The first 3 contestants into the Top 12 are…..
Michael Sarver, a 27-year-old oil rigger from Texas,Alexis Grace, a 21-year-old single mother from Tennessee, and Danny Gokey, a 28-year-old church music director from Milwaukee were advanced through the next round of American Idol!
Former Idol contestants made appearances on the show, including Carly Smithson and Michael Johns!
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Tonight, the first 12 "American Idol" semifinalists sing for viewers' votes beginning at 8 p.m. on Fox. The group includes many fan favorites.
Leading the pack is Danny Gokey, the soulful Milwaukee crooner whose wife died shortly before his "Idol" audition. His back story and vocal talents have combined to make him invincible in many fans' eyes.
Another male singer to watch is Anoop Desai, of Chapel Hill, N.C. Nicknamed "Anoop Dog," he's earned a fan following thanks to YouTube videos of performances with his college a cappella group. Not to mention his widely circulated thesis on Southern barbecue.
Plenty of competitive female singers will perform tonight. But most eyes will be on Puerto Rico's Tatiana Del Toro, the singer whose annoying laugh and dramatic antics have already earned her support from Vote for the Worst.
Visit the Ledger's "Idol" blog for more information on the 36 semifinalists. Reporter Sonya Sorich will blog tonight's episode "live," so you can weigh in with comments throughout the show.
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We didn't think it would happen, seeing as Carly Smithson, another major label refugee, was allowed to continue on through the top 12 of American Idol last season, but Joanna Pacitti, the 24-year-old stunner who made it to the Top 36 on this week's episode, has been disqualified from competing on season 8.
The show's website, americanidol.com, posted the official Top 36 late last night, noting that Pacitti was deemed "ineligible" and would be replaced by Felicia Barton. FOX did not respond to our request for comment on Wednesday evening, but we hear a statement is forthcoming.
In the meantime, let us bring you up to speed: there's been a decent amount of hub-bub surrounding Pacitti's professional past, including not only her former record deal (with A&M/Geffen, which released her debut album, This Crazy Life, in 2006), but also an opening slot on the last Nick Lachey tour (Lachey is signed to Jive Records, which is owned by SonyBMG, the company that awards a recording contract to the Idol winner), dubious connections to staffers at 19 Entertainment, including Pacitti's former manager, songs of hers that made it to soundtracks that sold well (like Legally Blonde) and later onto albums by major pop stars, like Britney Spears, not to mention a long, sad battle with the producers of a national tour of Annie, who released Pacitti from a starring role after she contracted bronchitis — a scandal covered by major news outlets at the time. And there are the numbers: unlike Smithson, whose ill-fated Carly Hennessy debut sold only a few hundred copies out the gate, Pacitti's moved more than 16,000, which, by today's standards, is a decent sales tally for any indie-rock band of note. Plus, as a protegé of power player Ron Fair, current head of Interscope/Geffen/A&M Records and the man credited for discovering Christina Aguilera (another SonyBMG artist) and Fergie, she has a lot of contacts in the industry, as we learned this past Grammy weekend when we constantly ran into people who either knew her or worked with her in some capacity....
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