(NOTE: If you're looking for 2008's Top 24, go here)(S06E10) It's "FINAL JUDGMENT" time, Ryan says, hoping to charge us up for tonight's episode. The singing is done, and now those who survived the Hollywood Week hazing, will find out if they've made the final cut.
I can't believe they build an entire episode around "announcing" the Top 24. It's really just a list of names that could have been posted online after last night's episode. Better yet, they should announce the list of names online with links to video of each and every performance to date, so the curious can check out the Top 24 contestants in more depth, if they wish.
Instead, they try to build suspense in this episode and it just isn't happening. We haven't really made strong attachments yet, so we're not heartbroken when cuts are made. And the only real surprise is where they've been hiding SEVEN out of the Top 24. Before tonight, we've never laid eyes on 5 out of the Top 12 Girls, and 2 out of the Top 12 Boys.
Throughout the show, we see snippets of Hollywood final performances, and get just a small glimpse of what the judges based their final decisions on. We also watch as each contestant enters the room, and sits on "THE CHAIR" to find out their fate. It's not that interesting (unless you're there, I imagine). The pressure doesn't translate well on TV. And drawing it out (with the elevator ride and long walk into the room) only has me wanting to yell "cut to the freaking chase" at my TV. But then again, patience is not one of my strong points.
The judges try to scare those who made the Top 24 by pulling the old, "I'm sorry....BUT you're going to be seeing a lot more of us!" They fool me the first time, but not the second, third, or 24th. The judges' comments aren't worth transcribing verbatim, so that saves me a lot of typing tonight. Whew.
The only real drama comes towards the end of the episode, when there's only ONE girl slot and ONE boy slot left and four contestants remaining in an otherwise empty room.
For the girls, it comes down to ANTONELLA BARBA vs. MARISA RHODES. Marisa is already at a disadvantage because we've seen loads of footage of Antonella (including her jumping in the surf in her bikini) and we were given only a quick peek at Marisa last night. I like Antonella, especially without her snippy cohort, Amanda. And she's a Jersey Girl (as am I), so I have to root for her. But they show their final performances, and Simon calls Marisa's the "best we've heard today." Meanwhile, Antonella struggles with her final song. So I admit I'm surprised when Antonella is chosen, and Marisa is sent home. Marisa is more shocked than me though, because she truly thought she was a "sure thing."
For the boys, it comes down to SUNDANCE HEAD vs. TOMMY DANIELS. Sundance has an advantage because the judges loooove him to death, even though he did a crappy job during Hollywood Week. Tommy is also at a disadvantage because he has an arrest record and is just too darn cocky (for my personal taste). Still, I thought the real shock was going to be Sundance "Head-ing" home. But no, it's Tommy! He actually earns some brownie points with me when he flips a double bird to the Idol Elevator-Cam.
And without further fuss, the Top 24 follows:
TOP 12 GIRLS
1. Gina Glocksen
2. Melinda Doolittle
3. Haley Scarnato
4. Alaina Alexander
5. Antonella Barba
6. Jordin Sparks
7. Lakisha Jones
8. Stephanie Edwards
9. Leslie Hunt
10. Sabrina Sloan
11. Nicole Tranquillo
12. Amy Krebs
Top 12 Boys:
1. Chris Sligh
2. Sundance Head
3. Blake Lewis
4. Brandon Rogers
5. Rudy Cardenas
6. Sanjaya Malakar
7. Phil Stacy
8. Chris Richardson
9. Nick Pedro
10. Paul Kim
11. A.J. Tabaldo
12. Jared Cotter
Those sent home:
A bunch of people we were vaguely aware of:
Anna Kearns
Tami Gosnell
Tatiana McConnico
Marisa Rhodes
Matthew Buckstein
Thomas Daniels
Tom Lowe
Jimmy McNeal
Bernard Williams
As well as people we've never seen before tonight:
Eric Davis
Erick Johnson
Olivia Quiba-Hurst
Monique Vieras
Jerome Chism
Joelle James
Princess Johnson
I hope Stephanie, Leslie, Sabrina, Nicole, Amy, Jared, and A.J. are ready to make a huge impression next week because we really don't know who they are, and I bet a lot of you already have your FAVORITES picked out. The unknown finalists are going to have to wow us with their songs, or they'll be going home very soon. They also need some free publicity. Personal controversy is one way to create a buzz on the internet. Although that hasn't worked well so far. All the contestants with buzz -- Sean Michel, Tom Lowe, Tommy Daniels, Ashlyn Carr, Jamie Lynn Ward, Jory Steinberg -- have gone home.
Next Week: There's a lot of Idol -- five hours worth!
Tuesday (8-10 ET) -- The Top 12 Boys perform
Wednesday (8-10 ET) -- The Top 12 Girls perform
Thursday (8-9 ET)-- The First Live Results Show
Get ready to vote, because as Ryan Seacrest said, "Now it's up to YOU, America."
* Final Note: Not sure who the Top 24 Contestants are? Click on the links above. Most of them lead back to Reality TV Magazine because I like the easy links they've set up to individual posts about individual contestants.
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Reader Comments (Page 9 of 10)
2-16-2007 @ 10:05AM
robert said...
Top girsl: LaKisha Nicole Melinda and Gina
Top boys: Jered Chris, Brandon and Phil
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2-16-2007 @ 11:50AM
Kaye said...
Did anyone else recognize Robyn Troup? She was cut in the group round in Hollywood, but just to prove that they discarded a lot of talented performers, Robyn was the young lady who won the contest to sing with Justin Timberlake at the Grammy Awards. She was fantastic! I guess it just proves that they are not infallible when it comes to judging talent!
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2-16-2007 @ 2:12PM
Barb L. said...
I agree with everyone "WHAT HAPPENED TO EBONY'. She had a great voice.
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2-16-2007 @ 2:13PM
Nadine said...
What reason did they have to send that military guy away? He was really good. The people they kept only seemed to be mediocre to me. I guess the show is rigged.
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2-16-2007 @ 3:22PM
Tina Walbridg said...
to #110
I think sometimes Paula is a joke and how long was her music career and what is she doing now, I don't know about Randy. As far as Simon, I hated him when I first started watching idiol. I sing some myself. I took top five in a big kareoke contest and made a cd in a recording studio. I am certainly no pro and don't know if I would have made it to the top 24, but Simons comments are usually right on. He's a bit harsh at times but I think constructive critisim(sp) is not a bad thing.
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2-16-2007 @ 3:33PM
Tina Walbridg said...
I saved the idiol site to my favorites. When I want to get to this site I can get the first page only. The first 20 responses. How do I get to this site? Can someone help me?
Thanks
Tina
wlbrdg@aol.com
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2-16-2007 @ 3:39PM
Tina Walbridg said...
I think Paula has probably had her share of bangings
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2-16-2007 @ 4:22PM
John said...
I think they made a mistake in the format this year by not showing many of the winners selected for Hollywood in the original auditions.....yes the bad ones are fun to laugh at but what got cut out is people seeing someone they like from the start and follow their progress.....the best thing all of us want to say is I picked so and so to win when I saw their first audition. As for people saying how mean the judges are....unless you have been to pro auditions you have now idea how harsh and cruel it can really be. . . AI is all about playing to the viewers and everyone that auditions knows that before hand.
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2-16-2007 @ 5:50PM
linda said...
I can't believe they cut bailey i just dont get it shes talented and pretty, they gave the guy singer a chance when he fumbled the words i think they made a big mistake, makes me not want to watch the rest of the season!
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2-16-2007 @ 9:52PM
djkraus said...
I was really disappointed in this year's audition shows and Hollywood week shows. In previous years we knew enough about the Hollywood contestants to care who made it to the top 24. This year we were completely swamped by the freaks during auditions, endured 7 shows of those horrible auditions, and then had only one show compressing Hollywood week from 172 contestants (who all could sing well enough to get there) to 40? I have watched the show faithfully since the very beginning, and this is the worst job I've ever seen them do at giving us a chance to know the kids who make it to the top 24.
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2-17-2007 @ 9:21AM
nancy said...
This Antonella/Marisa thing was just for drama and ratings. Obviously AI does NOT want Antonella to win...too much air time...BUT we have to remember there was MUCH WORSE female singers then Antonella that did get thru. Some were HORRIBLE over both Marisa and Antonella, like Leslie, Alaiena and 2 or 3 others. Bailey is Young she will come back. I think Antonella may surprise us, and the other nasty friend is the one who made the nasty comment about Bailey. My two favorite females are Melinda and Lakisha...but that can change. For the males I like Chris...Don't forget Bo Bice and Elliott had very little air time. America usually gets it right.
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2-17-2007 @ 10:54AM
Liz Finn-Arnold said...
Dear David "toots" Luke, Ph.d
The phrase IS "cut to the chase" and it means "get to the point."
http://www.idiomsite.com/cuttothe.htm
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2-17-2007 @ 12:08PM
Becca said...
I heard a couple of times the judges say that a person didn't make it through on their talent, which it totally bunk. This show is suppose to be about talent and personality. In my opinion they made several bad judgements in who they put through and who they sent home. Some of the people sent home in the final judgement definately sang better than some of the ones they put through.
And yes Baily Brown did get a bad rap, and yes it was partially the fault of her two jersey girl partners. The one sent home was more interested in partying than practicing and when Baily wanted to practice her part more she was told no because it screwed up the partying jersey girl. The two jersey girls for being best friends just couldn't get it together and Baily paid the price.
Marisa Rhodes got a bad rap too! Sundance should never have been put through. There were other guys who were definatly better and the judges even said he had a bad performance on the group song. He couldn't stay on key!
I highly think that the judges pick their top 5 people and then surround them with people they think will get voted off early to give their top 5 picks a better chance at winning. I mean there is no way in Hxxx that Taylor Hicks should have won last season. He should have gone within the first couple of weeks. As news quips have shown, Katherine, Chris and Kelly have all done more since last season than Taylor has!!
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2-17-2007 @ 12:31PM
Tina Walbridg said...
So much talk about Bailey and "Bring Her Back". No way! The four guys who did the duet were awesome. If they could learn that entire song then Bailey should have been able to learn four sentences don't you think?
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2-17-2007 @ 1:57PM
Elizabeth said...
I live in the Chicago area and was not able to get American Idol last Wednesday or this past Wednesday.....WHY?
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2-17-2007 @ 6:04PM
Frank Gunnels said...
Antonella will win & Hoping my step cousin Sundance makes it to the finals...........
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2-18-2007 @ 12:31PM
Tina Walbridg said...
I can only get to the first 20 questions/responses unless I type in a comment. Any suggestions
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2-18-2007 @ 12:35PM
Tina Walbridg said...
This week should be awesome. I believe it is on two hours Tues and Wed, and one hour on Thursday. I think this is where they will start going for the best.
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2-18-2007 @ 2:10PM
Barb said...
Sundance didn't wow me so unless he is better in the weeks to come ... no vote here. Oh, yes Paul put some shoes on ... that barefoot thing was done by a country western singer I wouldn't walk across the street to see.
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2-18-2007 @ 11:08PM
Debbie said...
I think the judges are so rude to alot of the singers who didn't make it. The laughing infront of them is plan RUDE. If they feel someone is not up to their choice then they should say no thanks in a polite way, not as rude as they are sometimes. I believe they are looking for someone who has the looks. I have seen some with good voices and they are cut. And no Country what the heck. The show is very boring this year. They cut alot of good ones think they will get a lot of slack over this one. I feel really bad for Baily Brown she had a good voice she may have forgot her words but look at the girls she was with. Didn't one of the other forget her words also? And as for Matt Salo he did his best and then to find out his Mom never has said she LOVES him, What kind of Mother is she. I wish Baily and Matt the best and hope they make it big and forget the crap on American Idol. Simon you need to think about what you say on national TV about another one from AL not being a winner.
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