Delayed

For this twelfth season of American Idol, Fox have been pulling out all the stops in order to boost ratings. From a whole new panel of judges to changing the structure of how contestants get to the live stages, American Idol has been dramatically altered to appeal to more and more people. Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban have been welcome additions; Minaj for her bluntness and hilarious facial expressions and Urban because not only does he understand music but he explains the technical aspects in a way that it easy to grasp. He is obviously passionate about his craft. Mariah Carey is clearly passionate too but she is entirely far too long winded and doesn’t even know what she is trying to say at times. Randy Jackson, on the other hand, was once the most charismatic and interesting of speakers but has essentially devolved into a Simpson’s character, spending most of the episodes waiting for a opportunity to spout a catchphrase.

In seasons past, American Idol has generally presented thirteen top finalists, twelve from the Hollywood round and one wild card voted in by the public. This year we got a top ten instead, with the show effectively taking two weeks of voting away from the viewer. After Hollywood, the unusually high sum of forty contestants remained, so the show had a ‘sudden death’ round, with ten females competing one night and ten males competing the next night, and vice versa for the following week. Only five from each group progressed, depending on the judge’s choice. Then the top twenty performed, with a public vote eliminating ten and leaving us with our top ten. It seems like Nigel Lythgoe wanted to prolong the Hollywood stage, without giving up the atmosphere of the live stages but it felt like it dragged on for aeons until we got to the week by week live shows and public vote. And those are really the best parts of the show and I don’t think a sudden death round added anything to the show, especially if it takes power away from the viewer for an extra two weeks.

Hold up, Mariah needs to talk, uninterupted, for the next five to ten minutes.

This year there wasn’t even a wild card selection. The only addition vote that the viewers were given was between two people and it was to decide who would go on tour. What was the point in that? Most people will never see the American Idol tour and will have no idea who Audrey Cleland. Now the big shocking twist is that there is an additional week. It is a pitiful twist compared to last year where American Idol fixed Jessica Sanchez almost elimination. Perhaps that is why they have been more careful with the judge’s save this year. Or perhaps it is just because this year has been more predictable. Candice Glover and Kree Harrison (or Rose, as I call  her, because of her uncanny resemblance to Melanie Lynskey from CBS’ Two and a Half Men) have stood out from the very beginning, Amber Holcomb has been consistent throughout and continues to improve and Angie Miller fills the niche market of mainstream alternative rock with a peppering so Christian rock. The only contestant that even seemed likely to be saved was Janelle Arthur but by that point the competition was so stiff that Janelle wouldn’t have lasted another week even if she had been saved.

One of the better improvements for this season has been the decision to reveal where everyone is ranking on a weekly basis. The X Factor USA, also shown on Fox, began listing contestants rank week by week just to show how close your favourite contestants were to going out and now American Idol have begun to rank them similarly. There is no scoreboard for American Idol but I do enjoy knowing who the bottom two and top two are, although some might argue that it takes away the suspense of know might win because we can clearly see Candice Glover has been consistently high in the rankings. In fact, this previous week marks the first time that she had been in the bottom two for the entirety of the live shows. It is good as well as the votes for this non-elimination week will carry over to next week. On the one hand, Candice and Amber will have to work harder to pull themselves up but I also expect the majority of voters to come back and vote Candice out of the top two. So then, who is in danger of leaving?

Oddly, it seems that Amber Holcomb is the most likely to leave at this stage in the competition. I can see Angie or Kree falling down into the bottom two to accommodate Candice’s rise but I don’t foresee Amber’s position changing much. Amber is probably the most diverse of the current four and both her voice and style have the potential for international success. Despite that, she has ranked in the bottom three times since the start of the live shows this season. Audiences and viewers just aren’t taking to her despite her strong vocal skills and legs that could rival Stacy Keibler.

Drake looks like a pimp in this photo.

At this stage, it seems as though Candice Glover and Kree Harrison are the most likely to win the competition. Candice has an extremely powerful voice and has a good sense of what kind of songs she can sing and that viewers will enjoy. As Randy and Nicki said on Wednesday’s performance show though, sometimes she does tend to over use the technical skills of her voice. Impressive as they are, it sometimes detracts from the song. Conversely, Kree also has a very strong voice but she is much more likely to just sing the song. She just sings it so well that you forget it isn’t her song and this is a singing contest. However, despite usually selecting good songs, her choices in this past week were drab and uninspired. Hopefully, this week is a return to form.

If audiences continue to bore of Candice’s power and skill, or Kree misses any more steps with her song choices, Angie Miller could be the dark horse in this competition. Rock, even alternative rock and Christian rock singers have often done well in American Idol but don’t usually win. She strikes me as this year’s version of Colton Dixon, although she has managed to outlast Dixon by three weeks. Personally, I think Angie has the weakest voice of the four and is the most niche in terms of style. She doesn’t have the power or range like Candice and she isn’t quite as diverse as Kree. I think she will survive another week but I think the road to overall victory is just too steep for her.

And that is the top four for American Idol’s twelfth season. It is an interesting bunch because although I can only realistically see two of the group having any chance at winning, any one of Candice, Kree and Amber could win and I wouldn’t be terribly upset. Not that I get upset over reality TV shows. Honestly.

Results

From choosing one winner to the next, the American Idol finale is upon us this week. Competition has been tough in the past five weeks. Hollie Cavanagh managed to beat off Skylar Laine to maintain a place in the top four but lost out at the last hurdle before the top three were sent off to their home towns this week. For a while, Skylar seemed to be doing so strongly in the voting that it looked like she might never leave the competition and conversely Hollie was getting mixed reviews constantly. I think the top three were exactly the right people to have gotten that far and I think at this point it’s almost a shame to lose any one of them. Philip Philips, Jessica Sanchez and Joshua Ledet were all strong contenders for this year’s Idol title.

Having said that though I do have to agree with the voting public in that Joshua Ledet was absolutely the right choice to leave the competition. He has a very powerful, smooth sounding voice that can switch gentle to intense in an instant, but I don’t think the show never really showed us what he might be like as a modern artist. Randy Jackson surmised it last night when he said that Joshua was a ‘classic stylist’. And, in the end, I feel that classic under current in his voice hurt his chances. I do think he has a place in the current market, just like Michael Buble, another classical stylist, also has a place within a contemporary market, but we never got to see that on the show. He was always given very old fashioned songs. Even when he chose for himself, he chose Imagine by John Lennon which is another old fashioned sounding song. Worse still, it was his weakest performance in the entire competition.

So we say goodbye to Joshua Ledet and take one step closer to discovering who is going to win this year’s American Idol. It’s all out war now between the teenager with an angelic voice, Jessica Sanchez, and the rough young adult with the devil’s growl, Philip Philips. The two singers probably couldn’t really be any more distinctive, which will make the finale more interesting. If Joshua had gotten through to the final over Philip Philips, the finale might actually have been a bit of a drag. Joshua and Jessica sing with melody and control, whereas Philip is more like smouldering chainsaw.

16 and already better than 90% of the world.

Going into the finale, there isn’t much that’s been revealed yet. We don’t know the song choices or the winner’s song but we do know that the performance show will air a day earlier in America on Tuesdays and the result show will follow on the Wednesday. They’ve also revealed the themes for the songs next week. One song will be the contestant’s favourite performance, one will be Simon Fuller’s choice and the final song will be the Winner’s single. We also know that Jessica will start the show and Philip will finish, with the two alternating throughout.

Looking at each contestant individually, it’s still quite difficult to pin point what might give that singer the edge. Jessica has consistently had quite a lot of strong songs with big moments that the audience might remember and she was at the forefront of all the fix speculation in week seven. So publicly she’s going to be very well known, even by casual viewers. Moreover her voice is possibly the one that most suited to the current mainstream industry as we’ve seen her sing very poignant, melodious tunes as well as fast-paced,  upbeat songs. She extremely diverse and I’d say that she’d be able to change along with the music industry rather fight against it. The biggest complaint I’ve heard about Jessica Sanchez is that she doesn’t dress or sing appropriately for her age. However, I disagree. I think people are mistaking connect with emotion of the song for indecency and it’s better that she do it on the stage rather than act all sweet and innocent like Miley Cyrus and then people start getting outraged when she starts pole dancing. Let me be clear, I am not suggesting that Jessica Sanchez starts pole dancing on the American Idol finale. I’m simply saying it’s better if that sexual energy comes through the song rather than her acting out when she suddenly comes of age in a couple years. I think her favourite performance will either be Sweet Dreams by Beyonce or Dance with my Father by Luther Vandross.

Philip Philips, on the other hand, hasn’t always displayed his vocal talents to the very best of his abilities. He’ll constantly change the arrangements and the melody of the song to suit his own style which is by no means terrible. He’s bold enough to go out and change another person’s song and he knows enough about the music business to generally know what works and what doesn’t. It can make him seem a bit samey a lot of the time though and some people will get annoyed that he won’t just sing the melody. But his female fan base is massive. And it’s quite likely that he stole quite a few of Colton Dixon’s fan base when he left. Jimmy Iovine was definitely right to want to tap into that and if Philip taps into that smouldering ability to make women fall at his feet again at the finale Jessica will be in trouble. I think fits less easily into the current mainstream music industry as say Jessica does but Philip as an artist will roll with the punches. He’s done it constantly throughout the competition and he’s never let anything faze him. He just comes back and does the exact same thing by messing with the arrangement and the melody. I can imagine even if one of his albums flops, he’ll come right back next year with a number one selling album. He’s just that kind of guy. I am glad that he’s stopped using the guitar quite so much and shown that he doesn’t need it. It’s also worth nothing that he’s never been in the final three in the whole competition. I think for his favourite performance he’ll either choose Time of the Season by The Zombies or U got it Bad by Usher.

Maybe you can change him, right?

But even given all that it still comes down to three categories: who I think should win, who I want to win and who will probably win. Unfortunately, I don’t have a great track record with this as just last week only one of my final three in Britain’s Got Talent actually made it to the final three. Never the less, I’m going to take a stab a predicting the American Idol results.

Who should win: Jessica Sanchez

Who I want to win: Jessica Sanchez

Who will probably win: Jessica Sanchez

Yeah, that’s right, I’m putting all my stock in Jessica Sanchez. I’m not going to bother putting Philip in a category just so that I can try to claim I thought he should win or that he probably will win. If I’m wrong then I’m wrong. Roll on Wednesday night…

Fix

Ok, so I was going to discuss a fantastic new show on NBC entitled Awake featuring Jason Isaacs, possibly best known to the current generation as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series, as a detective who solves crimes in two alternating realities that only he is aware of. In one his wife survived a car accident and in the other his son survived the accident and as such he has to struggle with trying to find a way to live with both realities by switching between them as he sleeps so that he doesn’t actually have to lose either one. It really is brilliant in many ways; in premise, acting and direction it comes across as a lot more than just your bog standard crime detective show of which there seems to be a growing plague.

But that’s not what I’m actually going to discuss the fact that American Idol is a sham. Perhaps that’s a little unfair but after Thursday night’s result show there really can be no other conclusion than the show completely fixed the results to create controversy and boost ratings. And it’s not like this is just speculation or conjecture on my part. TMZ announced the shock result before the show even aired. The article states:

“Sources connected with the show tell TMZ … producers are scrambling to persuade the judges to use their “save” on the contestant.

We’re told producers actually thought 2 of the 3 contestants in the bottom tonight were strong candidates to win the entire competition.”

So clearly the producers knew before hand and were trying to affect the judges’ decision. Well so what? You could argue that this wouldn’t affect ratings really because the shock outcome would be ruined by them saving the person. But on the one hand it clearly shows that producers were trying to set something up so that viewers would feel like a potential top-tier singer was almost sent home and setting up an impression that really, from now on, anyone really can go because the save safety net isn’t there any more. Though TMZ is just a news site and sources can’t always be trusted so even if the viewers do read the news on sites they’ll probably tune into to see if it really is true.

Steven Tyler is the only one who seems amused by the save.

It really is true too, partially based on what happened on the night such as the odd comment of Steven Tyler staying that they would use the save that night before the bottom two had even been revealed. That’s odd because I find it unlikely that Elise would be saved. Her rendition of You and I wasn’t as good as Haley Reinhart’s from the previous season and she’s been in the bottom three a few times before, so if it really was her that had been voted off I think the judges would have decided she just wasn’t connecting and would release her from the competition. Of course, Steven Tyler can be a bit eccentric anyway so he’s not terribly reliable either. Ryan Seacrest, on the other hand, is a fairly reliable source and even he was hyping up the shocking result prior to the result when he said:

“there is a result tonight on @AmericanIdol that some would say is very shocking!”

So it certainly seems like the result was well-known among those backstage at Idol, even if the judges didn’t know who exactly was going or that the contestants were completely in the dark, and Steven’s comments add weight to the concern that producers certainly had pushed them to use the save that night. But the entire scenario seems even more suspicious when you consider that Randy Jackson said, on Wednesday’s performance show, that anything could happen and repeated that sentiment on the results show. It definitely sounds like they were building to some huge shocking result. The judges were awfully quick to storm the stage too. You can put it down to not wanting Jessica to go home but it all seemed a bit too well-played out to be true.

A lot of people have also pointed out the comparisons to Jennifer Hudson, one of the strongest contestants of her year and the only contestant to have gone on and won both a Grammy and an Oscar, and how Jessica Sanchez conveniently almost goes out on the show where she’s performing. It’s not like the producers didn’t have Hudson contracted to appear probably weeks or months in advance, so they certainly had plenty of time to prepare. It’s also worth mentioning that Nigel Lythgoe is fully aware of this. He phoned into TMZ live and brought up the Hudson comparison without even a prompt from the interviewers. You can hear the comparison is made around the 6 minute mark. So yeah, way to sell the idea that it’s not a fix by pointing out a conveniently conspicuous comparison. It’s also worth nothing that even the other contestants seem suspicious whenever the result is announced.

Maybe she's saying "It's a wig" concerning J-lo's hair.

Obviously you can’t tell from the picture what Hollie is saying though if you watch closely it almost looks like she’s either asking Skylar Lane “Is this rigged?’ or telling her ‘This is rigged.” It’s not immediately clear but Skylar shifted uncomfortably in reply, so there certainly seemed to an air of suspicion and discomfort with what was happening on stage and this was before Randy Jackson even made the announcement that Jessica Sanchez was the best in the world. He may have gone a bit overboard there.

I don’t want to be unfair though so I do feel like it is necessary to address whether Jessica Sanchez could have possibly fallen into the bottom three without the show having been fixed. And I have done my research here and looked through a mass of internet comments and blogs in order to form an unbiased opinion. I’m not saying it worked just that I did the footwork. But honestly it doesn’t seem like there’s been a huge backlash against Jessica. Some people think it was fixed and some people think she should have done because she comes across as distant and cold on stage. I’d actually argue that Skylar is a lot more distant than Jessica because Jessica comes across as being subtly and mature in her emotions. It’s not that she’s not feeling the emotions but it’s that she’s restraining the emotion so that it doesn’t affect the song. And that’s the mark of a good singer; knowing how much emotion to seep through into the song without it disturbing the actual sound. Skylar, conversely, tends to sing a lot of similar sounding country songs that rely on attitude rather than emotions, although to give credit where credit is due her performance of “Didn’t Know How Much I Loved You”, originally by Kellie Pickler, was more emotional than anything she’s sang before.

So if she’s not really emotionally disconnected, what could have caused her to fall so far, because let’s face it, before this week, she was up there along with Colton Dixion and Philip Philips for never having been in the bottom three and looked set to continue that trend. I suppose you could argue that since Colton and Philip are getting the female votes and Skylar is raking in the country voters then that would leave Jessica to share the votes with Joshua, Elise and Hollie. But Hollie had a terrible night and Elise, while not as horrible as she has been in previous weeks, certainly didn’t match the performances of Joshua or Jessica. So a more likely bottom three would have been Hollie, Joshua and Elise.

Jessica Sanchez looks suspicious of this bottom three too.

Meanwhile, some people are placing the blame on a backlash from the judges’ comments towards Hollie. The arena definitely fell silent as Steven and Randy told her that her performance wasn’t up to scratch. It wasn’t so they were right to do so and I believe America would have understood that. If they’d been against the judges’ comments they’d have booed rather than sit in an indifferent silence. And if it were due to a backlash why Jessica? Jessica was said to be on the top-tier by Randy but it was Joshua who got the ‘He’s gotta have it’ remark. Admittedly, Joshua was in the bottom three as well but if all the votes were going to Hollie, Colton, Philip and Skylar and people were actively avoiding Jessica and Joshua, who would really suffer? That’s right. Elise Testone, because everyone one would forget. But Elise didn’t go. Jessica did and it doesn’t make sense.

Honestly though, if anyone was going to disagree with the judges’ that much then they’d go watch X Factor USA or The Voice or something else because the judges are the musical experts on this show and they pick the top 24. If you don’t like the judges or think they’re complete hacks, you wouldn’t watch the show and you definitely wouldn’t vote. The only people watching this show are people who are going to take the judges’ comments seriously. Except for J-Lo. No one takes her seriously. But all in all, the only reasons I can really see that might have led to Jessica’s downfall are her obscure song choice or people just thinking she was safe and forgetting about her. But neither of those two options seems likely to have thrown Jessica all the way into the bottom.

So it’s a fix. Either completely or in part because there’s sufficient evidence to say that the producers were manipulating a number of things to set up a huge shock. The only real mystery is whether they fluffed the AT&T votes from Telescope but I honestly don’t think it would matter. They never intended on letting anyone go so the actual calculation of the votes were a moot point. But it still affects the viewers because they came to watch a bunch of talented people sing and instead we get manipulated and forced to endure this charade. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jessica is eliminated next week out of spite, quite frankly. Then she goes on to win Grammys and Oscars and be more popular than the actual winner like every Idol season prior.

Thirteen

On Thursday American Idol selected their live finalists for another year with the slight addition of an extra player. So instead of a top twelve, we’ve got a top thirteen, ten of which the voting public wanted to see go through and three that the judges decided that they wanted to see compete in the weeks to come. That left us with this line up: Hollie Cavanagh, Colton Dixon, Heejun Han, Jermaine Jones, Skylar Laine, Joshua Ledet, Shannon Magraine, Phillip Phillips, Jessica Sanchez, Elise Testone, Jeremy Rosado, DeAndre Brackensick and Erika Van Pelt.

First of all let’s talk about who didn’t go through. Jen Hirsh, Reed Grimm and Creighton Fraker all seemed to a golden touch prior to the live contest. They sailed through the group stages, impressing the judges with their harmonies and group dynamic. Grimm showed a flare for the eccentric in the sole performances when he took to the drums and when it came time to select the top 24 I don’t think there was really any doubt in anyone’s minds that these three would be going through. So where did it all go wrong? I feel like Reed Grimm perhaps sat behind the drums one time too many. We know he can play the drums and the piano and he can do the jazz scatting but I’d have liked to see him simply sing. Just do something simple and show off his vocals. Creighton Fraker perhaps should have went in the other direction and done something a bit more extravagant. True Colours was a feel good song but his singing felt more like a prolonged whine. On the other hand, Jen Hirsh wasn’t bad. She sang Adele which is tough for anyone, but to sing the same song as another contestant, who actually sang it differently and better, probably put her at a massive disadvantage. She came back for the wild card selection but I felt that the nerves might have gotten her better of her at that point.

Let's find someone better than Scotty McCreery!

Jeremy Rosado

Having said all that, I’d still have taken Jen Hirsh or Reed Grimm through over this Rosado. I’d have taken Creighton Fraker too but he wasn’t even in the wild card call backs. I don’t have a problem with the guy himself because he’s an extremely nice guy but against the other singers in the competition I don’t really think that he’s strong enough or distinctive enough to stand out when the competition gears up. But it feels like J-Lo backs the guys that she identifies with culturally, like she did with Stefano Langone last year. That’s not to say neither of them aren’t decent. I just feel that there were better singers who deserved their spots more.

Erika Van Pelt

I can at least understand why Erika Van Pelt got through. She’s got a look that different from most of the other contestants and she’s got a very strong voice. The Whitney Houston tribute round will probably give her a good chance to show off a bit more. I liked her rendition of ‘What About Love’ more than her Wild Card contribution. It’s not perfect but there definitely seems like room for her to develop in the competition.

DeAndre Brackensick

Otherwise known as Prince 2.0. I like his image because his huge hair makes him distinctive right out of the cage and his voice is very smooth. I’d be concerned whether he has a market in the current music industry since the music he’s singing isn’t exactly the kind of stuff you’d hear on mainstream radio, but I think his ability to sink and swim in the current market will become clearer as we move into the themed weeks.

Philip Philips

I bet he hates his parents for giving him that name. I think he’s got a very distinct voice and that growl puts an immediate stamp on every song he sings. However, I think he has a similar problem to that of Reed Grimm. He uses the guitar a little too much and he even seems a little weak when he’s not using it. I think the judges will start to complain if he keeps using it in the coming weeks and the voters will notice if his talent drops without it.

Hollie Cavanagh

For such a little woman she’s got a very powerful voice. It’s no easy feat to stand on the American Idol stage and sing a Christina Aguilera song as though it were nothing. I can understand Steven Taylor’s comments though. It was very controlled and she showed she can sing. Now let’s see if she can perform and have some fun on the stage.

Jessica Sanchez

I thought her song on the live show ‘Love You I Do’ faltered in places but when she was in her stride she really did hit some really spectacular notes and considering that she’s only 16, it’s even more impressive that she was able to sing so well on that stage. She showed a little bit more flare for performance than some of the other girls too, like the aforementioned Hollie Cavanagh. If she keeps developing and keeps getting better throughout the series I think could definitely go extremely far in the competition.

Heejun Han

I really like this guy. Maybe it is just the little comedy asides that he has but in a way he feels like a bit of a performer and its very endearing, so I can’t see the comedy getting him kicked out. As far as the singing goes, I think he sang Robbie Williams’ ‘Angels’ with a lot more restraint and control than some of the other guys can manage. If there’s any reason it wasn’t the best song for him, it’s only because Robbie Williams isn’t as well known in the States as he is in the U.K.

Joshua Ledet

This guy’s has a very powerful voice that sounds like it constantly deserves a full choir backup. There are similarities to Season 10’s Jacob Lusk but he’s got more of the subtleties and the intricacies perfected, which gives him a more polished finish. He’s  a new and improved version of Jacob Lusk, but I think he’ll come into his own as he progresses in the competition.

Skylar Laine

The judges, especially Randy Jackson, have suggested that we haven’t seen her country rocker attitude before in this contest but honestly, she reminds me for Lauren Alaina for my liking. I didn’t think that Lauren Alaina deserved runner up last year but if America liked her than they’ll probably like Skylar Laine and she’ll go far in the competition. I don’t think she’ll win but I think she’ll still be around when people are trying to guess the final four.

Shannon Magrane

 You really don’t expect the daughter of a pro pitcher to be so deep and soulful. Shades of last years’ Haley Reinhart were there but I think Reinhart was better. It bears remembering that Shannon is still 16 though so she could keep developing. I don’t know if she’s good enough to win at this stage because I think there are some girls in the competition who are better singers. That said, if she keeps developing and some of the others make some pivotal mistakes she could certainly be a dark horse in this race.

Elise Testone

If the public didn’t put her through I’d imagine she’d have been Steven Taylor’s wild card choice. They’re very similar in many respects. They both wear a lot of hats, or flowers or feathers in their hair. She sang Adele, which can be troublesome, but she did it so well that I don’t think anyone minded and her use of the piano was a nice change of pace. It’s worth noting that she didn’t stay behind the piano but moved to the stage for the finish. A bit like Jessica Sanchez, she seems to have a flare for performance and I think she was having fun which makes her more entertaining to watch as a whole. She’s probably one of the front runners in the competition.

Colton Dixon

The guy who didn’t want to compete. It’ll be rather disgraceful if he wins the competition after having decided to sit out in the first place but then dragged in by the judges. If I was his sister I’d be annoyed with him for accepting the judge’s offer and intruding on my chance to shine without him and I’d be furious at the judges for encouraging him to do so. He’s got the flare for performance, out doing Testone by standing on the piano for the finish but I think he lacked the control to perform Paramore’s ‘Decode’ as well as it needs to be performed. It droned on a bit in places and he screeched a bit too much at times. Possibly one of the more contemporary and relevant singers in the competition but I don’t think his voice is strong enough to carry him through the competition.

Jermaine Jones

Very glad that this guy got voted back in. He’s got such an awesome, deep voice that he really is a pleasure to listen to. He’s one of the few singers in the competition that I do genuinely feel that I could listen to over and over again. Needs to detach himself from his mother though.

Ok, everyone smile like you have a chance of winning.

Well, that’s the top thirteen. At this point it’s impossible to say who will win it because there so much time for the singers to develop and expand or indeed, crash and burn before the end. I do think the girls have the stronger side this year. I think Hollie Cavanagh, Elise Testone and Jessica Sanchez could all be in the running to win if they play their cards right, whereas I can only really imagine Jermaine Jones or Joshua Ledet pulling it out for the guys. Dark horses on both sides include Shannon Magrane and Heejun Han. But there are twelve weeks between now and the end, and there are bound to be some shock eliminations along the way (Hello, Pia), so anything really could happen.