Hollywood Week is Upon Us: My American Idol Top 24

I was going to hold off on my Hollywood Week recap until tomorrow but, well, I can’t not say something about the hasty elimination of Melanie Tierce tonight. It wouldn’t bother me so much if the producers didn’t follow up with a ticket for hyper-fan with the bangs and the hat, Michelle Marie. I’m sure she is a lovely girl but we’re looking for a star. An Idol if you will. Perhaps the truth is, neither were going to make the top 24 and Michelle will be more interesting in group week. Whatever the reason, and we’ll never know, these are the things that get my goat!

For fun and just so I can see how completely out of touch with reality I am, here is my top 24 at this point. I had a top 25 but lost two tonight (Melanie and Jake Dillon) plus I forgot a few so here’s how I see it from night one of Hollywood Week. I’m also throwing in Twitter stats because I think it’s interesting to see how many followers they have, how they use social media and how that correlates with votes down the road. I just realized I’m a complete nerd. Probably nobody cares about that but me.

Dalton Rapattoni – Dude does David Cook-esque audition and has cool eyes. @FlyAwayDalton already has 82k Twitter followers so he must already be somebody somewhere.

Mackenzie Bourg – Because he is all the things. @mackenziebourg already has a blue checkmark and 79k followers too. He’s legit.

Joshua Wicker – Cool new dad and Worship Leader with a guitar. @joshuawicker only has 1,300 followers. I like underdogs.

Thomas Stringfellow – He is One Direction adorable and I think the girls will vote for him a lot. @singfellows either just got a new Twitter or doesn’t know how to use it. He’s too cute and young to only have 222 followers. Fix that kids.

Lee Jean – Seems like a down to earth kid with a great voice. Slightly confused about whether @leejeanJr is really him but he’s already got 9k followers so that’s good either way.

Chris “CJ” Johnson – We need rockers and this guy is my favorite. @CJsingsforyou only has 335 followers so we’ll see.

Zach Person – Not a lot of male blues singers with this much talent have made it this far. Fingers crossed. @zachpersonmusic doesn’t have a huge following. Hard to imagine Joshua Wicker has this kid beat?

John Wayne Shulz – Cowboy! And we need a country guy and this one is smooth. @JWSFans was too hard to figure out and that annoys me a little but he has over a thousand followers. Chicks like him.

Manny Torres – Idol’s last audition ever with a fun personality. Can we say HWG (Hispanic with Guitar)? @mannyTorres_ is working Twitter and I think that helps. He’s over 2k so he’s good on followers.

Adam Lasher – We didn’t see Adam tonight but he Twitter confirmed that he’s still in it. Looks good sounds good. @AdamLasher is having fun tweeting about group rounds and has over 3k followers. He should be fine.

Brandyn Burnette – Bruno Mars Jr. who got an awkward man embrace from Harry. @brandynburnette is in Bourg and Rapattoni league with 62k followers and a blue check.

Trent Harmon (Unless…Mono) then Elvie Shayne – I wasn’t really aware of Trent Harmon until tonight but if he sings that good with mono, things can only get better. If he passes out, I’m doubling down on rockers with Elvie Shayne (who Twitter confirmed that he made it to group rounds) @trentWHarmon has over 3k and @elvieshaynemusic tweets with @ryanseacrest so both interesting.

Tristan McIntosh – Hasn’t hit a wrong note yet. Great voice, adorable, super good at Twitter. @tristanmcintosh uses Twitter like a pro, or like a normal 15-year-old. I think her 8,000 followers will have her back.

Emily Brooke – I’m convinced they held her out last year to have her for the final season. Perfect country girl. @emilybrookestar got a head start last year but girl has 39k followers and #EmsGems is super adorable.

Jenna Renae – Yes, yes and more yes. @JennaRenaeMusic needs more followers. She’s way too good to only have 986 followers.

Colette Lush – I don’t think she got screen time tonight but I’m sure she still has red hair and hopefully isn’t wearing those striped pants. @ColetteLushGing (cutest Twitter name so far) 1,444 followers but I think she’ll do fine.

Olivia Rox – I’m on the fence with Olivia because we didn’t see too much of her tonight but I like how she always wears pink so I can keep track of her. @oliviaroxstar is tweeting about Hollywood Week and has 1,600 followers and I”m running out of clever comments.

Jessica Cabral – Yes, always, I’d say top twelve already. @jessiicaCabral doesn’t have a ton of followers. I want to blame it on the spelling but she needs to pick up her Twitter game a little.

Jordyn Simone – I still remember this girl because of her smile and her voice that in no way belongs to a 15-year-old. Didn’t see her tonight so I’m hopeful she’s still around. I’m feeling nervous about this pick now with @JordynSimone1 only having 350 followers.

Amelia Eisenhauer – We didn’t see her tonight but I’m still hung up on her fiddle skills. @AmeliaJE_ seems to do fine with the Tweets but I don’t like twitter handles with These_ things_.

La’Porsha Renae – I added her tonight because I completely underestimated her voice and overrated her hair. So good! @KokumoAsha is hard to type and harder to find without a few sketchy mis-clicks. But I did learn that momma is matching her songs to her dresses and I want to see all kinds of that!

Jenn Blosil – Little bit like Joey Cook from last year and so much less stoned, I mean sleepy, tonight. The J-Blo comment killed me. @jennblosil doesn’t follow anyone and that troubles me.

Chynna Sherrod – I always like girls that are just chill. Chynna is chill but her name freaks out my Autocorrect! @Chyy_Sherrod has 860 followers and seems pretty normal. Maybe too normal for top 12 but a cool girl.

Amber Lynn – I run the risk of choosing a couple of girls that are similar here but Amber was a star early so I”m sticking with her. @AmberLynn_Music didn’t even have a Twitter until last week (I don’t think) but she liked my comment so I love her. But really, people, follow this girl or she’ll never win.

I used to do an office pool for American Idol (shoutout to funofficepools.com) and I went all in on Scotty McCreery and won a bunch of money! Soon after I wasn’t so lucky with Colton Dixon and I haven’t been able to pick a winner since. It’s a fun game anyway.

See you Thursday for the drama and the fainting and the yelling, not my favorite round but I’ll be sad when it’s all over.