'American Idol' reveals 10 remaining Top 24 semifinalists and "twist"
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 02/24/2012
American Idol has formally announced its Top 24 eleventh-season semifinalists and revealed a special twist in which the competition will feature a thirteenth male semifinalist.
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One night after it unveiled the first 14, American Idol revealed the identities of its 10 remaining semifinalists and ended the dreams of 10 additional hopefuls during Thursday night's one-hour Fox broadcast.
The 10 American Idol semifinalists, consisting of six male and four female singers, were unveiled during last night's "Final Judgment" broadcast after the season's 42 remaining hopefuls took to the stage in Las Vegas and performed one final song of their choice accompanied by only one musician playing one instrument.
The four girls who also made the cut were Hollie Cavanagh, an 18-year-old from McKinney, TX; Hallie Day, a 24-year-old from Baltimore, MD; Skylar Laine, an 18-year-old from Brandon, MS; and Shannon Magrane, a 16-year-old from Tampa, FL.
In addition,American Idol judges Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson were shown telling five additional hopefuls -- Jermaine Jones, David Leathers Jr., Scott Dangerfield, Shelby Tweten, and Ariel Sprague -- that they were among the 42 who had made the season's Final Judgment but also among the 18 who hadn't made the semifinals.
Last night's broadcast also featured a "dramatic twist" in which the 12 male semifinalists will be extended to 13, resulting in a Top 25. One of these four contestants -- Jones, Leathers Jr., Johnny Keyser, and Richie Law -- will get a second chance to join the season's male semifinalists, and the lucky contestant will be revealed during Tuesday night's performance episode.
With the selection of the Top 24 now over, American Idol's eleventh season will feature a single semifinals round similar to last season in which the show will air a pair of Tuesday and Wednesday performance shows on February 28 and 29 and a live results show that will reveal the season's finalists on Thursday, March 1.
The 13 male semifinalists -- including one of the four singers who will be selected to re-enter the competition next week -- will perform during Tuesday's broadcast, which will air from 8-10PM ET/PT, while the 12 female semifinalists will perform during Wednesday's episode, which will also air from 8-10PM ET/PT.
The results show -- which will be a special live, two-hour broadcast -- will then follow on Thursday and air from 8-10PM ET/PT.
American Idol's 13 male eleventh-season semifinalists -- and their Fox-released biographical information -- are:
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