'American Idol': Top 16 power rankings, schedule for next three weeks

My weekly power rankings for the top 8 guys and top 8 girls.

First, the guys

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

1. Qaasim Middleton. The man looks unstoppable. You can quibble about this vocals but you can't complain about his off-the-charts performance skills. (last week: 2)

2. Nick Fradiani. Last week wasn't his best performance but he's still a lock for the top 12. (last week: 1)

3. Quentin Alexander. He also was a bit underwhelming compared to last week, but he brings enough uniqueness to merit an easy top 12 slot. ( last week: 4)

4. Clark Beckham. He has mostly sung classics and sung them well. Can he be a modern artist? (last week: 3)

5. Rayvon Owen. He is the smoothest of all the singers but is there such a thing as too smooth? He may have to show more to keep the audience voting but I think he should get in.  ( last week: 8)

6. Daniel Seavey . Our adorable little Daniel has real potential but as we've said 100 times already, he is unsteady and unpredictable. But the judges love him. I predict he won't get a top 5 vote among the guys but will probably get the wild card from the judges. (last week: 5)

7. Adam Ezegelian. I am one of the few people who gets a kick out of him. He's fun and likable. But wow, he is really odd to look at. He somehow made it through last week but I just can't see him moving forward. (last week: 12)

8. Mark Andrew. He just isn't that interesting. Again I have him at the bottom with Adam. Am I deluded? ( last week: 11)

The ladies:

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

1. Sarina Joi-Crowe - She could win this whole competition. She has the whole package. We haven't heard her stumble yet. ( last week- 1)

2. Tyanna Jones - This kid somehow made "Rockin' Robin" palatable. That's a feat! She has been impressively consistent given her tender age. (last week - 3)

3. Jax - She is an artist, plain and simple. She is in for sure. (last week -2)

4. Joey Cook. Now it gets tricky. All of the females outside the top 3 have serious flaws. Joey is "hyper stylized," as HCJ calls it, and that has gotten her this far but may ultimately limit her appeal. For now, she should go through. If she doesn't make the top 5, I'm sure the judges would give her a slot. (last week - 5)

5. Loren Lott. What she lacks in artistry (like a truly defined approach to her singing), she makes up in personality and powerful vocals. I think she's safe. ( last week -6)

6. Adanna Duru. She has more style than Loren but seems to be a bit short in the type of warmth and likability that could win this competition. ( last week - 7)

7. Maddie Walker. Her voice is fine but that scared look on her face is off putting to the max. ( last week - 11)

8. Alexis Gomez. No way she's coming back after last week's disaster. ( last week - 8)

If this is the bottom three, I bet the judges would give Maddie the wild-card for diversity purposes. If the judges were able to bring back any of the other four women, I'd take Lovey but that doesn't appear to be an option. We'll see.

I have a feeling I'm going to be wrong, especially with the guys. It seems like either Adam and Mark will survive and take one of the slots I've given to Clark, Daniel or Rayvon. Among the women, if Maddie takes Loren's spot in the top 5, the judges might bring back Loren anyway as a wild card. I think they like her a smidge more than Adanna. I can't see any path for Alexis to return.

MJ provided us the schedule for the next two weeks: