‘American Idol’ Rankings: Gwen Stefani Lights a Fire Under the Top 8

Idol celebrated 80s night April 4, and Ryan Seacrest even managed to get from his New York City Today Show appearance all the way back to Los Angeles in the same day in time to tape Idol, looking no worse for the wear. The top eight contestants enjoyed pointers from this week’s mentors, No Doubt founding members Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal, and while they both delivered some choice advice, the hard mentoring was already taken care of by Diddy and Stevie Nicks over the past two weeks. These guys had it easy. But it’s not just because Diddy and Stevie were so spot on, it’s also getting to that point in the competition where the proverbial fat starts to separate. 

For almost the entire competition, we’ve had Joshua Ledet, Jessica Sanchez, Phillip Phillips, Colton Dixon, and Skylar Laine taking turns cycling through the top five slots, while Hollie Cavanagh has muddled around the middle and DeAndre Brackensick and Elise Testone have tried their hardest to stay out of the bottom three. But now, we’re getting closer to the end and it’s getting harder and harder for the struggling acts to rise above the competition’s longtime frontrunners. Brackensick made another great break for it, Phillips got slightly off kilter, and Cavanagh lost her way, but even with those factors, the differences between the top nine and top eight rankings are almost nonexistent. 

And when the rankings are getting predictable, that means it’s time to start making bets for who’ll make it to the finale. See our rankings below and then let us know who you think might take it all the way.