Anoop Desai-the 13th Idol Finalist

It is no longer the magic 12 for American Idol. Anoop Desai is joining the twelve finalsts chosen from the three elimination rounds with his selection from the wild card that gave eight contestants a second chance for the crown.

Here is the news:

When does 12 equal 13? Apparently, the answer is “When 'American Idol' selects its finalists.”

Thursday’s wild-card round was supposed to send three singers on to complete the traditional group of 12 finalists. But a last-minute curveball delivered by Simon Cowell offered up extra-special news for one of the audience favorites.

Lucky 13: Anoop Desai suffered the unkindest cut in his semifinal heat, falling about 20,000 votes short of Michael Sarver for the final spot. It looked for a moment like Thursday would be déjà vu all over again, as Desai stood onstage with Matt Giraud and saw Giraud celebrate at what he assumed was his expense. But just as he was about to shake hands and congratulate the finalists, Simon stopped him in his tracks. It’s a 13-singer finals this year, and Anoop Dog is the lucky beneficiary.

Three More American Idol finalists Season 8 and one from Wildcard

Lil Rounds is selected as the year's top contender for the American Idol title. The 24-year-old mother of three, biting into Mary J. Blige's "Be Without You" left judge Simon stunned last Tuesday.

Scott MacIntyre was voted as the first blind finalist in the American Idol Season 8 elimination round.

The other one is Jorge Nunez.

Nunez looked like he is pissed when Ryan Seacrest is going to make him wait after the commercial. He was so happy that he thanked everyone in Spanish.

Joyner who was not picked last night and was not eve nconsidered in the wild card,was embarrassed by the revelation of his medical history.

The participants in Thursday’s wild-card round were announced at the end of the show, with four men and four women getting another chance. The men picked were Von Smith, Ricky Braddy, Matt Giraud and Anoop Desai, and the women Jasmine Murray, Megan Joy Corkrey, Jesse Langseth, and the predictably hysterical Tatiana Del Toro, who had to be shushed by Ryan in order to keep the show reasonably close to on schedule.

Three More American Idol Contestants for the final Twelve

Group 2 from the original 36 contestants performed last Tuesday.




Three more singers earned spots in the final 12 on “American Idol,” and for the second week in a row, there were no major surprises among the selections.

Adam Lambert and Allison Iraheta were the most popular with the judges on Tuesday, and were also among the most popular with the viewers Wednesday. The third finalist was less of a certainty, but Kris Allen got his news in a way that made his selection easy to predict.

Teen has Heart: Allison Iraheta was the first to earn her spot in the finals Wednesday, not a surprise considering the praise she earned for singing Heart’s “Alone.” The 16-year-old was at a loss for words. “I am just so frigging happy right now,” she said, once she finally got to sit on the stool of safety.

The First Three Americal IDOL Finalists

Three American IDOL contestants moved to the Final Twelve last night.
They are:
Michael Sarver



Michael Sarver, 27, an oil-rig worker from Jasper, Texas who is afraid of the economy where job is not assured in this time of high unemployment.

Danny Gokey


Gokey, 28, who lost his wife, Sophia, to a congenital heart defect, said he worries that the audience might grow weary of hearing about his tragedy.

According to him:
“It’s only been seven months since she passed,” Gokey said. “It’s not that I throw it in people’s faces but I get asked about it all the time. ... I apologize to everybody if it feels like it’s shoved down their face, but it’s so fresh in my mind.”

Alexis Grace



Grace, 21, a single mom from Memphis, Tenn., whose image is the issue.

She is petite, barely five feet tall, sweet-faced and was advised to take a "dirty look for the audition. She has a a young daughter who watches her on TV.



“I kind of like the whole ’60s soul, cocktail-dress kind of vibe thing,” said Grace, who admitted reluctantly (“Most girls wouldn’t like this question”) to being just under 5-foot-tall and weighing shy of 100 pounds.

‘Idol’ contestant Joanna Pacitti was disqualified

Joanna Pacitti made it to the final 36 of American Idol but she was disqualified and replaced by Felicia Barton.

She was discovered to be a semi-pro with extensive music background. American Idol fans have been clamoring for her disqualification.

LOS ANGELES - “American Idol” revealed the final 36 contestants vying for this year’s “Idol” crown on Wednesday night. However, one contestant who made the cut has since been disqualified since Hollywood Week took place last fall.

Joanna Pacitti, who had come under fire in earlier rounds after it was discovered she had an extensive music career background, was announced as one of this season’s 36 finalists on Wednesday night. But in a press release from FOX, which was sent out following the show’s broadcast Wednesday night, the network announced Pacitti was ruled ineligible to continue her “Idol” quest.

“It has been determined that Joanna Pacitti is ineligible to continue in the competition,” the statement said. “‘American Idol’ contestant Felicia Barton has replaced Ms. Pacitti as part of the Top 36.”

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ANOTHER PROFESSIONAL IDOL SINGER

i did not like Carly Smith, the American Idol who had already a record deal before she joined the reality TV season 7.

This Season 8, they sent Joanna Pacitti to Hollywood when she passed the audition despite the fact that she was already singing professionally with a record deal to boot.

Here is the news from New York Post.

AMERICAN Idol" has be come second-chance "Idol" for Season 8's Joanna Pacitti - and it's got some of the show's fans up-in-arms.

Like Carly Smithson, whose record deal with MCA when she was just a teenager caused a firestorm of controversy last season, Pacitti is using "Idol" to jump-start a dead career - but is meeting even more resistance from "Idol" fans than Smithson.

Pacitti first made national headlines in 1996 when, at the age of 12, she was fired from the cast of "Annie" before the show hit Broadway. Her parents sued and settled for an undisclosed sum.

Later, A&M signed her to a record contract, keeping her under development for five years. At first, she cut songs for several movie soundtracks, including "Legally Blonde" (2001) and "Bratz: Motion Picture Soundtrack" (2007).

Eventually, she released an album, "This Crazy Life," that, according to Billboard's Jaded Insider, has sold 15,000 copies since its 2006 release. Pacitti "was a big priority" at the label, according to Billboard insiders.

By comparison, Smithson's MCA album "Ultimate High," from 2001, sold only around 6,000 copies.

If Smithson was an "Idol" plant - a term coined by the irreverent "Idol" site, Vote for the Worst - Pacitti is a veritable sequoia.

And there's more.

If Pacitti's background in theater and music wasn't enough professional experience, she also starred in a reality show, "MTV's First Year," which followed her attempts at a music career.

American Idol goes to David Cook's Country

Audition in Kansas City, the Season Seven champ David Cook's "country" did not disappoint the judges for promising American Idol wannabes.

The audition yielded more than tw odoezens of people worthy of going to Hollywood.
Included among them were:

1. A mother of three who lost her house in a tornado. She has the confidence and her singing style is a mixture of Mary J. Blige and Stevie Wonder.

2. Danny Gokey lost his wife four weeks prior to his audition. He was given a yes vote by the judges.

3. Matt Breitzke,s a a 27-year-old married dad who is a welder. The lady judges gave him a yes while Randy thumbed him down Simon Cowell sent him to Hollywood when he agreed with the girls.

There are not so lucky because they really can not sing like the guy who wore the medal he got when he was in the elementary. Even his mother did not believe he can sing.

Andrew Lang even brought his own cheerleaders. Unluckily they went home with nothing to cheer but the contestant.


One of the successful hopeful is Jason Castro's brother Michael who plays a ukelele.

AMERICAN IDOL IS BACK

American Idol is back with four judges. Joining the SIMON COWELL, PAULA ABDUL AND RANDY JACKSON IS KARA DIOGUARDI.

DioGuardi brings is more than a pretty face — she’s an accomplished singer and songwriter (she penned hits for Celine Dion, Ashlee Simpson, Kylie Minogue, Pink and Christina Aguilera, among others)

Will it still be a pop culture phenomenon watched by millions every week for four months?

From the 100,000 American Idol wannabes from auditions made in East Rutherford, NJ, Jacksonville, FL, Kansas City, MO, Louisville, KY, Phoenix, AZ, Salt Lake City, UT, San Francisco, CA and San Juan, Puerto Rico , the number is reduced to just a small fraction.


They increased the number of semi-finalists from 24 to 36 and brought back the WILD CARD feature where the contestants who were voted off were given a chance to come back in the competition just like Clay Aiken.

The competition begun with the weird looking costumes, underdressed and overdressed contestants, the usual trying hard wanna be singers and the stories that can squeeze your hearts for pity.