Elvis Week Preview: American Idol Top 9 Power List

Inspired by Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Slezak and his Power Lists, I’ve decided to do my own weekly American Idol power rankings. I should have been writing these for awhile now, but hey, better late than never.

9. Andrew Garcia
By this point in the season, Garcia has had his life on the line as many times as when he just a wee gangbanger. This week’s meh rendition of Can’t Buy Me Love was way more corny than current. Unless he can pull out a performance on par with his R&B/Soul Week version of Chris Brown’s Forever, expect Andrew to be one of the this week’s two eliminations.

8. Aaron Kelly
Kelly needs to step up his game if he wants to go farther. While its impossible to hate on the fresh-faced Pennsylvania teen, people are tiring of his song choices — many of which have been performed ad nauseum (I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing) or moment-making memorable (Ain’t No Sunshine) by past contestants. Aaron is in danger of being eliminated this week, but he could easily survive with a pimp performance spot and if fellow teenager Katie Stevens stumbles during Elvis Week.

7. Michael Lynche
Sure, Lynche would have been on his way back to Queens if the judges had not used their precious save on the would-be 9th place finisher. Say what you want about Big Mike, but it wasn’t his time to go. But he does need to step up his game. Through being saved, Big Mike has pretty much bought himself yet another week in the competition because no one will send home a saved contestant that next week.

6. Katie Stevens
Smug Teen Witch received more praise for her soulless rendition of Let It Be than any of her past performances, but she’s not consistent. And her personality has not endeared herself with the majority of viewers, or by many accounts, with her fellow contestants. The cocky teenage pageant queen is in clear danger of being one of this week’s eliminations, but she also may be due for a pimp performance spot. If she performs last (or even second to last) and Aaron Kelly or Tim Urban falters, she’ll be forced to come back and annoy us all for yet another week.

5. Siobhan Magnus
Siobhan may have a legitimate chance at winning, but she also may have peaked too soon. While her quirkiness is often endearing, her performances no longer seem revelatory but shrill. Even the judges are tiring her her trademark screech, but then claim to be confused when she reigns it in. Pairing her with this week’s mentor and King of Idol Stage Screech Adam Lambert will likely yield interesting results, and with the herd of Lambert fans watching the episode solely to see a glimpse of their glittery lord & savior, Siobhan will be sticking around awhile longer.

4. Tim Urban
Say what you want to about Timmeh, but he’s become one of this mediocre season’s most rousing fan favorites. The kid is just happy to be there, and frankly, he won many a point by telling Kara DioGuardi to shut the frak up ever so politely after she spoke to him as if he were a special needs toddler during the Top 10 results show. Urban’s All My Loving was the perfect song choice and he didn’t sound half bad. Teflon Timmy also has the unified support of Vote for the Worst and many others who just hate this damn show, or have tired of its lame reindeer games. Tim Urban also loves animals, hair products, Jesus Christ, babies, whitening toothpaste, mission work and was homeschooled. He’s also from Texas. Sure, this week will be make it or break it for the Idol’s Little Engine That Could. But if he makes it through this week’s double elimination, it may just prove Tim Urban is unstoppable.

3. Lee DeWyze
I liked the bagpiper. And while we still have not heard Lee perform a song completely in key, at least the bagpiper distracted from his sometimes meandering Hey Jude. It also proved, along with his alleged bromace with fellow contestant Andrew Garcia (DANNY GOKEY BABIES!!!), Lee may just have more personality than initially thought. He always looks like he wants to puke and might actually hate the show and a few of his contestants! Lee is beginning to grow on me, perhaps, but that really does not matter. He does have legions of frauen fans, many David Cook fans dig him, and the judges just can’t stop telling him how he’s the real deal, so this dude is at least going to the Top 3. Even if he vomits on stage.

2. Crystal Bowersox
Bowersox may have had an off week, but even on an off week, she’s still better than nearly everyone else. In the coming weeks, Bowersox will need to break out of her comfort zone, though, and for her this means she must lose the guitar. And not replace it with a piano. Maybe do some epic rearranging of a classic song. This week should provide some inevitable, if minor, hilarity during her scenes with mentor Adam Lambert. And unless she manages to fall on her ass several weeks in a row, the young dreadlocked mother from Ohio is a sure bet to make it to the finals.

1. Casey James
Often coming across as one-dimensional in his performances, Casey had a “moment” of sorts on last week’s show with his acoustic-guitar rearrangement of John Lennon’s Jealous Guy. It doesn’t hurt that Casey is the best looking male contestant of the season, hell, he’s one of the few male Idol contestants who would be deemed as such if you walked past them on the street (i.e., Ace Young, Kris Allen). And its probably not just because of Kara DioGuardi’s objectification of him during his audition, but he’s even got his own Casey James Cougar Army! (He’s also from Texas. Texas is a big state with lots of state pride and if/when Tim Urban goes home, Casey will get even more Texan support.) But his Lennon/McCartney week performance indicates Casey may be stepping up his game at just the precise time, and if he continues to do this in the weeks to come, its conceivable he could make it all the way to the Top 4 and even all the way to the finals, going up against Crystal Bowersox in a Battle of the Blonds.

Spread the word. Do it.