Sunday, January 13, 2008

IDOL MADNESS: Cowell Brackets Seeding and First Round Match-Ups



Voting for this round ends Thursday January 17 at 11:59PM EST

We have seeded the candidates based both on their performance on the show and their accomplishments since then. Most of the finalists are seeded within 3 spots of their rank on the show (i.e. if a finalist was 3rd on the show, they can’t be seeded lower than 6th in the bracket) and we have made sure candidates from the same seasons can not face each other in the first two rounds.

Other than that, it’s pretty subjective and we have tried to keep it interesting and balanced. Now it’s up to you to vote! Polls are now open!

COWELL BRACKET

1st round match-ups:

#1 Kelly Clarkson vs. #16 Melissa McGhee
#2 Ruben Studdard vs. #15 Stephanie Edwards
#3 Tamyra Gray vs. #14 Chris Sligh**
#4 Jennifer Hudson vs. #13 Haley Scarnato
#5 Bo Bice vs. #12 Lisa Tucker
#6 Jasmine Trias vs. #11 Rickey Smith
#7 George Huff vs. #10 Kellie Pickler **
#8 Scott Savol vs. #9 Chris Richardson

**Featured match

We tried to keep all the brackets pretty even but if there was a “Bracket of Death”, it would be this one. #1 seed is the first ever American Idol, multi-platinum, 2-time Grammy Award winner Kelly Clarkson, who starts off the action against play-in winner Melissa McGhee from Season 5. Barring any upsets, she could face the only Oscar winner in the competition, #4 seed, Jennifer Hudson, in the Sweet Sixteen.

In the other half of the bracket, Season 2 winner Ruben Studdard could face tough competition from the likes of #15 seed Stephanie Edwards (Season 6), country favorite #10 seed Kellie Pickler (Season 5), and #3 seed Tamyra Gray just to get to the bracket finals. Whoever wins this bracket will definitely be a force in the Final Four!

Check back for my predictions on who will be victorious in their first round match-ups.

And remember, voting starts now!

Seed Name Season / Place
1 Kelly Clarkson 1 / 1
2 Ruben Studdard 2/ 1
3 Tamyra Gray 1 /4
4 Jennifer Hudson 3 / 7
5 Bo Bice 4 / 2
6 Jasmine Trias 3 / 3
7 George Huff 3 / 5
8 Scott Savol 4 / 5
9 Chris Richardson 6 / 5
10 Kellie Pickler 5 / 6
11 Rickey Smith 2 / 8
12 Lisa Tucker 5 / 10
13 Haley Scarnato 6 / 8
14 Chris Sligh 6 / 10
15 Stephanie Edwards 6 / 11
16 Melissa McGhee 5 / 12







2 comments:

Unknown said...

The thing I hate most about these is when there are two people I love going up against each other (Clarkson v. McGhee or Huff v. Pickler) and two people I dislike or don't care about or even don't rmember (Trias v. Smith or Hudson v. Scarnato). It's so hard to pick sometimes!

Anonymous said...

I quote from your description: "We have seeded the candidates based both on their performance on the show and their accomplishments since then. Most of the finalists are seeded within 3 spots of their rank on the show (i.e. if a finalist was 3rd on the show, they can’t be seeded lower than 6th in the bracket"

However, you have Kellie seeded 10th and she finished 6th. She is one of the most accomplished Finalists below the top two of any season (along with Chris and Jennifer), and better than the 2nd place finisher of most seasons. I would say she should be seeded much higher than her finish.

What gives?