American Idol Power Rankings - Week 1
Here is the debut of The Big Cat's American Idol Power Rankings for the top 13
1 - Lil Rounds
Lil Rounds is easily the best singer in this contest. This past week she did a Mary J. Blige song and it was evident from the first note she was the class of the competition.
2. Allison Iraheta
When they first interviewed the 16 year old her personality was terrible and I was bracing for a bad performance. She then stepped onstage and blew the place away with a rendition of Heart's "Alone."
3. Danny Gokey
Danny had one of the most emotional stories at auditions when he talked about how his wife passed away a few months before he auditioned. He sang Mariah Carey's "Hero" but my friend Steven thinks he may have set the bar too high.
4. Alexis Grace
Alexis performed a very bluesy version of an Aretha Franklin song and really took the competition by suprise. She looks to be a strong competitor in the weeks to come.
5. Jorge Nunez
Jorge has an intense annoying personality with an "Aw shucks I'm so blessed to be here I speak Spanish when I get excited" disposition. That said he can really sing and his performance of Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me."
6. Anoop Desai
Opposite of Jorge, Anoop has an intense likeability to him, and althogh he's been criticized as not having the best voice, but I think he's got chops and was glad he made it in as a wildcard.
7. Scott Macintyre
Scott's got a compelling story being blind and making it into the competition. His voice doesn't totally blow me away, but as we've seen he's a talented musician on the piano.
8. Michael Sarver
I probably overrate this guy a little bit because I'm pulling for him due to the fact he's a nice guy and from Texas, but I think he picked a bad song his first time. I'd really like to see him perform something else and decide where I'm really going to slot him.
9. Matt Giraud
Something about this guy irks me personally but he's got some talent. He was very good in Hollywood week but lost me in week 1.
10. Jasmine Murray
Another 16 year old in the competition, Jasmine made a bad pick with her first week song. That said, she has some talent and will hopefully pick some better songs.
11. Kris Allen
Kris also has some likeability but is nothing special on the mic. He could be the next to go.
12. Megan Joy
The judges rave about her and she seems like she has some underlying talent but she hasn't impressed me thus far.
13. Adam Lambert
Truth be told I don't know how this guy got in. He's charasmatic and a high energy performer, but he basically screamed his version of The Rolling Stone's "Satisfaction". There are easily 5 better singers that didn't get in.
Western New York, Get Your Popcorn Ready
As a Bills fan I'll admit I was shocked when the signing went down. I always said it wouldn't shock me if they did sign him but when the pen went to the paper it did. I was unhappy at first because I've seen up close what he did to Dallas. I've always been a TO supporter and apologist but moreso because he didn't play for my team. Now there is nothing I can do about it so I've decided to embrace it. Here is what Peter King had to say in his Monday Morning Quarterback article.
Bills chief operating office Russ Brandon woke up sometime after midnight Friday morning and noticed there was a text message on his cell phone. So he reached over and looked. It was from Trent Edwards, the quarterback of the Bills. "How about T.O.?'' That's all it said.
Brandon shot back with this: "?''
"T.O. was released. Go get him,'' Edwards texted back.
Brandon still seemed surprised when I spoke to him late Sunday. "I went back to sleep,'' he said, "but I was stunned by it. The next morning, [coach] Dick Jauron and I talked, and he said, 'I think it's something we certainly should take a look at.' I put a call into [owner] Ralph Wilson, and he said, 'Absolutely look into it.'''
And that was it. The only team to seriously kick the tires on Owens got its man a day later for three major reasons:
1. The Bills think Jauron is the perfect coach -- calm but commanding -- to handle Mount Terrell.
2. The organization is sick of perpetually being one weapon away from catching New England (and Miami and the Jets, as it turns out), and it's willing to take the risk of having Owens ruin the locker room so it can have a chance to win the division.
3. The Bills did the one-year deal for a fairly strategic reason, in my opinion. Owens is good when he's trying to make a good first impression. Check out his first years in his three prior stops -- with the San Francisco season being his first without Jerry Rice on the team, when the focus of the offense was clearly on him:
Season G Rec. Yards TD
San Francisco, 2001 16 93 1,412 16
Philadelphia, 2004 14 77 1,200 14
Dallas, 2006 16 85 1,180 13
I have to say that, even though I view Owens as the most divisive force in the NFL today, and even though he drops far more balls than a top player should (12 per year, on average, over the past three years), I understand why the Bills did what they did. It's been 10 years since their last playoff appearance. They're the Washington Generals to the Patriots. And Owens will be on his best behavior in 2009, determined to prove wrong all of us who make a living out of criticizing him (oh, it's sooooo hard to do that), and determined to get one more big-money deal out of the Bills or some other team.
Point is, TO has a lot to offer for a team like Buffalo who needs a scoring punch and in year 1 hopefully he doesn't cause any trouble but things will be interesting in Buffalo to say the least.
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