It started out with 24 in February . . . and, on May 21, 2008 - David Cook became the 7th American Idol!

Welcome to the "CoJo" American Idol Season 7 Pool brought to you by your sponsor, KatharineFans.com and hosted by Commissioner Co (DJ CoBaby) and Scorekeeper Joe (sjwolves).

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To help you get to know the contestants better click on the American Idol link to read more about them.   Listed below are the Top 12 Males and 12 Females making up this Season's Top 24 Contestants.

Males

Chikezie - Eliminated on 3/19/08

Colton Berry - Eliminated on 2/21/08

Danny Noreiga - Eliminated on 3/6/08

David Archuleta - Eliminated on 5/21/08

DAVID COOK - Crowned the winner on May 21, 2008

David Hernandez - Eliminated on 3/12/08

Garrett Haley - Eliminated on 2/21/08

Jason Castro - Eliminated on 5/7/08

Jason Yeager - Eliminated on 2/28/08

Luke Menard - Eliminated on 3/6/08

Michael Johns - Eliminated 4/10/08

Robbie Carrico - Eliminated on 2/28/08

Females

Alaina Whitaker - Eliminated on 2/28/08  

Alexandrea Lushington - Eliminated on 2/28/08

Amanda Overmeyer - Eliminated on 3/19/08

Amy Davis - Eliminated on 2/21/08

Asia’h Epperson - Eliminated on 3/6/08

Brooke White - Eliminated on 4/30/08

Carly Smithson - Eliminated on 4/22/08

Joanne Borgella - Eliminated on 2/21/08

Kady Malloy - Eliminated on 3/6/08

Kristy Lee Cook - Eliminated 4/16/08

Ramiele Malubay - Eliminated on 4/2/08

Syesha Mercado - Eliminated on 5/14/08

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Pool Rules:

1.  All those participating in the pool will need to choose your selections by each week's deadline, which will be posted in bold at bottom of the Pool Rules.

2.   If you post your selection(s) after the deadline it will not be included and you will not receive any points for that week.

3.   If a player can not post their selection on this thread by said deadline, you may e-mail your selection(s) to the Pool Commissioner (DJ CoBaby) or Offical Scorekeeper (sjwolves) - this is the ONLY exception.  NOTE: This exception is not to be taken advantage of and should only be used when you are unable to post your selection by deadline.

4.  Check this post weekly for any changes and updates.

Pool Summary -

The Top 12 Elimination Selection Ballot Entries can be found on PAGE 6.   The Bonus Round - Super Six Ballots are on Page 15. 

Elimination selections for, this past, Tuesday, May 13 are on Page 20 

The final selections for which David will take the American Idol crown on, May 20, are posted Page 22.

Congratulations to Vadia, who was the winner of the American Idol Season 7 - CoJo Pool!!!  Vadia held the sole position of 1st Place, four weeks in a row, giving her the CoJo Pool Title!  Check out the rest of the Final Pool Standings on Page 23!

 This post is for the Semi-finals Round 1 of the AI 7 Pool

Please post your screen name and the Four people - (two males/two females) who you think will be eliminated this week - selections due by Thursday, Feb. 21 by 2 p.m.  PST / 5 p.m. EST. 

Player Instructions:  Copy and paste your screen name and selections on your post.  All pool participant selections will be copied/pasted on this post shortly after the deadline. 

Round 1 - February 21, 2008

Round 1      February 21, 2008

Screen Name: maddie
Two Males: Garrett Haley, Colton Berry
Two Females: Joanne Borgella, Brooke White

Round 1 - February 21, 2008

Screen Name: Mattsie

Two Males: Garrett Haley, Luke Menard

Two Females: Amy Davis, Joanne Borgella

Here’s my full rankings for this week:

Guys

1. Michael Johns

2. David Cook

3. Jason Castro

4. David Archuleta

5. Robbie Carrico

6. David Hernandez

7. Colton Berry

8. Danny Noriega

9. Chikezie

10. Garrett Haley

11. Jason Yaeger

12. Luke Menard

For me picking two guys to go was pretty easy.  I don’t think Garrett was any better than Jason or Luke but I think he’ll skate by because he’s got a little personality at least.  The bottom two here were just dull and that’s what gets you booted at this stage.  Dull is much worse than bad.

As far as standouts, I think the first five guys I have listed all showed themselves very well and I think they are well positioned to make the Top 12 at this point.  The fight is on for the last spot in my opinion.

Girls

1. Syesha Mercado

2. Ramiele Malubay

3. Asia’h Epperson

4. Carly Smithson

5. Alaina Whitaker

6. Brooke White

7. Alexandrea Lushington

8. Kady Malloy

9. Amanda Overmyer

10. Kristy Lee Cook

11. Joanne Borgella

12. Amy Davis

I think Amy is a lock to go home on Thursday.  The second one came down to Kristy Lee or Joanne and while neither one was all that great I think Kristy Lee is going to eek out enough votes to nudge out Joanne.  I’m sure a lot of people like Amanda more than I do but…I just didn’t get it.  The whole time the judges were talking to Kady I kept thinking, “Time to sing ‘Think’ next week so you can have fun, fun, fun girl!”  I’m holding out hope for Kady next week because I do like her a lot but she needs to bring it or she could be in trouble.  I didn’t love Alexandrea as much as Randy & Paula did but she was good.  I really like Brooke, I think she’s got a unique voice and a cool personality.  The one that surprised me the most was Alaina.  Just from my sense of the auditions and Hollywood, I had her as a potential elimination pick before I even watched the show but she was quite good.

I’ll go new paragraph for the Top 4 girls because I think that’s where the contest really is on this side.  I was totally with Simon on Carly.  I think she’s really good but I don’t like her as much as some people do (Randy & Paula included).  The ones I do really like are Syesha, Ramiele and Asia’h.  Syesha is my favorite though.  For me, right now it’s between Syesha & Michael for the win but it’s early and I don’t have to make that pick yet.

Good lord, it appears this board gave the illusion I was signed in here all night when I actually wasn't here. I was just getting ready to post my results last night when Comcast went down for the night due to repairs on the main cable line. So, apologies if you think I sat here all night in a catatonic state.

Ok, here's my predictions--even though I'm going to be quite busy in the weeks ahead with heavy-duty writing projects and not sure I'll be able to continue being in the pool all the way through.

Two Females:   Joanne Borgella; Amy Davis

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I have a lot to say about what's happened so far. But, mainly, I'm a bit ticked at Simon for putting down one thing I champion for coming back: Simpler singing. This year (if maybe lacking somewhat in standout personalities) it actually has singers who actually don't abuse the melisma for a change. Frankly, we need to get back to simpler singing in the music world before singers start spending fifteen minutes on one musical line. I know Kat's into melismas--but she usually does them judiciously.

Overall, I get the feeling a guy will win this year--despite a lot of them being soft-spoken and almost (ok, I'll mimic Simon) having a surprising sense of being old-fashioned. The girls are mostly sub-par (despite many of them having the flu)--and I agree with Joe that I feel Syesha Mercado will be the surprise favorite with the girls down the road. She was one of the best of the night last night with that spark you sense will go places. Alaina Whitaker perhaps has the best quality timbre to her voice.

It's not surprising that those who get hyped early end up falling apart. While I'm rooting for Oregonian Kristy Lee Cook--she just didn't take off last night. But, as we've learned--these contestants always change in the coming weeks once they become adapted to the environment. I'm expecting everything to flip-flop in ensuing weeks, which will only make this pool more challenging.

Well, it's not as if we didn't go crazy last year with all the left turns.

I agree with all of that Bill.  But I imagine it could be difficult to come on a show and the first performance you give they say, "I like when you are someone else but when you are yourself it's 'Night of The Living Dead'"  It might be hard not to have a teensy bit of attitude to comments like that.  I know Kat got knocked for her facial expressions in response to some judge comments and I didn't think anything of it.

The more important thing for Kady is that she needs to sing better.  That's all.  Funny about Alaina/Carrie.  I thought the same thing.

Co........

you've put down the incorrect males for my picks, honest, i never changed them.......thanks, maddie mcpheever

Maddie, you're OK.  The results show hasn't happened yet.  You're allowed to change your mind until then.  Or until the deadline which I think is right around now.

Yay, Vadia is back in the pool!  We've got 12 at the moment.  I'll say this on my own...if anyone else wants to chip in their picks before 8 PM ET/5 PM PT...we'll take you now.  I'd like as many people as possible so if anyone else is out there feel free until then.  After that...you'll be behind a week if you want to play.

Oops...boy, I forgot all about the deadline.

Well, I don't expect any preferential treatment. My picks (as I posted in the performance threads) would have been:

2 Guys: Garrett Haley and Chikezie Eze

2 Girls:  Amy Davis and Joanne Borgella

Posted By a3boymom on 02/21/2008 5:32 PM
I signed up but I've never done this before so this is the first I've looked at this post. Help Co...I don't know what to do

Copy and paste the below text into a new post and add your picks to go home tonight...

Here's my Top 12

1. Carly Smithson
2. Michael Johns
3. Alaina Whitaker
4. David Archuleta
5. Ramiele Malubay
6. David Cook
7. Syesha Mercado
8. Danny Noriega
9. Amanda Overmyer
10. Robbie Carrico
11. Brooke White
12. David Hernandez