by Ginger Voight

Created on: April 18, 2009   Last Updated: April 20, 2009

For a show that gleefully indulges in bad singing at the onset of every season, by the time we get to the semifinals and the finals one would hope that all the cringe worthy performances are behind them. Sadly, that is not always the case, and those final few who make it through the gauntlet can (and do) offer up some memorable stinkers.

Websites like Vote for the Worst, who pride themselves as Idol Killjoys, revel in these Best of the Worst, and surprisingly enough much maligned contestant Sanjaya was not on their final list, even though his faux-hawked version of No Doubt's "Bathwater" made sure he ended up on EW's.

Brooke White surprisingly ended up on neither, although her blooper was one of the more unfortunate in recent Idol history. It's one thing to forget your lyrics, which is a huge Idol no-no. It's another thing entirely to start your whole performance over again. She did this not once, but twice once during "Every Breath You Take" and another, more unforgivable time with Evita's "You Must Love Me".

Awkward hairstyles and uncomfortable bloopers aside, sometimes a contestant picks a song that is so completely contrary to their nature it simply becomes unwatchable.

High on that list is Season 5's Kevin Covais (aka Chicken Little) when he attempted the Stevie Wonder risque classic "Part Time Lover". Not only was the song beyond his vocal reach, but his attempt to seduce through suggestive lyrics about a clandestine and adulterous tryst was as sincere as it was ridiculous.

Likewise when big band crooner David Radford, also from Season 5, tried to jive it up for "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". If he was trying to prove his own artistic relevance, and the relevance of crooning in general, Queen wasn't the way to go.

It was as ill fitting as when redheaded teenager John Stevens attempted to get in touch with his Latin side by choosing Gloria Estefan's "Music of My Heart", which prompted Simon to deliver the biting review that John and Latin music went together like "chocolate and an onion".

The only thing worse than singing a song you can't identify with is picking a song you unintentionally do. Once Season 5's Kellie Pickler identified her public brand as one of permanent bewilderment, picking a song like "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" meant she had to knock it out of the park to avoid it becoming a self parody. Sadly, as Ms. Pickler admitted, "Ah butchered it!".

As Season 1 had the biggest heights to reach, it also had the longest way to fall, and fall Nikki McKibben did with an unfortunate "There's Always Something There to Remind Me". Despite her hanging on to become a third place finalist, her name will forever be linked with The Best of the Worst thanks to this inappropriately perky, out of tune performance.

And thanks to YouTube, there will always be something there to remind us.

We've come a long way since then, and thankfully the good performances have always outnumbered the bad. But if you're hanging in there for those cringe inducing, train wreck performances, these contestants (among others), have proven you don't have to stop watching at Hollywood Week.

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