TVSquad

So are you, like me, pissed that we have no idea who Jasons Castro and Yeager are? Upset that we've never seen Luke Menard before we saw that he was in the Top 12. Well, if you're reading this then you're online. And if you're online, then you can run on over to AmericanIdol.com and see introductory videos of the entire Top 24, as well as a clip of the photo shoot that brought you our fantastic Top 24 gallery.

It's at least nice that Idol is making an effort to show us a little bit more about each of these contestants before we see them perform for the first time this Tuesday, but it doesn't take away from their complete failure to expose us even slightly to several of them before now. It would have been so easy to cut five minutes away from the Josiah Leming coverage to give us some clips of the Jasons and Luke singing.

And what is it with them exposing us to the entire Top 12 Girls while leaving three of the boys completely off camera? Is it some sort of ploy by the producers to try and influence voting in these early rounds? This is something that happens every season. Every year there are a few people who we never see until the Top 24 perform for the first time. And for the most part, those people don't get very far in the competition. How can Luke Menard, who we know nothing about, register with viewers enough to garner votes at a higher level than someone like Asia'h, who lost her father, or David Archuleta who we've seen over and over and over again already?

These introductory videos run from three to seven minutes and feature the Idol's telling about their pasts, their connection to music and singing and their aspirations. They're all answering the same series of questions, though we don't hear the questions being asked. I'm guessing at the questions but I think I got them pretty close.

"How did you find out you made the Top 24?"
"How did you get into music?"
"What other talents do you have?"
"Who is your favorite performer?"
"Which former Idol would you compare yourself most to?"
"Talk about a bad experience you had and how you came out of it."
"How much support have you gotten from friends and family?"
"What's the most interesting job you've ever held?"
"What kind of weird foods do you like?"
"What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?"

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: Find out which Idols have been named the Biggest Idol flops!

Introductory Videos
Alaina Whitaker
Alexandrea Lushington
Amanda Overmyer
Amy Davis
Asia'h Epperson
Brooke White
Carly Smithson
Chikezie Eze
Colton Berry
Danny Noriega
David Archuleta
David Cook
David Hernandez
Garrett Haley
Jason Castro
Jason Yeager
Joanne Borgella
Kady Malloy
Kristy Lee Cook
Luke Menard
Michael Johns
Ramiele Malubay
Robbie Carrico
Syesha Mercado

You'd better get to know them fast because in less than a week, four of them will be gone!