'American Idol Exit Poll' panelists' rankings (so far): The great, the good and the goose eggs

"American Idol" Season 10 is now currently in Week 7 of the Top 13 finalist rounds. So while the fresh crop of Idol hopefuls are still competing for the title and enduring  absolutely no criticism and critiques from the judges for their performances, we are doing our best here at the "American Idol Exit Poll" to determine who viewers will kick to the curb each week.

Zap2it rounded up the country's top "Idol" experts, pundits and journos from around the media sphere to predict each week's doomed contender. The predictions are posted live every week post performances by Thursday morning at "The American Idol Exit Poll." So how are the panelists faring so far?

But first lets recap for our readers what the panelists are vying for: A $100,000 modeling contract with Cover Girl Cosmetics, a cover spread in Italian Vogue Magazine and... I'm an idiot and couldn't resist. Oh Tyra.

In all seriousness, panelists are playing for: A full set of "Idol expert" bragging rights until Season 11 commences and an iTunes gift card to purchase all those Ashthon Jones tracks -- er -- Idol finalist digital downloads galore from Seasons 1-10.

Since the rebooted Season 10's weekly results have proven to be the most unpredictable and trickiest in "Idol" history for our 31 pundits to forecast, it was fairly easy to tally the rankings so far. There was even an unprecedented week (or two) that the entire panel went without one correct prediction.

The 'American Idol Exit Poll' scoring formula is quite simple: A correct panelist pick earns 2 points and an incorrect choice gets zilch. And without further adieu, The 'American Idol Exit' Poll's' current rankings are :
(Note: The representation of past Idols to categorize groups is completely unscientific and a partially-biased barometer based on one of the following factors or mixture of the following: Record-selling ability, overall media exposure, likability, longevity, popularity, social media influence and all other overall entertainment projects.)


The Great (8 points)
The Carrie Underwood-Kelly Clarkson Class

• Rickey Yaneza, Rickey.org

The Real Good (6 points)
The Jennifer Hudson-Chris Daughtry-David Cook-Adam Lambert Crowd

• MJ Santili, MJsBigBlog
• Brian Mansfield, USA Today's Idol Chatter
• Matt Whitfield, Yahoo TV
• Lyndsey Parker, Yahoo Music
• Adam Bryant, TV Guide
• Dan Fienberg, HitFix
• Jeremy Blacklow, Access Hollywood
• Gerrick Kennedy, Los Angeles Times
• Joseph Anthony Kapsch, Zap2it
• Brill Bundy, Zap2it
• Tierney Bricker, Zap2it

The Good (4 points)
The Kris Allen-David Archuleta-Kellie Pickler-Fantasia Posse

• Richard Rushfield, The Daily Beast, Idol Inferno
• Jim Cantiello, MTV News
• Kate Aurthur, The Daily Beast J
• Jarett Wieselman, NY Post's PopWrap

• Hilary Rothing, AOL's Something Pitchy
• Maura Johnston, Village Voice
• Kirstin Benson, HollywoodLife
• Monica Herrera, Billboard
• Amir Kenan, Metromix
• Lee Hernandez, Latina Magazine
• Andrea Reiher, Zap2it

The Fair  (2 points)
The Katherine McPhee-Crystal Bowersox-Lee DeWyze Set

• Michael Slezak, TVLine
• Courtney Hazlett, MSNBC
• Denise Martin, TV Guide
• Damian Holbrook, TV Guide (joined week 5)
• Geoff Berkshire,  Metromix

The Idol Panel Rising (0 points)
The Antonella Barba-Haley Scarnato-Sanjaya Squad
(Note: This category is endearingly/jokingly labeled as these ladies are two of the panel's most respected and esteemed members who rock no matter what, and because this panel was/is built on "Idol" smack talk after all).

• Shirley Halperin, The Hollywood Reporter
• Ann Powers, NPR Music