American Idol Season 10: And Then There Were Two

I hate to toot my own horn - but I said from the beginning it would end up being a country music showdown for the final two American Idol contestants.

I also said from the beginning Lauren Alaina would win, but we will just have to wait to see if that prediction comes true.

A friend called me this morning - upset that Haley Reinhart didn't make the final two. In my opinion Haley was her own worst enemy. While she clearly had the best voice in the competition, she hasn't learned how to "use her instrument" as Jennifer Lopez likes to say. Somewhere a long the line someone must have told Haley that screaming was a form of singing. If she would just stop the screaming and sing - she probably could have made the final two. Also her song choices just were not the best and she was warned over and over to pick better songs. I was really shocked that she tried to sing and walk around the judge's table. Obviously from her last performance, this does not work well for her, so why would you repeat your last mistake?

Scotty McCreery has a great voice and hopefully when he matures he will learn to stop being so cheesy. If you are going to ask me to put up with that much cheese, I should be served wine to go with it. The constant winks, lip curl, head tilting - it's just too much. Be yourself, stop posing and just sing. He so reminds me of stage kids that were way over coached in how to be cute. This may work for a 10 year old but not for a teenager.

I feel that Lauren has been herself from day one. She doesn't try to be something shes not and although she makes mistakes, unlike other contestants, she learns from them and moves forward. I feel she will reign right up there with Carrie Underwood once her American Idol tour is over.

One more thing I have to address. Who the heck is this years stylist for American Idol? Please fire them immediately. I feel so bad for Lauren as it seems the stylist dresses her so frumpy and way older than her years in so many of her appearances. The white boots? Really? Not flattering. It is easy to dress regular sized people like Haley and Scotty, but the real test comes dressing a fuller figured young woman. Lauren is a beautiful curvy woman, but the stylist seems to dress her to either look older or heavier. When Jordin Sparks was on the show she must have had a better stylist that knew how to dress curvy women.

For Scotty the plaid shirts and jeans are getting old. It is almost like someone is trying to make him look like a Josh Turner clone. Instead of copying Josh Turner, make your own path. Given his young age, he could have a lot of fun with what he wears and set a trend instead of copying another singer. His biggest hurdle after American Idol will be setting himself a part from Josh Turner.