While the judges think that this is the best group ever, I'll beg to differ here. The guys are fairly strong, while the women's group, though not as weak as last year, is not strong as a group. So here's a quick prediction of what I think their final rankings could be.

13. Michael Sarver - Michael is there because he's a good old blue-collared working American who got lucky that Anoop Desai must have been smoking some grade a quality ganja when deciding to sing 'Angel of Mine'. With an overpopulation of rockers in the mix, Michael is going to be gone sooner than later.

12. Jasmine Murray - After 2 bad performances, the judges put her in based on potential. Potential does not fly in Idol, and with both Alexis Grace and Lil Rounds in her same genre, she doesn't have time to find it. In the second week, the victim is usually someone who gets caught in an upswing when people vote to save either the people who were in the bottom three during week #1 or reward the people who perform better in the same genre. Jasmine seems to fit the description.

11. Megan Corkery - The judges want different, which is well and good. The problem is the audience doesn't like different when it hasn't been on pitch and shimmies like a tea pot who's about to spurt out steam. She needs to upgrade her game very quickly if she is to make the Idol tour, but I don't think it will be quick enough.

10. Allison Iraheta - She can sing Heart. Yay. She has a very gravelly voice which I think will be exploited once we get to something that she can't rock out. I also think that she'll be competing against Alexis Grace and Adam Lambert for the same voting block and that Grace and Lambert will win. She's a young Amanda Overmyer, who checked out early during Season 6. I expect history to repeat itself.

9. Matt Giraud - Matt learned an important lesson that he can't sing songs that don't define him. The problem is that like Allison, he's going to have to venture into an unknown territory and he doesn't have the vocal chops to get past it. I'm also not sure that there's enough of a voting audience out there that likes his style of music to keep him around.

8. Jorge Nunez - Jorge has a great set of pipes and exudes the American Dream. His happy story will get him past the lower-ranked singers. But now we get to the point of the competition that you have to sing well via good song selection, and here's where he's going to run into problems. He already showed us that he can't pick good songs (Don't Let The Sun Go Down On me? Really?) and while the vocals may bail him out early, it won't when charisma also plays a factor.

7. Adam Lambert - It's Gay Constantin Maroulis! Adam has the versatility (with his vocal range. Mind. Out of. Gutter) to go all the way, but will America vote for an openly Gay singer to win Idol. Based on what we've seen in the past, the answer is no, and the pictures of himself floating around the internet will not do him any favors.

6. Kris Allen - Kris is the only person who has a country edge, and if he's smart, that's where he should be going. His genre will get him in the top half of the draw, but his lack of sound song choices (No male country/rock/bluegrass singer should be singing Michael Jackson. Ever.) will stop him from going further.

5. Alexis Grace - She has an amazing set of pipes. She will also, once dispatching Allison, have a nice long time to expand both her vocal range and her repertoire. If she can get into R&B, she could sneak into the Top 4, but I think she will not be able to overcome the popularity of the Final 4 contestants.

4. Scott MacIntyre - He has a great backstory and a solid vocal set. He also has the experience to put on some nice performances...which is good considering that his vocals are not as strong as the rest of the Top 5 - or even Top 6. I could see him being the massive upset of this season, but I think he gets up this far, until he gets outshone and the judges start to turn on him.

3. Anoop Desai - What do you make of Anoop? He definitely has the public support (as we saw last time) and the public vote will carry him a long, long way. I also think that he will get better in song selection and the masses will carry him to the Top 3...

2. Danny Gokey - ...until history repeats itself. Danny Gokey knocked out Anoop Desai in Group #1, and he will do it here again. He has not only the most experience (which should enhance his song choices and style) but he has an amazing back story with his late wife, which will be played to the hilt.

1. Lil Rounds - But here's your winner. She's a little raw, which means she will improve over the show, and she not only has the amazing back story, but she has the pipes to back her up. In Season 3, America made Fantasia Barino the winner of American Idol 3. 5 years later, they will put up a female R&B singer with a better voice, no annoying tone, and no annoying personality.

Of course, keep in mind that these are all subject to change, such as theme weeks, song selection and actual performance. Regardless, this should be another fun season of columns. See you next week!