Favourite American Idol Contestants: #30-26

30. LaKisha Jones (Season 6: 4th place)

Jones is a lovable Motown-inspired personality with strong vocal chops. She brought the house down with And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going on her first appearance. She might be an inferior vocal masterclass when compared to Melinda Doolittle, but she is up to the big challenge. In my opinion, she outperformed Doolittle at least thrice on the nights she sang God Bless The Child, This Ain’t A Love Song, and the Dreamgirls torch number I mentioned before. Her late-run season has been weaker, though, especially when she covered previous winners’ commercial songs. Twice! Poor song choices, dear. But she made it to fourth place after all.

29. David Hernandez (Season 7: 12th place)

Such an underrated vocalist! I do not know why everyone likes Matt Giraud but is indifferent towards Hernandez. For one, his vocal runs are much more controlled than the nasally Giraud. All he did not have is producer’s favoritism, and so he left forgotten at the 12th place after one off-night. Everyone said that Papa Was A Rolling Stone is his best performance (although he was overshadowed by David Archuleta’s showstopper that night), yet my personal favourite is In The Midnight Hour.

28. David Archuleta (Season 7: 2nd place)

I could have liked him a lot, but I do not. He had too much what-the-hell performances and some trainwrecks for me to ever rank him among the best contestants. Now if only that he was more consistent, I would have seriously take his talent into consideration. And has better breathing technique (the gasping can be very distracting). But after all is said and done, Imagine is the best performance from my most favourite season. I have to give credit when it is due. Also, Stand By Me is also dang pretty good (much better than Danny Gokey’s shouty version, at least).

27. Adam Lambert (Season 8: 2nd place)

Shrieky banshee! Oh well, I appreciate that he can bring strong chest-voice texture into such high notes. But Lambert needs to be more expressive and not just impressive. He tends to leave me cold on the emotional ground, although he did give me goosebumps on The Tracks Of My Tears and Mad World. Yeah, the ones where he execute more self-restraint to find the golden balance between subtlety and totally in-your-face. As far as all-out-loud shrieking is concerned, though, my favourite is Feeling Good.

26. Alexis Grace (Season 8: 11th place)

She might slide down on my list over time, but she is this high for now. I love her soulful take on Aretha Franklin’s classic, I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You), and the bad-chick attitude at Michael Jackson’s Dirty Diana. Too bad she is eliminated too early, because she is one of the few talented finalists on Season 8. Her vocal is a bit thin, but she knows how to make the best use from what she has. And excellent song choices definitely put her as a contender, if only not for one off-night.