Jacob Lusk - Fox photo Scotty McCreery - Fox photo Thia Megia - Fox photo Robbie Rosen - Fox photo

Video Beat Part 3 - AMERICAN IDOL'S TOP 3 VOICES

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

After sifting through seven city auditions from which 327 yellow tickets to Hollywood were issued the cream of the crop is starting to surface - Recommended TV Listings

Thursday March 10, 2011

TOP OF THE LIST

Overall after seeing American Idol self distruct over the past several seasons it has been born again. This is the best talent we've ever witnessed since season four our fist exposure to the show. This talent includes those whom we think have the best voices that have performed during the history of show.

After sifting through seven city auditions from which 327 yellow tickets to Hollywood were issued the cream of the crop is starting to surface. Up to the top 24 it was difficult to recognize who the best is given that much of the previous programming this season was devoted to airing some of the comedic moments of contestants who were rejected. It's video footage that ads color to the program. Now that the dust has started to settle and the Top 13 contestants have been selected three voices stand out as being the best of the bunch.

Jacob Lusk 23 has the best voice that we have ever heard on the show since our first exposure to the program in season 4. Judge Randy considered his performance of Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child" during the Hollywood rounds the best ever seen on Idol.

Lusk has great tone, range and voice inflections. His problem is although he has a great voice there hasn't been a black contestant that has won the show in years. The adolescent voting has been primarily favoring country styled singers.

Lusk has his own website: http://www.jacob-lusk.com It gives his background but also reveals some interesting information regarding the use of social media of Idol contestants on Twitter. The relevance of this information on Lusk's site ads credibility to his integrity and talent as it shows that of the 13 contestants he is one of the least followed with only 431 followers. Paul McDonald's 2,450 followers top the list.

Country singer Scott McCreery 17 is our second choice for the best voice. His deep voice stands out among the group and win or not he is as good as any country artist on the market today. He could have a hit song in his first attempt. Being a country singer he has a great chance to win the title. He is the second most popular with 1,552 Twitter followers.

Our third choice is the Thia Megia 16 the youngest contestant in the competition. Judge Jennifer Lopez said of Megia to the other judges (off the microphone but heard), "There's something special about her." Though young, Megia has experience. She competed on season 4 of America's Got Talent and made it to the quarterfinals. Her tone is special and here wholesome look helps her stand out. She is the third most popular among Twitter followers with 1,181.

Though Idol has made several positive changes this season the most flagrant problem has yet to be addressed that being stuffing the ballot box which is the reason given for the surprising win in season 8 of Kris Allen over Adam Lambert.

This season Idol voters can vote via the Internet BUT they are permitted 50 votes. This contributes to the ballot stuffing problem and is unfair to the contestants. It would seem that with the Internet technology available today there should be screening of who votes and permit only one vote per computer ID. Also yet to be explained is who is Telescope the British owned company that is responsible for tabulating the votes. That explanation is overdue.

Robbie Rosen was the best of those given a wild card chance to remain on the show but failed. Rosen made a strong showing up to the Top 24. His voice and talent was good enough to make it to number seven as did Jennifer Hudson and (let us bow our heads and pray) Sanjaya Malakar. Rosen's rendition of Elton John's "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" was OK but he tried too many vocal tricks away from the melody.

Some of the problems in the final elimination stages of the competition that lead to their departure from the show are nerves, trying too hard and not relying on their voice. They try to do what they think others want to hear and don't know where their true talent is. They think too much and really don't know who they are as a performer when a true performer lets it out from the gut and soul without thinking... it's about feeling.

IDOL TWITTER FOLLOWER NUMBERS & ID'S from: http://www.jacob-lusk.com

* Haley Reinhart - @HReinhartAI10 (694 followers)

* Thia Megia - @TMegiaAI10 (1,181 followers)

* Karen Rodriguez - @KRodriguezAI10 (419 followers)

* Naima Adedapo - @NAdedapoAI10 (389 followers)

* Ashthon Jones - @AJonesAI10 (296 followers)

* Pia Toscano - @PToscanoAI10 (794 followers)

* Lauren Alaina - @LAlainaAI10 (829 followers)

* Jacob Lusk - @JLuskAI10 (431 followers)

* James Durbin - @JDurbinAI10 (572 followers)

* Stefano Langone - @SLangoneAI10 (799 followers)

* Scotty McCreery - @SMcCreeryAI10 (1,552 followers)

* Paul McDonald - @PMcDonaldAI10 (2,450 followers)

* Casey Abrams - CAbramsAI10 (839 followers)

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