American Idol's Top 13 thirteenth-season finalists were revealed during Thursday night's live results show which ended the competition's semifinal round and eliminated seven of the season's Top 20 contestants.
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The five male finalists who also landed spots in the Top 10 based on the vote were Ben Briley, a 24-year-old from Gallatin, TN; Caleb Johnson, a 22-year-old from Asheville, NC; Alex Preston, a 20-year-old from Mont Vernon, NH; Dexter Roberts, a 22-year-old from Fayette, AL; and Sam Woolf, a 17-year-old from Bradenton, FL.
In addition, C.J. Harris, a 23-year-old from Jasper, AL; Jena Irene, a 17-year-old from Farmington Hills, MI; and Kristen O'Connor, a 24-year-old nurse tech from Sebastian, FL, were selected by American Idol judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. as the thirteenth season's three "Wild Card" picks -- rounding out the Top 13 finalists.
America's 10 chosen finalists were revealed one by one by Idol host Ryan Seacrest at the beginning of last night's episode.
Meuse, Nobilette, Piriz, Rose, and Watson advanced to American Idol's finals after they received the most home viewer votes following Tuesday night's broadcast during which 10 of the Top 15 female semifinalists performed. Briley, Johnson, Preston, Roberts, and Woolf advanced after they finished as the top five vote-getters following Wednesday night's performance show in which 10 of the Top 15 male semifinalists took the stage.
Afterward, the American Idol judges selected five semifinalists of the 10 remaining contestants to each sing a solo in the hopes of becoming one of the special "Wild Card" picks.
The judges asked Harris; Irene; O'Connor; Spencer Lloyd, a 19-year-old from Bryant, AR; and Bria Anai, a 16-year-old student from Lithonia, GA; to perform live.
Connick Jr. told Harris his performance was "average" and there was "weird stuff going on" during the song. Irene was praised by Urban for being "raw, vulnerable and artistic." Lopez was disappointed in Lloyd's performance, saying he didn't give America what she hoped he'd show them.
Connick Jr. told Anai that while her performance was really passionate, it was all over the place and she overshot the mark. O'Connor did really well, according to Urban, but she should've sang the song in a little bit of a higher key.
In the end, the judges agreed Harris, Irene and O'Connor should move forward in the competition.
Therefore, the Idol dream ended for the following Top 20 semifinalists: Anai; Lloyd; Briana Oakley, a 17-year-old from Antioch, CA; Marrialle Sellars, an 18-year-old from Indianapolis, IN; Malcolm Allen, a 21-year-old from Wrightsville, AR; George Lovett, a 24-year-old from Baltimore, MD; and Emmanuel Zidor, a 24-year-old from Miami, FL.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
