American Idol: Odds favor duo of Chris Richardson and Lakisha Jones to be eliminated this week

Tuesday, 01 May 2007

American Idol: Odds favor duo of Chris Richardson and Lakisha Jones to be eliminated this week American Idol welcomes Jon Bon Jovi as mentor to the final six contestants in a week that will see the elimination of two competitors leaving only four after Wednesday’s show. Last week, to the surprise of the nation and the performers themselves, nobody was eliminated. As host Ryan Seacrest said, “How can we eliminate anyone on a night when American Idol is giving back.” Last weeks theme was ‘American Idol Gives Back’ as the show tried to raise money to combat extreme poverty in the USA and Africa.

Every week offshore sportsbook Bookmaker.com offers a betting opportunity for those who think they can guess who will be eliminated. This week will be a little trickier as Bookmaker.com has established odds on pairs of contestants instead of individuals. New odds have also been installed on the contestant most likely to become the 2007 American Idol.

For the first time since the beginning of the finals competition, Melinda Doolittle is not shown as the favorite contestant to win American Idol. That honor now belongs to 17 year old (future Diva) Jordin Sparks who is the odds on favorite to win American Idol with -110 odds. Doolittle has the second best odds to win at +130. The odds are based on a money line format. What that means is a $110 bet on Jordin will pay you $100 if she wins. A $100 bet on Melinda will pay you $130 if she wins.

As the two most likely contestants to win the big prize , the Sparks and Doolittle duo are the least likely to be eliminated after tonight’s show with odds on the pair set at +6600. The elimination of Blake Lewis paired up with Sparks is the second least likely duo facing elimination at +5500 odds. Odds on Lewis winning American Idol are the best of the remaining three male contestants at +600 as opposed to Chris Richardson at +3500 and Phil Stacey at +4000.

Lakisha Jones i s installed as the third best female in the group but her chances of winning American Idol are slim at +1400; however, teamed with Chris Richardson, the pair are the most likely to be eliminated on Wednesday with odds set at -205. The reasoning behind eliminating Jones and Richardson are probably based on oddsmakers assumption that voters will keep a gender balance and I sort of agree.

Even before seeing the odds I thought Richardson and Jones would be the most likely to go followed by Phil Stacey and Jones. In that regard, oddsmakers are on the same page with me installing Stacey and Jones as the second most likely to be eliminated this week at +315 odds.

Listed below are this weeks odds of eliminatio n placed on different combinations of contestants.

Phil Stacey & Chris Richardson +265

Phil Stacey & Lakisha Jones +315

Phil Stacey & Blake Lewis +1200

Phil Stacey & Melinda Doolittle +3500

Phil Stacey & Jordin Sparks +4500

Chris Richardson & Lakisha Jones -205

Chris Richardson & Blake Lewis +1100

Chris Richardson & Melinda Doolittle +3300

Chris Richardson & Jordin Sparks +4000

Lakisha Jones & Blake Lewis +900

Lakisha Jones & Melinda Doolittle +3500