American Idol: Top 36 Revealed

Hello friends! Well, we finally have our top 36! New twists this year. No elevator of doom. We have singoffs and the judges' mansion. It was as boring as it usually is though! At least we go live next week and I can write better blogs finally!

Notes below were taken in real-time while watching, with a few last minute changes (it's a busy blog night!!) After we found out who was in week 1, I had to change some picks, so it will be a miracle if I get this all right!

Here are the Top 36 (My Top 12 picks highlighted in Blue)

1. Anoop Desai - He still Rocks! (week 1)
2. Von Smith - The screamer. Yikes. Went against his parents' advice and picked his own song and made it in. Still not a fan. Will America be?
3. Alex Wagner Trugman - Singoff with Cody Sheldon - "Don't Let the Sun Go Down" He sang better than Cody, but still a weird dude!
4. Adam Lambert - Simon: "It's not good news........pause......It's great news." ugh...how corny and predictable was that? I'm a fan of Adam's, but we'll see if he wears on people with that high voice!
5. Taylor Vaifanua - 17 - Don't remember much about her except that she was in Danny Gokey's
6. Jasmine Murray - 16 - I'm sure she'll make it
7. Arianna Afsar
8. Casey Carlson - Only really heard her in the audition. I was going to take a random guess and pick her to make the top 12, but once I saw her competition in week 1, it's not looking good. Even for a wildcard! (week 1)
9. Megan Corkrey - I'm picking her instead of Casey.
10. Mishavonna Henson
11. Stevie Wright - (week 1)
12. Joanna Pacitti - Record Label girl, forgot all words in Hollywood. The FIX is in folks! Just seems like the producers want to cause controversy! I don't know if America is going to support her though! If they don't, the judges can always put her in with a wildcard.
    NOTE: After posting this blog, we have found out that Joanna Pacitti was disqualified and determined ineligible! Looks like my comments above weren't far off!
    
    She is being replaced with Felicia Barton who I can't say I remember! Therefore I will pick a new top 12er in Joanna's place and mark it in Bold Green!
13. Kendall Beard - Good Audition, bad Hollwood round. Can she rebound?
14. Kristin McNamara - Singoff with Jenn Korbee - "I Will Always Love You" Love Kara's comment "What is she wearing?!" Simon disagrees with the putting her through. I don't think either were that good. So we'll see how far she gets.
15. Alexis Grace - A little pink hair, so we have to put her in the top 12! (week 1)
16. Scott Macintyre - American will probably resonate with his story. He's a likable guy. And he's not too bad of a singer/piano player.
17. Lil Rounds - Since my track record of getting the top 12 predictions correct is pretty bad, I'll put her through!
18. Jesse Langseth - Singoff with Frankie Jordan - Sang a weird song. I was shocked. We didn't see much or at all of Jesse so I figured they'd go with Frankie. Guess we'll see her at least once more!
19. Allison Iraheta - sang "Because of You" and that sounded pretty awful. And she's 16. That's a bad combination in my book! They say she has raw, natural talent. I'll need to see more before really judging.
20. Danny Gokey - Still a fan! His buddy Jamar didn't make it. That last Hollywood performance did him in I think. (week 1)
21. Ricky Braddy - Who? (week 1)
22. Matt Giraud - Still a fan of this guy too!
23. Ju'Not Joyner
24. Jorge Nunez
25. Brent Keith - (week 1)
26. Stephen Fowler - They let him in even though he walked off the stage when he forgot the words. He must be pretty good! (week 1)
27. Nick Mitchell (Norman Gentle) - WHAAAAAAT??????? Oh my. Look out for votefortheworst.com That's all I have to say!
28. Jackie Tohn - She's kinda nuts. And I was scared of Amanda Overmeyer part II. But her toned down performance of "I Hope You Dance" with guitar wasn't too bad! (week 1) She's a late top 12 pick for me now that Joanna is out. And she's a week 1, so she'll probably have to be brought back for wildcard day. And if that's the case, only her or Michael Sarver would probably make it with my current guesses. Good thing Sarver is a Bonus pick!
29. Tatiana Del Toro - Oh dear...this has to be a joke! One of these bozos (Norman) just might make that top 12! I'm going to hold onto hope that America will do the right thing though! She'll have some stiff competition to get through in week 1 though. (week 1)
30. Nathaniel Marshall - Singoff with Jackie Midkiff - we finally got his story. His mother is in Jail. Sings "Already There" Best I heard him sing, but he still is really annoying!
31. Jeanine Vailes - We've never seen her I don' t think.
32. Kai Kalama
33. Ann Marie Boscovich - I was told that she's pretty good by a few people. I guess I just missed it! I'll take the people's vote on this one! (week 1)
34. Kris Allen
35. Matt Breitzke - singoff with Michael Sarver - Well if you're taking notes during the show you know both are going to make it in! I like them both, but I think only one has a chance for the top 12.
36. Michael Sarver - singoff with Matt Breitzke - He has a tiny bit of an edge on Matty. After I found out he's in week 1 with the rest of the crew, I'm downgrading him to an Orange Guess (my bonus pick for the top 12) (week 1)

Whew, what a mess. There are always surprises in these crazy semi-finals. Relatively unknowns will step up and some early favorites will fade away. But this week 1 is packed with talent, and I have more than 3 picks for the top 12 already! I'll need the help from the Judges in wildcard week to get it right. Then again, I reserve the right to change my mind on my picks over the next 3 weeks too! Well, I'm just rambling now. Bottom line, all of this means nothing as we head into LIVE TV next week. And the big question will be, as it the show will air live on February 17th, what local stations will stop broadcasting their analog signals (oh yes...the delay until June is only Optional). So if for some reason, you have Internet access, but are still watching TV via Antenna, you might want to go over a friend's house next Tuesday just in case!

Regardless, I'll be here to capture all of the glory of the first live show. See you then!