How we rank them

Blew us away
1. Adam Lambert – We loved Adam’s performance. Yes it was very theatrical, despite him saying he was going to tone that down. (but we happen to like theatrical) That said, he’s a star already.
2. Megan Corkrey – Love her voice, great vibe and fantastic song choice. Not sure about the hip swishing though (or as Ryan calls it “the corkscrew”). We need her in the Top 12 (hint: that means vote). She would bring a much needed unique sound to the show. Her personality gives her a slight advantage over Allison.
3. Allison Iraheta – Where’d she come from? Great. If she can overcome the awkward, boring personality (as demonstrated in Ryan’s interview), she’ll go far.

Above average
4. Mishavonna Henson – Very solid performance and great voice. We really enjoyed the song but were left wanting more. And yes, we agree with the judges “she needs to shake things up a bit” and “crazy things up.” Maybe we could combine her with Tatiana and create the perfect contestant?
5. Kris Allen – Shaky start but really hit his stride midway through. We enjoyed the performance. AND, he’ll get the teenage girl vote, otherwise known as the Archeletta vote (and let’s be honest, that’s all you need)
6. Nick Mitchell – It seems like he’s toned down his comedy a bit, either that or it doesn’t translate as well on the stage. We wish he’d gone full out. But the singing was good and mildly funny. We found all the lyric changes a little annoying. And that was the longest judges comments EVER. You’ve got to admit a Top 12 with him in it would be entertaining (that’s why he’s this high on the list)
7. Jesse Langseth – Solid performance, but a little on the boring side. No excitement. While her singing was better than some of the above, she isn’t memorable and won’t get votes.

Middle of the road
8. Kai Kalama – Kai sang OK, but it was a boring song choice. Another forgettable contestant.
9. Matt Giraud – Was that his real vibrato or was he really nervous? Another bad song choice! What’s going on? Another top contender disappoints.
10. Jasmine Murray – We didn’t like her song choice, but she knows how to work the cameras. Lots of bad notes. We were prepared to love her, very disappointing.
11. Matt Breitzke – Decent performance but boring. He didn’t make it his own at all. And the “dancing” was a little awkward. Plus, there’s only room for one blue-collar family man and that’s Michael.

Start packing your bags
12. Jeanine Vailes – Ok, so we’re finally going to get to hear from Jeanine, for the first time. And now we know why. Yikes! In Simon’s words: “It was painful” Ok, if we were watching American Idol for the first time and saw this performance we’d never watch again.

Disagree? Tell us how you'd rank them.