The Chosen 36

So, we are down to the 36 that America gets to vote on. I have already heard some feedback and discontent about some of the choices made in the final cut. However, I am not really that suprised by any of the choices made by the judges. Going into last week's episodes, I pretty much had my picks for who could make the Final 12, and every one of them made it to the Semi-Final round. Rest assured, some of the "bad" choices the judges made in their picks are just strategic moves in stacking the deck one way or the other. P.S. - since when do we have "sing-off's"??? Dumb.

So, the biggest thing that I am hearing people say is that they are shocked by the inclusion of Tatiana and exclusion of Jamar. I'll be honest...I knew that Jamar was going to get the boot. They made SO MUCH of he and Danny's friendship while Danny was the obvious favorite of the judges overall. I did not see them going on together, and Jamar was the obvious one to go. Now, in regards to Tatiana...I have always said I think the girl has a really good voice, dramatics aside. Will America vote her through...highly unlikely, but at least the judges insured 1 more episode of her crazy infused goodness.

Here's a piece of Idol Gossip fresh off the wire...Joanna Pacitti the girl that previously recorded an album, and also one of my picks to do well...has been disqualified. Apparently, the rumor is that she has close ties to Execs at 19 Management, which is a big player in the American Idol franchise. This, of course, keeps them from looking like they are planting someone and risk being accused of "fixing" the show if she did well. So, sadly she is gone and Felicia Barton has been brought in as her replacement in the Top 36.

Now, the Semi Finals are going to be a little bit different this year. Instead of being divided into guy's night and girl's night they are kicking it old school (as in like back in season 3) and breaking the contestants into 3 "random" co-ed groups. Here is how these weeks will go down:

The top vote getting guy and top vote getting girl from each week's group along with the 3rd highest vote-getter (either guy or girl) will have a spot in the Final 12. So in 3 weeks we will have a group of 9 guys and girls. Then we go into the Wild Card round where the judges will bring back 9 previous contestants to compete for the last 3 spots in the Final 12. This could mean that we might not have an even number of guys and girls in the Finals. Although, there has never been an odd number of guys or girls so if this does happen it would be a first in AI history.

Although it seems this season is going to be difficult to predict due to the amount of talent and the potential effects of the changes in procedure to the Semi Final rounds, here are my initial thoughts on who we might see advance to Final 12 (based on a variety of components):

Danny Gokey
Jackie Tohn
Lil Rounds
Adam Lambert
Matt Giraud
Brent Keith
Arianna Afsar
Anoop Desai
Michael Sarver
Jasmine Murray
Anne Marie Boskovich
Stevie Wright

As you see, I have an even number of guys and girls. No matter how I looked at it I kept coming up with even numbers. Will I be right? Will I be close? We shall see. Who knows, my opinions might change once I see some of these other people that have been hidden.

But for now, let's look at this week's group:

Danny Gokey
Casey Carlson
Stephen Fowler
Jackie Tohn
Ricky Braddy
Anne Marie Boskovitch
Brent Keith
Alexis Grace
Michael Sarver
Stevie Wright
Tatiana Del Torro
Anoop Desai

First off...WOW!! This will be a killer week! Half of the people in this group are ones I have in my picks for the Finals. Obviously, we are going to have to see a couple of these people get picked for the Wild Card round to make the Final 12. I cannot decide which female will go through between Jackie and Anne Marie. I am going to have to watch the performances tonight to decide that. However, I will call Danny Gokey as the male winner and Anoop Desai as the 3rd place finisher to advance this week.

So, that is where we stand for now. This is when things start getting good and the real excitement begins! There is always the chance that some phenomenal singer shows up for the first time to America during these rounds and throws the whole game for a loop. So we'll see. Stay tuned for more Idol Moments and my thoughts on each person after the performance show!