American Idol: Top 24

The results show is on right now but I'm not watching, as I do not need two hours of Ryan Seacrest trying to dramatically deliver the results to me when I can just look them up online five minutes after the show is over. So I'm going to post who I think might go through to the next round and then will edit this post later with the actual results.

Tonight the contestants are being winnowed down from 24 to 13. The top 5 girls (as determined by votes) and the top 5 guys, along with one "wild card" pick from each judge. These results usually end up surprising, but then again, the first official performances usually are as well.

Who stood out among the guys: James Durbin and Jacob Lusk, in my opinion. I've heard others say Paul McDonald, Scotty McCreery, and Casey Adams. Paul is not exactly my style, maybe just a little too quirky; Scotty does country and we all know I am not a fan of country, but I will admit he does it well; and Casey did well, but he kind of creeped me out. As I was watching I thought, "Why is this mountain man in a suit trying to seduce me?"

So based on what I've heard, I wouldn't be surprised if these were the top 5 guys. But as much as I've seen some people loving on Paul, I wonder if there will be enough teenyboppers out there to possibly get Robbie or Tim in. Neither gave their best performance Tuesday night, unfortunately. They weren't terrible, just not as strong as they could have been. Most of the other guys performances were either fine or just not quite there. Jordan had the worst idea of the night singing Usher's "OMG." Good thing he's not my favorite; I just hope America and the judges agree.

Then the girls performed last night, and so many more of them delivered. Naima, Kendra, Haley, and Thia all gave strong performances. Karen, Lauren Turner, Lauren Alania, and Pia all did an excellent job and, in my opinion, were the best four. I think at least Karen, Lauren A. and Pia will make it in, but I'm not sure about Lauren just because of how hard the judges were pimping some of the other contestants (mainly Thia). As I mentioned before, I don't really get her. I have no idea what her personality is. But as far as her singing goes... the beginning of her performance last night was very haunting without music, but then after that, she sang very well but it failed to wow me at all. There was really no passion in her voice. So it kind of floored me when Jennifer chided Julie for not showing her passion in her singing (which unfortunately was true), but then thought Thia was fantastic.

So I'm thinking if Thia does not get in by vote, she might be a wild card. Jennifer may find herself in conflict about whether to choose her or Rachel though. Rachel gave a pretty sub-par performance last night. Not to say that it was actually bad, it just did not show off her vocal ability, and her performance felt forced and awkward. J-Lo loves her though, but does she love her as much as Thia? Or will Steven or Randy choose her, or someone else? I have a feeling it's going to be interesting to say the least...

Here's who I think might make it, in no particular order:
(EDIT: Bold made it, crossed-out did not)
1. James Durbin
2. Jacob Lusk
3. Casey Abrams
4. Scotty McCreery
5. Paul McDonald
6. Karen Rodriguez
7. Lauren Alania
8. Pia Toscano
9. Naima Adedapo (Wild Card)
10. Lauren Turner
11. Thia Megia (producers' fave for whatever reason)
12. Toss-up among: Kendra Chantelle (did well last night), Ashton Jones (wild card) (for the sake of having the "diva-in-the-making"), or second-chance Julie Zorrilla
13. Tim Halperin (I say this hopefully, not certainly. Robbie Rosen and Stefano Langone (wild card) are two other possibilities)
Haley Reinhart

P.S. My favorite "reject" Colton performed on Ellen today:

P.S. Part Two: I'll blog about something non-American Idol related soon, I promise.