Australian Idol / Vin Lowe / 14 November 2009 / Leave a comment Bet Now

It seems that the Toby fans jumped the fence into the James camp this week and this mass shift made him more than just safe, it placed him in the top two, writes Jayme Jenkins.

Throughout this whole competition the odds have been stacked against James. The final two was always going to be Stan and Hayley, but Nathan was top contender for that third position. Toby's shock departure last week turned the sort after third position on its head. Maybe James received pity votes, or perhaps Australia really thinks he has a shot at winning. One thing we do know is that there are a lot of swing voters that change their positions weekly, making this competition very hard to pick.

James's rise to popularity meant that Nathan and Hayley became the bottom two and sadly Nathan went home. With only three left in the competition the former Nathan fans will probably jump to the Hayley camp leaving all three contestants very vulnerable.

We all know that Stan deserves to win this competition, but with the fickle nature of the voters it seems no one is safe. Stan has glided through almost unchallenged for the last 12 plus weeks, simply because he is always at his best in any musical style.

Hayley had a very shaky start to her Idol dream, only being allowed back in the competition as the judge's choice. Because of this early elimination threat, she has brought her A-game with her each week and although she has a very unique voice, her on-stage presence has made Hayley a favourite.

On Idol this week the contestants have received coaching from Michael Buble as they perform their winners single. It is their last time to impress the public and give everyone a taste of what they will be about once the contest is over and they are on their own.

Assuming that James gets eliminated, the night will turn into quite a rock orientated night with both Stan and Hayley favouring the genre.

I've said it before, and I will say it again, I am sticking with Stan as the winner and James to go home this week.