This week we saw the remaining sixteen American Idol semi-finalists perform and after tonight, they’ll be narrowed down to twelve. Within the hour, we’ll know which four contestants didn’t make the cut and which twelve will be sticking around. We’ll be posting the names of the eliminated contestants here!
The live episode begins with a performance by last year’s runner-up, Blake Lewis. Where has he been, anyway? His voice sounds good and he’s still doing the beat-boxing thing. After the performance, Blake offers some advice to the contestants about taking the criticism from the judges or something. Since we had to listen to Lewis perform, does this mean there’s no group performance tonight? Guess we’ll find out after the commercials.
No group performance! After we get back from commercials, Ryan introduces the judges. They exchange some useless banter and then it’s on to the guys night recap. After listening to the snippets of the guys singing, I’m going to predicting Luke Menard and Danny Noriega are going tonight. The recap is over, the lights are dimmed and Ryan asks David Cook to stand up. He tells David that he spoke to Lyonel Richie, who said he loved his cover of the song. David Cook is safe. David Archuleta is asked to stand up. He’s safe (no surprise there). Jason Castro is next. Ryan goes through the “you sang this, the judges said that” thing. Jason makes the top 12.
It has to feel like an eternity for these guys, waiting to find out their fate while Ryan prattles on about what they sang (like they don’t already know) and what the judges said (as though they could forget). After giving these guys the news they want to hear, we go to commercial. When we come back, Ryan will tell some of the girls whether or not they’re on to the top 12.
Back from commercial and now we get the recap of the girls’ night. I’m predicting Kristy Lee Cook and Amanda Overmyer to be the ones cut, based on last night’s performances. Brooke White is called up first and of course, she’s made it into the top twelve. Syesha Mercado is next and all the judges agree that she’s going next. America agrees with the judges – she’s in the top 12. Kady Malloy goes next and Ryan tells her that she’s been eliminated from the competition. Kady gets to belt out a wobbly off-key version of “Who Wants To Live Forever.” And we’re off to another commercial.
When we return, Ryan says something about them opening up their phonelines to talk to you live on the air next week and to check out the Idol website for more info. Now David Hernandez is asked to stand up. Ryan tells him that he’s safe. Three David’s in the top 12. Michael Johns also makes it through. Luke Menard gets called up next and Ryan tells him that he’s been eliminated. Luke sings “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” one last time and Ryan points out that Danny Noriega and Chikeze are still sitting on the couch waiting. One of them will make it through and one will be going home. We’ll find out which is which later. Off to yet another set of commercials.
Back again. Ramiele Malubay is asked to stand and Ryan tells her that America disagreed with Simon. She’s in the top 12. Carly is asked to stand up. She looks like she’s going to cry and stares at the floor. Ryan tells her that she’s also in the top 12. Amanda Overmyer makes it into the top 12 as well. It’s down to Asia’h Epperson and Kristy Lee Cook for the girls but we won’t find out until after the commercials.
Asia’h and Kristy are still standing on the stage and both look absolutely miserable. Paula is taking forever talking about how she believes in them and it’s just the start of their careers. Just get on with it already! You sang this, you sang that, the judges said this, blah blah blah. America has decided and Asia’h is going home tonight. Kristy Lee Cook makes it into the top 12 and I was totally wrong with my girl predictions. We get to see her montage, which reminds us that Asia’h’s the one who auditioned two days after her father passed away. It’s actually one of the sadder montages. She sings “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and manages to hold it together, although there’s obviously not as much pep in the song as there was last night.
Finally, Danny Noriega and Chikeze no-last-name take the stage after having to sit through the whole episode waiting to learn their fate. Danny’s teary-eyed and playing with his fingers while Ryan goes through the spiel. America voted and Chikeze makes it into the top 12. Danny Noriega is going home.
Ok, so I got the girls wrong but I did manage to accurately predict which two guys would go. That’s something, right? Danny gets one last performance on the Idol stage. He pulls it together and sings his sassy version of “Tainted Love”. The top 12 Idols dance, though some of them are crying.
And that’s that. Next week the top 12 will perform in a two-hour episode on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.. Then one will be eliminated during the results show on Wednesday at 9 p.m.
The Top 12
David Cook
David Archuleta
Jason Castro
Brooke White
Syesha Mercado
David Hernandez
Michael Johns
Ramiele Malubay
Carly Smithson
Amanda Overmyer
Kristy Lee Cook
Chikeze
Eliminated
Kady Malloy
Luke Menard
Asia’h Epperson
Danny Noriega
Live Blog: American Idol's Top Twelve Announced (UPDATED!)
'American Idol': Top 12 are revealed
Four more will go home this evening on American Idol, leaving us with the 12 finalists.
But first up, last year's runner-up comes out to perform his new single live. Ryan Seacrest asks him for his advice, and he tells the contestants to be true to themselves and listen to the good comments from the judges. OK, then.
Before he starts revealing the Top 12, Ryan says more than 36 million votes were cast on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Ryan also congratulates Paula Abdul for having the No. 1 downloaded video on iTunes. OK, then. Let's get to the results.
First, a montage of the guys' performances from Tuesday (with Randy's references to INXS when Michael Johns was singing a Simple Minds song carefully excised). David Cook is first up, and Ryan tells him 1) that Lionel Richie loved his version of the song, and 2) that he is in the Top 12. David Archuleta is also in. Shall we make it a David trifecta? Not yet. Jason Castro is also through to the finals.
Time to switch it up and make the women nervous. First, montage from Wednesday. Brooke White is in the Top 12. Syesha Mercado is next -- Ryan asks the judges if they think she is through, and they all say yes. They are right. Kady Malloy finds out that she is out. That's not a big surprise. Her exit footage pretty much proves Simon right -- she is funny and engaging on film, but boring live. She reprises "Who Wants to Live Forever," and it's about as off as last night.
After the break Ryan says that during next week's results show, viewers can call in live to ask questions. Huh. That should go well.
David Hernandez is through, so there's our trifecta. Michael Johns stands up next, and he's through to the Top 12, too. Luke Menard, on the other hand, is out. Being and Orlando Bloom lookalike isn't carrying him any further. He unfortunately has to sing "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" again. Danny Noriega and Chikezie look miserable while they continue to wait.
Ramiele Malubay discovers she is safe after Ryan strings her along a little. Carly Smithson? Also in the Top 12. And she also totally ignores Chikezie who is trying to give her a high five as she goes by. Amanda Overmyer is also in the Top 12 (wha?), leaving Asia'h Epperson and Kristy Lee Cook to keep on waiting.
After the break, Asia'h Epperson is out, and Kristy Lee Cook is safe. Aww, shucks, I like Asia'h. In her footage, they replay her singing "How Do I Live" at her audition two days after her father's sudden passing, and seriously, she has to sing after watching that again? That is mean and not very fair. She decides to go for it, and actually, I think she did a better job with it through the tears than she did last night. Paula shouts out: "That was the best vocal you ever did."
Back to the guys. Danny is already crying because his friends are getting sent home. Chikezie is in the Top 12, Danny Noriega is out, and Ramiele is losing it (again).
So, to recap (the recap), Kady Malloy, Asia'h Epperson, Luke Menard and Danny Noriega have been cut, and now it's time for the finals. I'm surprised to see Asia'h out, but otherwise not too shocked. How about you?
American Idol Top 12
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Thank god it's the end of three-times-a-week Idol. Tonight, we lost four more contestants to the ether and said hello to our Top 12. It's been a long road coming, and while I can't say I agree 100% with the Top 12, I will agree that most of the contestants in it deserve to be there.
Honestly, I think the Idol team accomplished their goal of creating the most talented Top 12 in Idol history. Say what you want about their professional pedigree and the lack of true amateurs in this group because in the end it won't really matter. What they will bring is a better more consistent product to the screen. Sure there's early favorites, but who can honestly predict the winner at this point (I know some of you are very certain you know who it will be)? Can you even predict the Top 12?
Blake Lewis, "How Many Words"
The show actually opened with the return of last season's runner-up. He came to debut his new single, and brought back his enigmatic dance moves. It definitely channels the synth-sound of the '80s; he indicated a heavy influence from that era. Yes, I haven't yet bought or heard his entire album, even though I enjoyed tremendously the creativity he brought to song arrangement last year. Overall, though, the song is a little dull for me. Even when he snuck in a little of his trademark beatboxing, it just fell kind of flat for me.
THE TOP TWELVE STARTS TO FILL
36 million votes came in collectively for the Top 16. Ryan has twelve shiny stools set up and the Top 16 divided up into the Top 8 boys and Top 8 girls. Instead of picking out the bottom four, he'll be one by one putting people through into the Top 12.
Ryan started with David Cook, who was extremely popular with the judges. In fact, Lionel Richie said he loved what David did with "Hello." David Cook's in. David Archuleta has been a favorite since day one and his string continues as he too makes the Top 12. Jason Castro brought the house down with "Hallelujah" and secured himself a spot in the Top 12. This left five boys and three spots.
Don't you love how Idol builds drama? Ryan shifted gears at this point to award some silver stools to the girls. Ryan kicked it off with Brooke White, who's folksy rendition of "Love is a Battlefield" was the performance of the night and catapulted her straight into the Top 12. Syesha Mercado was consistently good, if predictable for Simon's tastes. She was definitely good enough for the Top 12.
Kady Malloy NUMBER ONE IS DONE
Kady Malloy stood up next, with incredibly deep cleavage. Too bad she didn't wear it last night as it might have given her enough of a boost to make the Top 12. Her personality in her videos just didn't translate well enough on the screen and she was the first to fall tonight. Even her encore performance was incredibly boring and out of tune. Kady never really shone onstage. While she might do very well on television as she's incredibly photogenic, singing doesn't seem to be her calling.
THE TOP TWELVE CONTINUES TO GROW
David Hernandez, who's been consistently strong vocally, withstood the controversy surrounding his prior profession to dance into the Top 12. Michael Johns has been picked by the judges to sail right through the competition, and he kept right on sailing into the Top 12.
Luke Menard NUMBER TWO IS THROUGH
It was his time, and I don't think it really came as a surprise to anyone when Ryan revealed that it was the end of the road for Luke Menard. For some reason, his approach just never really worked. He had some good vocal performances, and has a nice voice for adult contemporary alternative rock. But there were always so many singers who out performed him week after week.
And again, on his final performance, Luke was good but there was still something missing. Maybe it's a distinctive lack of power in his delivery. Honestly, I can't quite put my finger on it, but I never connected with Luke the way I have with several of the other contestants.
THE TOP TWELVE IS FILLING UP
The next girl up was Ramiele Malubay who may have stumbled a bit in her latest performance, but still found her way into the Top 12. Carly Smithson has been another early favorite since her first audition, and continued her successful run right over to a stool in the Top 12. The next to stand was Amanda Overmyer, who finally found a satisfying groove with Joan Jett. It was enough to get her into the Top 12.
Asia'h Epperson NUMBER THREE IS SET FREE
It had come down to Asia'h Epperson and Kristy Lee Cook for the final spot in the Top 12 from the girls side. After the obligatory commercial break, Ryan turned to the judges for their thoughts. Randy's pick was Asia'h to make it in. Paula, of course, wasn't going to make a decision so instead she did a little cheer for everyone. Simon said it ultimately didn't matter, but he guessed Asia'h would be the one going home. Finally, Ryan finished slowly peeling off the band-aid and cut Asia'h Epperson from the competition.
The only thing I can figure on this one is that Kristy appealed to the large country-and-western-midwest demographic because I think Asia'h can out-sing her any day. In fact, Asia'h is one of the strongest singers on the girls' side when she's on her game. Every season on Idol's stage someone is cut who doesn't deserve to be. Asia'h is this year's Sabrina Sloan.
NUMBER FOUR IS NO MORE
On the guy's side, we've narrowed it down to Danny Noriega and Chikezie. Both have shown sass and attitude with the judges, and both had mid-level at best performances last night (though Chikezie brought it more than Danny in my opinion). Honestly, at this point I don't know that I'd miss either one over the other, though Danny is more entertaining. I think I'm still upset that Asia'h is gone.
Danny NoriegaChikezie didn't wow the judges, while Danny went over better with Randy and Paula than Simon. In the end, Chikezie moved into the Top 12, and Danny Noriega was cut. Of course, considering the close friendship that's been evidently blooming between Ramiele and Danny, the camera immediately cut to her so they could catch her falling apart.
Danny is a good vocalist, but his strength always seemed to lie more in his personality rather than his vocal talent. I think as the weeks passed, we began to see more and more that there was just no way he was going to be able to win this competition. Still, Danny's a great personality and I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see him as a correspondent on E! or some other celebrity trash show as soon as his contract allows.
NEXT WEEK
The theme is songs by The Beatles. Also, they will be talking live to fans on the phone during the results show. That can only go fabulously. The stage set is all new this year as well. From here on out, it's only one elimination per week until we find the next American Idol. And it's one of these twelve...
Need more American Idol? Get an inside look at Season 7's contestants and think back to these scathing (and hilarious) Simon Cowell quotes.
Also: Who do you love? Rank the contestants!
THE TOP TWELVE
Jason Castro
Amanda Overmyer
David Cook
Brooke White
David Hernandez
Syesha Mercado
Michael Johns
Carly Smithson
David Archuleta
Kristy Lee Cook
Chikezie
Ramiele Malubay
RESULTS
Boys Voted Out: Luke Menard & Danny Noriega
Girls Voted Out: Kady Malloy & Asia'h Epperson
