‘American Idol XIII’ top 8 rankings (again): Alex Preston, Jena Irene, Jessica Meuse lead

Here we go again on our own, going down a road that’s very well known. The “American Idol XIII” top 8 has already been ranked once on CarterMatt, so what’s different now? It’s mostly a matter of placement. After a great show last week, some singers established themselves as further favorites, whereas others have put themselves in positions where they will be exposed and eliminated very soon.

One big thing here to remember, after all, is that the save is now gone from the equation. There’s no more security blanket, and the nerves could come out even more now than they have before.

New to the rankings? If so, we based them on performance quality and voting history first and foremost! Everything else is hard to predict at this stage.

8. CJ Harris (last week: 8) – A very emotional singer, and probably someone who will make incredible albums after the show. Some people are just better suited for that than competitions where singing on pitch live is a super big deal.

7. Sam Woolf (6) – Being handed the save is a huge sigh of relief for Sam, and he may get enough of a bump thanks to it that he doesn’t go home this week. However, there’s probably not enough time, like CJ, to fix what is a glaring problem. His pitch is fine, but his connection on many performances is weak … to say the least.

6. Malaya Watson (5) – Even though she is improving very much, it’s pretty clear at this point that there is a definite top half and bottom half of the contestant pool remaining. She is going to need to sing her face off (and not in a shouty way) if she wants to make it into the next tier.

5. Dexter Roberts (7) – The top six or five has always felt like where Dexter would fall in the end, and on the strength of his ballads (which are very good), he will likely end up there. His problem comes more with the uptempo stuff.

4. Caleb Johnson (2) – Caleb’s still giving great rock performances, but he’s not evolving anymore. He comes out, does the same thing every week, and tries to entertain with that. We don’t know how this will lead to a career after the show, but consistently will at least get you pretty far here … even if you’re not blowing anyone away.

3. Jessica Meuse (4) – Even though she was in the “death slot” last week of performing first, she still managed to avoid the bottom three with her excellent original “Blue-Eyed Lie.” She has overcome a lot to get here, from a not-so-nice Hollywood Edit to not-so-nice judges who seem to be grading on a curve. This is all proof that she’s got an awesome voting block.

2. Jena Irene (3) – Slowly, Jena is gaining on Alex just by going out and doing exciting, inventive things almost every week. We’ve heard an original song from her already, but she managed to make one of the most overdone songs on any reality show in “Rolling in the Deep” feel like an original song. That deserves major kudos, and we’re starting to feel like a Jena win would be a fantastic way to end this season.

1. Alex Preston (1) – Still, Alex has to have the title for his stirring original performance, his musicianship, and because Jena has been in danger before this season. He’s going to be here for the long haul, and given everything that we’ve seen from him (even if it is at times a little safe), a win from him would be worthy beyond words.

As always, we want to hear who’s your favorite below! Also, click here to get some additional TV updates worth singing about via our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: Fox