I've been holding off from writing much about this year's American Idol competition while the audition rounds, Hollywood week, and the initial eliminations ran through, but now the final finalists have made it through to the... er... final, here's a run-down of who's who and what's what. Delayed slightly by our temporary absence over the weekend. *shrug*

I've got to say that for the first time in a number of years, the list of finalists contains only a handful of stand-outs for me. Throughout the elimination process the judges have been saying that the standard this year is one of the highest they've known, and yet for some reason many of those remaining are not particularly memorable. Yet. Mind you, I should be careful what I say. This time last year a gentleman by the name of David Cook had completely passed me by at the start of the finals and went on to win it. Which only proves that I'd be crap as an A&R man.

Adam Lambert
26 years old from Los Angeles, CA
Despite his emo look, Adam can really belt out the big numbers. One of those unmemorable ones for me so far, but he's bound to appeal to a certain demographic.

Alexis Grace
21 years old from Memphis, TN.
Already compared to Kelly Clarkson, Alexis has yet to become totally comfortable with performing on stage. Her singing has split the audience with many saying she got through mainly on looks.

Allison Iraheta
16 years old from Los Angeles, CA.
One of two 16-year-olds to make it to this year's final, Allison has an extremely powerful voice that belies her youth. Selected by Simon as 'one to watch' in this year's competition I suspect she'll be in it for the long haul.

Anoop Desai
21 years old from Chapel Hill, NC.
Anoop, a grad student from North Carolina, is hugely popular. Thinking he had bombed out of the final Wild Card show, he was then treated to Cowell's immortal words: "Anoop, we've decided - quite recently - that it's going to be a final 13." Whatever the outcome of this year's show he'll go down in history as the first "number 13" in an AI final.

Danny Gokey
28 years old from Milwaukee, WI
Danny was the first contestant to become memorable for me this year, for two reasons. Firstly he can *really* sing - the passion he puts into every performance is real, and obvious. And secondly, he has the year's best sob story. His wife died mere weeks before his first audition and she always wanted to see him succeed with his singing. His only problem is likely to be his similarity to David Cook.

Jasmine Murray
16 years old from Starkville, MS.
Jasmine was the first to make it through from the Wild Card show and is the second 16-year-old in the contest. But you'd never know it from her song choices. She loves doing those big Mariah and Whitney numbers. She's been warned several times to be younger - will she take the hint?

Jorge Nunez
20 years old from Carolina, PR.
I have a downer on Jorge from the start because for me, he took the place that should have belonged to Ju'not Joyner. Jorge's singing style verges on the shouting, but as the last remaining auditionee from Puerto Rico he has a large voter base guaranteed.




Kris Allen
23 years old from Conway, AR.
Who? That's right - another one who slipped almost completely unnoticed into the final 13. He could be the one of whom I say this year "he'll be out in the first few weeks" and then proves to be a total dark horse.

Lil Rounds
23 years old from Memphis, TN.
In complete contrast to Kris above, Lil stood out from day one. Every year this competition includes someone who seems already more than capable of both singing and performing. It's as if they were born to it. Or maybe they've had lots of coaching or lots of experience. Think Melinda Dolittle from Season Six. She could easily go all the way.

Matt Giraud
23 years old from Kalamazoo, MI.
A very strong early showing gave Matt a higher profile than many of his compatriots in this contest, and he also plays a mean piano, which, since instruments were first introduced last year has made a big difference to the staying power of several contestants. At the moment, I'd put him firmly in the top half of the pack, even though he was a Wild Carder.

Megan Joy Corkrey
22 years old from Sandy, UT.
You might not have noticed Megan for her voice, but you could hardly miss her tattoos. Another survivor of the Wild Card show - where she sang Black Horse and the Cherry Tree (very well), she can be variable in her performances and, as a wild carder, clearly has some way to go to impress the voters.



Michael Sarver
27 years old from Jasper, TX
At 27 the oldest contestant in the final 13, Michael has a gravelly voice and stood out by being one of two "working men" to get through to Hollywood. Not yet possessed of a definite style, so he'll struggle to find a solid voter pack, in my opinion.



Scott MacIntyre
23 years old from Scottsdale, AZ.
Scott has two degrees of tunnel vision, so he's legally registered blind and has been from birth. For this reason, he's often more confident behind his keyboard, but wherever he is, he can really sing, as he proved with the delivery of Mandolin Rain in the 3rd elimination show.