American Idol
News (Page 6)

And then there were nine.

Three-quarters of the season eight finalists on American Idol have been named, following last night's results show. The final trio will be selected by fans after tonight's Wild Card round.

Those three will join the singers voted through last night, which were:

• Lil Rounds (pictured)
• Scott MacIntyre
• Jorge Nunez

Say hello to Lil Rounds, aka "the clear favorite on season eight of American Idol."

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting your season eight winner on American Idol: Lil Rounds!

Okay, that might be a bit premature. But just a bit.

The 23-year old mother of three blew viewers away last night with her rendition of Mary J. Blige's “Be Without You." Watch it for yourself:

It's safe to assume that Lil Rounds will have her ticket punched for the finals when results are announced tonight.

Who will join her there? Our best guesss are:

• Jorge Nunez, who broke down in tears and could only think/speak in Spanish after receiving universal praise from the judges for “Don’t Let the Sun go Down on Me” by Elton John;
• And Scott MacIntyre. Dude is legally blind! He oozed with emotion and talent during performance of “Mandolin Rain” by Bruce Hornsby.

Still, Lil Rounds stole the show. Here's a photo of her during last night's performance:

One-half of the eventual 12 finalists on American Idol have been chosen.

Last week, Kris Allen, Allison Iraheta and Adam Lambert became the latest trio to receive the nod from viewers.

Following the news that they had advanced to the finals, each of the aspiring singers took part in a conference call with reporters. Here are a few highlights from it:

Kris Allen, on lack of airtime prior to semifinal audition: "I wasn't looking for the cameras and trying to put my face in there."

Adam Lambert, on being pigeonholed as a theater performer: "I don't listen to show tunes on my downtime"

Allison Iraheta, on experience of winning "Quinceanera", a 2006 Telemundo contest: "It helped me out with being on the stage in front of cameras a little. [But] it's nothing compared to this."

Which of this trio is your favorite American Idol finalist?

We're halfway to a completed set of 12 American Idol finalists.

With Danny Gokey, Alexis Grace and Michael Sarver - all of whom were voted through to the next round a week ago - looking on, the show announced its next trio of finalists last night.

They are:

• Adam Lambert (pictured)
  
• Kris Allen
• Allison Iraheta

Lambert and Iraheta were no-brainers, as they were the only two impressive contestants on Wednesday night's performance show.

Allen, however, was a slight surprise. He beat out Megan Joy Corkrey for the last spot.

Next week, a dozen more semifinalists will compete for three more spots in the competition's finals.

After that, American Idol is switching it up this season: the judges will pick the last three finalists as part of a special wild card round.

Last night's American Idol was terrible. There's just no other way to put it.

The one contestant that stood out was Adam Lambert. He showed incredible range during a rendition of "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones.

Watch Lambert's performance below:

Simon Cowell is never shy about voicing his opinion.

Therefore, when asked about season eight of American Idol, the British judge told the following to People Magazine:

On who will win: “[It will be a] boy this year"

On the Joanna Pacitti disqualification: “I like scandals. It’s not American Idol without a scandal. In fact I hope we have some more, I really do.”

On the new show format: “The fact that we change these middle rounds makes it less monotonous. It’s a more interesting group of people than last year, a bit more personality, different types of singers.”

Hmmm, a boy, huh? Our money would be on Danny Gokey or Matt Giraud.

Which American Idol semifinalists will be taking the stage Wednesday night? Here's a look:

• Nick Mitchell
• Adam Lambert
• Megan Corkrey
• Kris Allen
• Mishavonna Henson
• Matt Breitzke
• Kai Kalama
• Jasmine Murray
• Jesse Langseth
• Matt Giraud
• Allison Iraheta
• Jeanine Vailles

Which of these singers do you think will advance to the finals?

Alexis Grace, Michael Sarver and Danny Gokey have made it through to the finals of American Idol.

They are the first three season eight contestants to do so.

Grace is the pink-haired single mother; Sarver, the oil rigging everyman; and Gokey, the soulful crooner whose wife passed away weeks prior to his initial audition.

Which of these singers is your favorite so far?

Alexis Grace and Danny Gokey advancing to the finals of American Idol were surer bets this week than Rush Limbaugh coming down hard on Barack Obama's stimulus plan.

But the show pulled its first surprise of the season, as early fan favorite Anoop Desai was passed over in favor of oil rig worker Michael Sarver.

Sarver didn't really impress judges on Tuesday with his rendition of Gavin McGraw's "I Don't Wanna Be," but Simon Cowell said he hopes the nice guy gets a second chance - and voters apparently agreed!

Hope isn't lost for Desai supporters, though: in a few weeks, American Idol will hold a Wild Card round of auditions, during which a select few semifinalists will receive another opportunity to advance. Our hopes for that round?

Anoop and Ann Marie Boskovich.

How about you?

The first 12 semifinalists on American Idol took to the stage last night.

While Jackie Tohn opened the evening with an energetic performance of an Elvis classic; and while Ricky Braddy came out of nowhere with a winning rendition of "A Song For You," we have a strong feeling that the following three contestants will be voted through to the next round.

Alexis Grace performed third on the show, but Randy Jackson said she truly kicked off season eight with her performance of "Never Loved a Man." She has a child, so we know this isn't literally true. But it was still a solid audition.

Anoop Desai sang "Angel of Mine," a slow song that wasn't as much fun as his rendition of "My Perogative" in Hollywood. But it's clear the judges all hope to see more of the crooner known as "Noop Dogg."

Danny Gokey closed the show with a rendition of Mariah Carey's "Hero" that might have cured cancer. That's how Randy, Kara and Paula responded to it at least. The crowd - or, as we're gonna start calling them, "Gokeheads," - gave this contestant a standing ovation.

Which of these contestants was your favorite semifinalist? Click on each photo for a larger version.