‘American Idol’ top 8 rankings: Kree Harrison, Candice Glover are (still) ones to beat

Before the top eight on “American Idol” get an opportunity to hit the stage for Motown night on Wednesday, we come to our weekly tradition: trying to rank all of the contenders! It’s a pretty cut-and-dry season so far, and this may be why the ratings are down to such a great extent. While the judges are legitimately better this year and the production quality is still top-notch, we just don’t find the contestants to be by and large distinctive enough. There are still standouts (see the top two here), but everyone else is a little dull.

Are you new to the rankings? If so, welcome! Enjoy the your imaginary Coca-Cola and Ford products (thanks, show sponsors!), and be sure to also share who you think is the best of the season so far in the comment box below. Are rankings, as always, are based on performance qualify, voting history, and the singer’s personality / connection to America. We will toot our own horn here and say that the person ranked last here has gone home for two weeks in a row.

8. Devin Velez (last week: 8) – What Devin has in singing skill, he lacks when it comes to appealing himself to the voting public. One of his biggest problems right now is merely that he desperately needs to do something other than a ballad. No offense to the show’s youngest contestant: we like his voice. Unfortunately, he’s just boring.

7. Lazaro Arbos (5) – He may not have been in the bottom two this past week, but we have to think that it is getting near the end for the show’s inspirational story. He’s nothing really like Heejun Han, but the two have similar trajectories in the competition: they each came on the show with plenty of hype, were fan favorites, but disappointed during some of the live rounds. He’ll probably have a comeback performance Wednesday, but it could be too little, too late after the tears of last week.

6. Amber Holcomb (7) – We unfortunately knew this was coming: Amber’s the victim of being more of a mainstream singer on a season where all of the other women have specific fan followings based on their genre, and she’s really just left to collect all of the stragglers. (Broken record alert!) We recommend taking a fast song, rocking the living stuffing out of it, and making yourself a little bit different than the rest.

5. Janelle Arthur (6) – Janelle’s voting returns for this past week were probably boosted by the fact that she went last, and while she has a lovely voice, we see more of Paul Jolley’s country fanbase moving over to Kree Harrison (who seems more accomplished and prepared for stardom) than to her.

4. Angie Miller (3) – Angie does have a following that will keep her safe for at least another week, but some of her flaws are starting to shine through. Her performances are almost all ballads, they border at times on being theatrical, and in being rather similar, they bleed together from one to the next. Rather than trying to replicate “You Set Me Free” over again, she needs to try something completely different.

3. Burnell Taylor (4) – We’re not necessarily sure that Burnell is the third-best of the singers in the competition, but we’ll be stunned if there is not a man who makes to the top three or four based solely on the fact that there still has to be some “cute guy” block out there. Burnell really is in the same problem as Angie, as his talent is being a little overshadowed by the far-too-similar song choices.

2. Candice Glover (2) – While her “Come Together” was somewhat lacking when it came to the connection to the lyrics, the vocal was outstanding … just as it has been in the competition all season. If this is really a show about singing and nothing else, there’s no way she is eliminated before the finale. She’s just too good!

1. Kree Harrison (1) – We’re staying with Kree mostly because she seems to be the most complete of anyone on the show: even without getting much airtime during the early parts of the competition, she has shown off a stellar voice, great emotional connection to the lyrics, and a personality that has some awareness that being a star means more than just being able to sing.

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If you want to read our exit interview with the eliminated Paul Jolley, you can do so by heading on over to the link here.

Photo: Fox