Thursday, February 15, 2007

American Idol '07 Semi-Finalists

After spending so much time on the audition rounds, American Idol blew through the Hollywood round (reducing the field from nearly 200 to 24) in two fast-paced hours. The judges culled through the would-be Idols and came up with the semi-finalists who will start competing for the votes of viewers starting on February 20th.

The gentlemen: Chris Sligh (28, Greenville, SC); Sanjaya Malakar (17, Federal Way, WA); Brandon Rogers (29, Los Angeles); Philip Stacy (29, Jacksonville, FL).; Blake Lewis (25, Bothell, WA); Rudy Cardenas ( 28, Los Angeles); Paul Kim (25, Saratoga, CA); A.J. Tabaldo ( 22, Santa Maria, CA); Nicholas Pedro (25, Taunton, MA).; Chris Richardson (22, Chesapeake, VA); Jared Cotter (25, West Orange, NJ), and Jason "Sundance" Head (28, Porter, Texas.)

The ladies: Melinda Doolittle (29, Brentwood, TN); Gina Glocksen (22, Naperville, IL); Haley Scarnato (24, San Antonio, TX); Jordin Sparks (17, Glendale, AZ); Stephanie Edwards (19, Savannah, GA); Leslie Hunt (24, Chicago); Alaina Alexander (24, West Hollywood, CA); Sabrina Sloan (27, Los Angeles); Lakisha Jones (27, Flint, MI); Nicole Tranquillo (20, Philadelphia); Amy Krebs (22, Federal Way, WA)., and Antonella Barba (20, Point Pleasant, NJ).

Some fans are grumbling about the capricious way the judges made their picks and indeed some people who seemed to be struggling through what little they showed us of the Hollywood round made it through while others who appeared to be ready for the show were cut…but these things are always subjective and I guess we’ll see how it shakes out.

The list of semi-finalists is interesting for a couple of other reasons. First, only 3 teenagers made it through (9 of the 12 men are age 25 or older.) And even though all 5 of the previous winners hailed from the South only 7 of the 24 semi-finalists come from the region (10 come from Western states…including 6 from California.)

What does it all mean? I dunno. Viewers won’t get a real look at how good most of these people are until the semi-final performance shows begin next week and the cream hopefully rises to the top as America picks the final 12. Game on, American Idol fans, game on.

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More MKW Blogstuff: Bread and Roses

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