CHIKEZIE
Okay, I'll be the first to admit it: Chikezie may not be the ''favorite'' of the competition. And he may very well lack some of the ''talent'' and ''charisma'' of the other contestants. He may not have picked the best ''songs,'' and he may not have sung them particularly ''well'' (at least before Beatles night), but he does have one thing in abundance: heart. He showed it when he was named the final member of the top 12. Instead of celebrating, the 22-year-old Californian was more concerned with comforting a crestfallen Danny Noriega, hugging him so hard I thought (and perhaps secretly hoped) he was going to suffocate the sassy little scamp. That's when he became my American Idol. Plus, his name rhymes with Parcheesi, and that's kinda cool too. —Dalton Ross