87 is much more damning than landing at No. Think of the contestants near the listвЂ™s very bottom as the most likely contestants for an All- Idol rebirth of Vote for the Worst, the now-mothballed site that encouraged chicanery through democracy and buoyed the Idol stays of more than a few less-than-deserving individuals. (An important note: As in the Idol world, sometimes the terrible can actually be the best for the purposes of each individual seasonвЂ™s dramatic arc.

He was lying, but he meant well, and anyway, the audience knew what he meant: вЂњYou canвЂ™t win if you sound like that.вЂќ вЂњItвЂ™s a singing competition,вЂќ Simon Cowell would drone again and again when he found someoneвЂ™s performance not quite up to par. The willingness to stand up for artistic choices, even if doing so results in some British acidity being flung back. During the seriesвЂ™ second half, the hegemony of white guys with guitars - WGWGs -В held on to the top, with one key exception those artists who played a little more fast and loose with the showвЂ™s themes were dispatched after adding sizzle to the finalsвЂ™ early weeks.Д«ut even with the vagaries of genre and style, certain aspects of being a pop star -В an idol -В remain intact and heavily informed our rankings, which only focuses on the work these singers offered up during their Idol runs. R&B became more of a way to spice up folk-pop than a genre with its own solid footing in pop, or at least in the Idol top two.

As time went on, leading ladies with voices that could cut through Top 40 radioвЂ™s clutter gave way to easygoing strummers operating in the vein of Jason Mraz and Gavin DeGraw. Carrie UnderwoodвЂ™s season-four victory allowed Idol to mark some territory in Nashville, while Chris DaughtryвЂ™s fifth-season deployment of Shinedown and Live helped nudge open the door to performers bearing instruments, who were finally allowed inside the Idol sanctum in season seven. In its early years, Idol stridently looked back, with only the occasional sop to present-day music and a laser focus on vocals above all. IdolвЂ™s finalist slate, and the songs they sang to rising-then-falling ratings, doubles as a vague map of how вЂњpopвЂќ shifted its boundaries in the early 21st century. (Thanks to the variance of talent pools and FoxвЂ™s faith in IdolвЂ™s ability to pump up its ratings, the number of finalists has varied from season to season the final runвЂ™s finalist-tally of ten matches that of its first year.) As a warm-up for this final run through the Idol choreography, weвЂ™ve decided to rank those singers who have reached the almost-winnerвЂ™s circle. Only 168 people in the world can currently claim to be American Idol finalists at the end of February, that number will rise to 178. If they stick it out, and keep their energy up through some semifinal rounds, contestants can reach the finals, where theyвЂ™re guaranteed airtime, glammed-up makeovers, more pointed critiques, and the promise of mugging for a major sponsor or two. The departing reality competition kicked off its final Hollywood Week, the post-audition boot camp where contestants are deprived of sleep and forced to work with each other and generally subjected to other horrible conditions. This week, American Idol began the actual business of finding its 15th winner. Photo-Illustration: Maya Robinson and Photos by FOX/Getty Images

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