Last night’s episode of American Idol was nothing more that the unveiling of the final 24 contestants. That’s it. There were no performances (only snippets) and only minor commentary from the judges. This whole thing could have been summed up in five minutes, with the judges either simply announcing who made it, or just posting a written list indicating who got cut and who didn’t, like after high school sports tryouts.
That being said, I really enjoyed the episode. Why not devote an hour to introducing your top 24 finalists? You’re American Idol, you can do whatever you want. It gave us a nice frame of reference on everyone, especially those contestants we’d never seen before. There were some curious decisions, however. A few of the female finalists seem to have gotten extra points for their looks. I’m not complaining, but there may have been some more deserving candidates.
Anyway, there’s not much to recap regarding last night. As I said, it was a list. For my initial recap of the action, check out my quick thoughts from last night, where I go over the action in a chronological order. For now, here is the list of your top 24 finalists, with minimal commentary.
Top 12 Girls
1. Gina Glocksen (second year trying out, a little arrogant)
2. Melinda Doolittle (former backup singer, shy, maybe the best voice of all the ladies)
3. Haley Scarnato
4. Alaina Alexander
5. Antonella Barba (Jersey Girl, attractiveness likely played a factor in her advancement)
6. Jordin Sparks (teenage daughter of ex-NFL cornerback)
7. Lakisha Jones (single mom, great voice)
8. Stephanie Edwards
9. Leslie Hunt
10. Sabrina Sloan
11. Nicole Tranquillo
12. Amy Krebs
Top 12 Guys:
1. Chris Sligh (funny, rubenesque, curly haired dude with a good, not great voice)
2. Sundance Head (bad Hollywood week almost cost him, a ton of potential)
3. Blake Lewis (beat boxer)
4. Brandon Rogers
5. Rudy Cardenas (dark horse to go far)
6. Sanjaya Malakar (Indian teenager whose sister made it to Hollywood as well)
7. Phil Stacy
8. Chris Richardson
9. Nick Pedro (crooner, great voice)
10. Paul Kim (superstitious William Hung hater)
11. A.J. Tabaldo
12.Jared Cotter
There you have it, your final 24 finalists. At this point, there are no slam dunks to make it to the top 12 (as far as I can tell), but I’m sure some contestants will emerge from the pack next week. American Idol will take over the airwaves next week, with a ridiculous five hours of coverage.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
