After thousands of online entrants, the field for the American Idol Songwriting Competition has been narrowed down to 20 songs that sound like they could only have been written for the American Idol Songwriting Competition.

Fans can listen to each of the Top 20 entries over at the official American Idol website and vote for your favorite. Last year's winner, the grammatically ridiculous "This Is My Now" became the first single of Jordin Sparks' debut album.

This year's contenders:

"Align" – Written by James Smithson
"All You Will Need" – Written by Lauren Dion and Phil Minardi
"Believe" – Written by John Buchanan
"Dream Big" – Written by Emily Shackelton
"Faith" – Written by Zach Ziskin
"Fly Me Away" – Written by Scott Sheets
"Here I Am" – Written by Tom Kitt, Matt Zarley, and Andy Zulla
"In This Moment" – Written by Ryan Gillmor
"No Turning Back" – Written by Luke Ebbin and  Curt Schneider
"Only Love" – Written by Ken Stacey, Windy Wagner and David Walsh
"Overcome" – Written by Mark Holman
"Something Like Heaven" – Written by Aaron Sidwell
"Stronger" – Written by Jason Phelps and Mendy Shaw
"Thank You Whatever Comes" – Written by Fran Lucci, Danny Powers and Dara Stewart
"The Time of My Life" – Written by Regie Hamm
"We're Gonna Make It" – Written by Noel Cohen, Hugh Colocott and Amber Rhodes
"When You Come From Nothing" – Written by Will Hopkins
"You Believe In Me" – Written by David Barrett, Kurt Schreitmueller and Dan Yessian
"You Believed In Me" – Written by Perry Smith
"You Can Do Anything" – Written by Gail Farrell, Mark Gasbarro and Larry Kenton

I look forward to the heated battle between "You Believe In Me" and "You Believed In Me," though I wonder if "Believe" might be a dark horse.

Somewhere, Michael Johns is wiping his brow in relief at missing out on these hits.

Last year, two million people voted in the song contest.

The list of potential coronation songs got me wondering if I could think up any titles that could possibly be more cliched.

Here's what I've got:

"Hoping to Dream"

"Dreaming to Hope"

"Achieving My Hopes and Dreams"

"I Believed in Me (Why Didn't You)"

"Believe in Me, You Will (Yoda's Anthem)"

"Living Up to Expectations"

"I Am My Everything"

"The World Is My Oyster (Watch me Slurp It)"

"Unleashing My Potential on the World"

"Looks Like I Win"

"Smells Like Heaven"

"Tastes Like Victory"

"Feels Like Triumph"

"Sounds Like Glory"

"I See Dead People"

"You'd Love This Song If Mariah Were Singing It"

"Trust In Yourself"

"My Heart Is a Keg (Tap It)"

"I Love Ford, Coca-Cola and Back to You"

"Better Than My Rivals"

"Eye of the Marmit"

"That Was a Fun Five Months"

"I Sing the Songs the Internet Writes"

"My Spirit Soars Like Iron Man"

"Generic Inspirational Ballad #4123"

"Aim for the Sky (But Keep a Crash Pad Down Below)"

"That Was My Moment, My Now Is This"

"Obstacles (Don't Mean Nothin' To Me)"

"Learning to Manage Dyslexia"

But why should I have all the fun? Chime in...

Comments

Couldn't get the song player to load, which probably is a good thing. I would've liked to hear what the heck "Thank You Whatever Comes" means though.

My list:

- "Everything Is Us, and Us Is Everything"
- "Well, Here We All Are"
- "I Don't Understand (Paula's Song)"
- "Everything's Gonna Be Aight (in the Dawg Pound)"
- "You Dialed My Number"
- "Feel My Uplift"

rick | Apr 14, 2008 12:47:34 PM | #

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Ok, I'm not good enough to come up with song titles so I'll just vote for my favorites from the lists.

Top 3:

3) That Was My Moment, My Now Is This.

2) Feel My Uplift.

1) Generic Inspirational Ballad #4123. (Destined to be a classic!)

rk | Apr 15, 2008 6:25:39 AM | #

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I sing, Randy says Yo, Simon and Ryan engage in gay sex, and Paula loves us all

Beth | Apr 15, 2008 10:25:26 AM | #

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There's only one song in the bunch that sounds like a smash to me..THANK YOU WHATEVER COMES. .It crosses all gender and style lines so will work with all of the contestants..this one is the winner of the bunch. Also sounds like the finale song like not other. Awesome!
THANK YOU WHATEVER COMES

Bridgett2U | Apr 18, 2008 12:31:53 PM | #

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My friend Matthew Jordan submitted a song for this called "Catch My Breath" and it's pretty amazing but was never chosen. I have it if you want to hear it.

www.myspace.com/matthewjordan &
www.matthewjordan.com

Nadia | May 21, 2008 12:05:25 AM | #

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I feel so ashamed to be oblivious of an opportunity to contend in a contest like this. Anyway, next year is another year. I will keep the closest watch on the next edition.

konweh chukwuka | Jul 2, 2008 7:06:18 AM | #

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Melinda Doolittle's Debut Album Coming Back to You Drops 2/3/2009 - Listen to her Single “It’s Your Love” at http://myspace.com/MelindaDoolittle

A release date has been set for her upcoming album. Coming Back To You will drop on February 3 2009, and it promises to be an eclectic mix of blues, classic R&B and jazz.

The first single, “It’s Your Love” will be released to radio soon.
Keep updated about Melinda's career at http://www.melindasbackups.com

Louise7 | Nov 6, 2008 9:07:57 AM | #

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