TVSquad

Welcome back to "AI Aftermath," where we explore Idol's past. Each week, as one more American Idol hopeful is eliminated from the competition, we take a look back at contestants past who were eliminated in the same week. We'll examine how they did on the show and what they've been up to since their elimination. In honor of Ramiele Malubay's elimination last week we'll be looking at other ninth place finishers.

This week: 9th place finishers, featuring featuring Jim Verraros (Season One), Corey Clark* (Season Two), Camile Velasco (Season Three), Nikko Smith (Season Four), Mandisa (Season Five), Gina Glocksen (Season Six).

* - Corey Clark was not voted out by viewers but was disqualified.

Hey all you Idol maniacs. Want to know where your favorite Idol contestants past and present will be making appearances? Of course you do. You've already got the RV packed, notes to the kids' schools written explaining their prolonged absences and a case of Funyuns jammed underneath the passenger seat. You're a member of the Soul Patrol, a Clayniac and are still suffering from McPheever. Oh you've got it bad.

But MJ's Big Blog has what you need. No more aimless driving around America shouting "Can anyone tell me where Gina Glocksen is performing tonight?" or "Has anyone seen Jessica Sierra, she still owes me bail money?" Now you can go to one place and plan your journey like the Deadheads before you. Now you can follow Ace Young as he travels around various Borders signing Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul, and you can catch Diana DeGarmo at the Braves opener. Oh, and if you're in Atlanta at Kroger tonight, look up Melinda Doolittle, buy some ice cream and tell her I said "Hi."

American Idol's season six winner Jordin Sparks and first runner-up Blake Lewis are hitting the studios to record their individual debut albums. With possible release dates as early as Thanksgiving, America will learn soon enough if the latest batch of Idols are "turkeys" or not.

Jordin said, "I'm trying to mix everything together. I'm loving all the songs I'm recording, so hopefully that will come off the album when you listen to it and you'll be able to feel the emotion."

With 70 million votes pouring in after last week's American Idol, it's pretty safe to say that hardcore fans of the show do exist.

Luckily, the American Idols Live tour dates were released yesterday and should help to alleviate the fan depression that comes along with the shows looming finale.

The tour is slated to occur between July 6th and September 22nd and lands at 50 different locations across the country and includes a stint in Canada.

In her exit interview, Idol's resident rocker, Gina Glocksen, claims she had no idea she would be going home last Wednesday night.

Gina says, "I thought that I had a really good performance on Tuesday, and I was really proud of the song that I chose and the way that I chose to present it."

Until last week, Gina's fans had kept her safely above the bottomfeeders . Gina says, "I didn't even have a chance to be in the bottom three ever, and the one time that I was, I'm going home. So it was pretty hard."

I didn't see this one coming. I liked Gina and thought Haley was the more forgettable of the two, but I guess looking ominous and singing "Smile" is a bad combo -- and for Haley, being Idol's resident hot chick has more weight than I thought.

This is a strange year. Well, maybe not so strange now that I think about it. TV watchers are no less fickle than the Roman mob. They'll give you the thumbs down just as quickly as they fell in love with you. Voters this year seem to be less devoted to any one person and more prone to dial for their favorite that night.

All the voters except for what's-his-name's -- those guys are freakin' mobilized. I heard them campaigning to keep him going on the radio this morning. Overall they're the minority of voters, I think, but together they're enough to keep him in for a few more weeks. That's pretty funny. Poor Gina, though -- she's probably pissed.

(S06E27) We are slowly inching our way closer to the grand finale, which means that another finalist has to go home tonight. I know, it's sad, but this is the only way we'll get closer to crowning a new American Idol.

Tonight, the finalists are separated into three different groups of three on stage. One group is the Best Three, one is the Middle Three, and one is the Bottom Three. And looking at the breakdown, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess which group is which.

(S06E25) Two important questions will be answered tonight, Ryan says. "Who's going home, and how will Sanjaya wear his hair?"

Blake is safe. LaKisha is safe. Phil IS in the bottom three. Melinda is safe. Chris R rebounds from last week's bottom two and IS safe. Sanjaya (yawn) is safe AGAIN. Haley IS in the bottom three. And Jordin, of course, is safe. Which means, either Chris Sligh or Gina is in the bottom three, but we won't know who until the end of the show.

Fast Forward. Turns out CHRIS SLIGH joins PHIL and HALEY in the bottom three. But Philly is sent back to safety once again.

SLIGH vs. SCARNATO? Who's going home? Randy says it's a tough call. Paula says they both deserve "warmth" from the audience. Simon thinks it's "Bye, Bye Curly."

Immediately following Tuesday night's show, many commenters and bloggers were speculating that the "little girl who cried" was "a plant" or an actress paid by either Sanjaya's family or the show's producers. Others surmised that she was merely one of the executive producer's kids or special guests getting some extra screen time.

Turns out she is 13-year-old Ashley Ferl from Riverside, California. Apparently, Ashley and her mom had gotten tickets for a taping of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. Their tickets allowed them to attend a dress rehearsal for Idol. Ashley began the waterworks during the rehearsals, was spotted by a producer, and was offered prime seats for Tuesday's show.

Gina, this one's for you. You were almost in tears up there and you mentioned how nasty blogs get you down, so I thought I'd throw you a nice one. I want you to stick around for a while.

Don't become a parody of yourself. Inevitably every year as contestants hear more and more about what people like and dislike about them, they try harder and harder to live up to whatever that is. Then, usually it gets to the point where it's blatantly obvious to the audience, and they stop caring about what made you cool in the first place. I think last year's winner and his low record sales are evidence of that.

Don't trip out; you don't have to try too hard to be a rocker. You already have that vibe, so just sing whatever you have to from week to week and it'll come out. That's about as much rock as Idol will let you have anyway.

(S06E18) Paula is momentarily missing when tonight's show begins, but is back just in time to get things started. After last night's snoozefest, I'm hoping the girls will wake up this competition. And luckily, I'm not disappointed.

It's "just a different show" with the ladies, as Randy points out early. The girls pick better songs that showcase their voices. And their voices are just better than the boys anyway. The women seem to understand that NOW is the time to show us what they've got. Gina finally finds her comfort zone. Melinda gives another flawless performance. And LaKisha, Stephanie, Jordin, and Sabrina prove they are solid, Top 12-worthy contestants.

My guess is that Antonella's luck has finally run out. And Haley is just out of time. But the remaining six ladies are going to give us a heck of a battle. And one of them is going to be the next American Idol.

(S06E15) Ryan tells us that the guys had an "incredible show" Tuesday night. Hold on a minute, Ryan, back up. Sure the boys were better than the week before, but I certainly wouldn't call their show "incredible." To quote Randy Jackson, "It was just ahright."

Besides, after tonight's Top 10 Ladies show, I'm more convinced than ever that this year's American Idol will be one of our fine ladies. I also think that it's going to be a tight race to the top between our lovely divas -- Lakisha, Melinda, Jordin, Stephanie, and Sabrina.

But tomorrow two unlucky ladies will be going home. Who will it be?

(S06E12) Okay, we're all in agreement -- Tuesday night's "Top 12 Boys" show was boring and uneventful. I thought so. Those of you who commented thought so. And even Paula thought so.

Paula says, "It was a rough first night...you learn after your first performance where you have to go, where you have to pull back, and where you push for it." And amazingly, perhaps for the first time EVER (okay, maybe there has been one other documented time), Simon agrees with Paula, calling her advice "wise words."

Now that we have a complete list of American Idol's Top 24, it's time to try to predict who will make the Top 12. I'll admit it's a bit early to make educated predictions. After all, how do we judge contestants we've never seen sing?

Honestly, this initial list is really just a compilation based on "gut feelings" or "first impressions." Let's face it, we're totally judging books by their covers.

(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.