This is such a tough thing to rate! The singers at this year's fest were among the best that I have ever seen. I don't know if I can truly rank them, but I can certainly comment on the singers that I watched:
Matt Smith--Out of the three times that I've seen him, this was easily his best performance. He's really come a long way since that kick-off show in 2006. He really nailed the material!
Daniel Gildenlow--Though he's my favorite singer of the bunch, his two ProgPower performances this year may have been the weakest ones I've seen from him. That said, he still pulled off what 95% of other singers wish they could do, and he still managed to be my favorite singer of the festival. His combination of range, technique, and emotion is unmatched.
Chad Barnes--Even more impressive than he was when I saw him at the Pathfinder fest two years ago. He certainly did his best to get the audience engaged, and with a better overall sound mix, I think his band could have achieved that engagement.
Mark Basile--Just as great (if not merely slightly weaker) as he was at ProgPower XI. For a guy who sings in a higher register, he does so with a soulful swagger. I loved it.
Nils K. Rue--His endurance is certainly applaudable, though I must say that he had some rough spots during the "Celestial Entrance" set. He showed a noticeable improvement during the second set, though. The way he switches between clean and gritty vocals is uncanny.
Sebastian Levermann--Not a bad singer by any means, but not really anything to write home about, either. He handled the job well, but I would put him in the same class of singer as Hansi Kursch (though "Seeb" is better on stage). There's a bit of reliance on backing tracks going on here.
Tommy Karevik--I've decided to call his band "Second Wonder." Both times that they've played ProgPower, their Friday night set (and his voice) were pretty good, but there were definitely some flubs. Then the band would play their early Saturday set and make you forget about all of those flubs. There's a challenge to this material that Tommy doesn't get from singing in Kamelot (and that's not meant with any disrespect to the bigger band at all), and the conviction with which he takes that challenge is remarkable.
Timo Kotipelto--The older this man gets, the more powerful his bottom end gets. He has an amazing command over roughly 90% of his range. There's just that 10% at the very top that sounds funny to me. If he could eliminate the falsetto and bring some more of that power that he has everywhere else in his range, he'd be unstoppable.
Ole Aleksander Wagenius--This guy was definitely out to prove something. His range was certainly impressive, and there were some moments where he showed some tremendous power. He may have been a little over-the-top at times, but he's still young. Keep an eye on him, as I think we have a future top-tier singer in this genre.
David Readman--You can call him "Coverman," "Readdale," or whatever the hell you want. I call him awesome. He brought a much-needed bluesy element to the show, and he did it with a million times more energy than what he gave us when Pink Cream 69 played the fest nine years ago.
Rick Altzi--The "move over, Jorn"-style comments from earlier in the thread are totally justified. It just seemed effortless.
Jon Oliva--Let's face it. He hasn't won any singing competitions thus far in life, and he's certainly not going to do so in the present, either. However, you can't deny the man's charm. Most singers would make me leave room by constantly referring to the audience as "motherfuckers," but Oliva is so genuine in his performance that you can't help but wonder if he's right about you being one.
There you have it. My top three are in there somewhere. I'll be damned if I know who they are, though.
Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert
