wild Thing with women all over the land is not going to help you get votes. But now maybe having all the time in the world to see Shannon Elizabeth get penetrated by a carrot from a Killer Snowman in Jack Frost will cheer him up.


Luke Menard

Like Kady, you aso knew you were there on borrowed time. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go??!!?!? Well, you went-went.




Ranked in order of Opinion

David Archuleta

You're still the person to beat. With you not in any real danger, now it's time to listen to Simon and get not only younger, but more kid-friendly. Sure, saving the world is nice, but those people don't vote. THe kidlets do. Now sing something to make them happy.


Jason Castro

He's not only had 3 straight strong performances, but he selected perfect songs for the young crowd. He's up this high because The Beatles are right in his Wheelhouse. It wouldn't surprise me if he went last on Tuesday.

Michael Johns

Like Jason, this is also a great night for Michael to shine. There's a ton of rock songs in this era that he should be able to rock out on and let his voice shine - which he may need to think about doing in a congested rock field.


David Cook

That was a decent rebound in terms of attitude from week #2, and I can see your creativity running wild here. This is definitely a week that you need to take a chance on, because this is a golden opportunity for you to start stealing some votes.


Brooke White

You're a little bit country, but you're also a little bit rock and roll. Sure Carly has been given the spotlight, but you should do very well in this category as a country rock chick. You're up here over Carly because you have less natural predators in your genre than Carly has in hers.

Carly Smithson

This is another night that you should do well in. However, you now need to deal with the guy rockers as well, and they are strong. So you really need to step up your game tonight.


Syesha Mercado

So why the plunge in the rankings? Because I don't think this is going to be a good night for you, singing-wise. I do think you're quite safe, especially because you will get most of the Asia'h voters, but you've had a few boring weeks and you really need a good one.

Ramiele Malubay

Now we get into the Trouble territory, starting with Ramiele. You also need a good performance and the Beatles don't seem to be that sort of group. I don't think you will have problems just yet, but that can change quickly if you go back to Karaoke Hell like you did 2 weeks ago.


Amanda Overmyer

You got bailed out with the best performance of the night. But now you have to keep it going, especially since you have a lot of people singing in your genre. A great performance will keep the momentum going. A lousy one will drop you into the bottom three - or worse.

Chikezie Eze

You've already been in the bottom, and this is not a great choice in your wheelhouse. You need an excellent performance to avoid the bottom three. I don't see that happening on this sort of night.

David Hernandez

The good news is that you've had some great performances. The bad news is that The Beatles doesn't look like something that would match your pop/R & B tone. And regardless of what you think, your gay stripper past WILL be a factor in this competition - and if you don't shine tonight, it may be a factor sooner rather than later.


Kristy Lee Cook

Michael. Carly. David Cook. Brooke. Amanda. These are all in your genre space. In addition, they have all done something which you haven't - namely, have a good performance. And Amazing Grace was not covered by the Beatles, so you have to sing something else. If you don't produce tonight, you'll be competing against David Hernandez and Chikezie for the Exit, and right now, I think you have a considerable lead.


That's what I'm thinking right now. We'll see if I'm thinking like that after the performance shows tonight.