Getting Caught Up on Idol, Top 20 Now Set

I have watched every single episode of American Idol, Season 9. From the first audition in Boston, on January18th, any every audition, Hollywood week, and now the final 4 contestants being cut by America's vote, whittling the field down to the top 20 contestants. I have written notes, predicted wrongly what was going to happen, watched many of my favorites go home already, and tried to make sense of it all. I'm not sure if there is such a thing as an "Idol Expert," who can accurately tell you right now, who is going to win American Idol this year.

What I can do, is to get you caught up with the show, and tell you what you've missed this season. When you are done reading this, you will be just as smart as the rest of us, honestly. So here, in a nut shell, is what you've missed.

The Judges: Back for their ninth season are Simon Cowell, and Randy Jackson. As you may know, this is Simon's final year on Idol Next year, on Fox, he will premiere his own new show, "The X-Factor." That will be similar to American Idol, but it will have no age limits on the contestants, opening up a lot of room for great singers of all ages. Simon has still been Simon this year, although he does seem a little more resigned to the fact that American viewers will ultimately pick the new Idol. Last season, Simon was a complete supporter of Adam Lambert, from day one, and we all know how that ended up for him. I don't even remember him once telling Kris Allen, the winner, that he liked him, or Kris did a good job. Nothing like that for Simon this year, with no clear cut favorites for him. He did say that this was the girl's year, and I agree.

Randy has been a little more grumpier this season. He seems frustrated with the fact that the contestants still don't listen to all of the judge's advice. At times, he seems to be persuaded by the opinions of the female judges, especially early, with the guest judges. But Randy still has a good eye for talent, and does not appear to have a favorite yet.

Kara Diaguardi, on the other hand, has been this year's wild child. In the early auditions, she had a take charge attitude, and that hasn't let up. I really liked Kara last season, but this year she has become, at least in her mind, a bit more important than the other 3 judges. During an early audition, with top 20 finalist Casey James, she actually asked him to take off his shirt, after he auditioned. Since then, she has been the President of the Casey James fan club, openly lusting after him. It's fine for a judge to have a favorite, but as they always remind us, this is a singing competition. I'll get to Casey later, but Kara has been way to carried away this season.

This year's new judge, in case you haven't heard, yeah right, is Ellen Degeneres. She didn't join the show until Hollywood week, so she had no hand in picking the final 184 contestants. I have never really liked Ellen, so I'll say just this much. She has seemed to fit in just fine. Although the media is trying to play up her and Simon not getting along, so far I've seen little of that. She has tried to tell us that Simon is always hitting on her, and even provided us with a made up video of Simon groping her under the judge's table, explaining why she is at the opposite end of the table now. Some of her humor has been Okay, but she does try too hard to put the spotlight on herself, and frankly, that annoys me.

My favorite guest judges, by the way, were Shania Twain, and Katie Perry. Both were brutally honest with the contestants, and both were fun to watch. I think the shows Producer's might have dropped the ball a bit, for not hiring one of these two, instead of Ellen. Or perhaps neither one of those two were interested in that.

The Top 20 Contestants: Idol has put together a very good quality amount of contestants this year. Instead of trying to tell you who you should like, and why, I'll just give you a quick look at the final group, and let you make up your own mind. I will be sharing my opinion in future articles, so wait until then to disagree with me. The final 20, ten girls, and ten guys, consists of two 16 year old contestant, Haeley Vaughn, and Aaron Kelly. Katie Stevens is the lone 17 year old, while Katelyn Epperly, and Alex Lambert are the two 19 year old contestants.

Casey James, and Jermaine Sellers are the senior citizens of the group, at 27 years old. There is one 26 year old, Michael Lynch. Several 24 year old contestants make up some of the field, those being Crystal Bowersox, Lacey Brown, Paige Miles, Andrew Garcia, and Todrick Hall.Didi Benami, and Lee Dewyze are 23, and Michelle Delamor is 22. John Park is the only 21 year old, and filling out the top 20 are 20 year old Tim Urban, Siobhan Magnus, and Lily Scott. And there you have it.

The only other thing you need to know about Idol this year, is about the one crazy contestant, an older gentleman, who sang his original song, I think it was his, of 'Pants On the Ground." It was funny, and you should 'You Tube " it. Other than that, you are all caught up. Enjoy the top 20, and, as always, stayed tuned.