Well, now it’s America’s turn. Last Thursday, the judges, amid many tears, many teasers, and with ruthless determination, whittled the top 42 candidates down to the top 24 – plus one, yet-to-be-named male for good measure. This is the last round of auditions, and the last time the judges have the final say. Beginning next week, we advance to the regular competition. On Tuesday, the guys will sing, and on Wednesday the girls will sing. America’s votes will be counted and applied Thursday.
You can click on any of the top 24 contestant’s names on the right side of this page to go to their Bio, and read the latest news about them. You will also find a collection of their latest videos.
We are told that on Tuesday night, another boy will be chosen as a wild-card, bringing the number of boys up to 13. This additional contestant will be chosen from a pool of four guys – Jermaine Jones, Richie Law, Johnny Keyser and David Leathers, Jr. It will be interesting to see who is picked. My vote goes with David.
One of the most dramatic, and emotional conferences with the “American Idol” judges on last week’s show, was that of Adam Brock,27, of Washington County. Adam says that being there with the judges to learn his fate was so stressful that he didn’t remember many of the details. He cried while he listened to the judges compliment him on his singing abilities and performance so far in “Idol,. Then came the “but” and a pregnant pause. The judges then criticized his last performance, before ending his agony by telling him he made it to the Top 24. Even four weeks later, upon watching the episode he said he “almost felt like he was watching someone else”.
Jennifer Lopez, who has had trouble before with the elimination of good candidates graciously brought the Auditions and the top-24 selection to a close with an obviously sincere “Glad that sh*t is over.”
I’m interested in what everyone thought about this latest season of auditions. Too many “pregnant pauses”, too much or too little drama and angst? Is the group round fair and balanced, or too rigorous? Join the discussion in the comments.
