In this year, due to the large number of contestants, a couple more rounds were added. The remaining contestants proceeded on to Las Vegas where they performed, as duos and trios, a song from The Beatles. Forty advanced to the next round back in Los Angeles. In this final “Sing For Your Life” round, the contestants performed individually a song of their own choosing in an aircraft hanger. The Top 24 were then selected for the semifinals.
The first five semifinalists were revealed during tonight’s episode of American Idol. However, Joe’s Place Blog (the blog which predicts the names of AI semifinalists and gets most of them right every year) posted the names of the remaining Top 24 members.
The Top 24 (to be official tomorrow) are the following:
Top 12 Boys
1. Clint Jun Gamboa *
2. Stefano Langone
3. Brett Loewenstern
4. Casey Abrams
5. James Durbin
6. Jovany Barreto
7. Jordan Dorsey
8. Scotty McCreery
9. Robbie Rosen
10. Paul McDonald *
11. Jacob Lusk
12. Tim Halperin
Top 12 Girls
1. Thia Megia
2. Lauren Alaina
3. Pia Toscano
4. Rachel Zevita
5. Lauren Turner
6. Kendra Chantelle
7. Ashthon Jones *
8. Naima Adedapo *
9. Julie Zorrilla
10. Haley Reinhart *
11. Ta-Tynisa Wilson
12. Karen Rodriguez
Please take note that only those marked with an asterisk (*) are the official members of the Top 24 so far. The rest will be confirmed tomorrow.
It’s interesting to note that during today’s episode, Jennifer Lopez had an emotional breakdown after announcing to Chris Medina his elimination.