American Idol Top 24!

Well, American Idol is starting to get down to the "nitty, gritty."  After dragging Hollywood week out .... can anyone say "boring" .... they have their top 24.  But not without a little drama and intrigue (don't we expect that each year anyway????)  One of the guys, Chris Golightly, was shown in some clips during  the 24 reveal on American Idol and was shown on stage on Wednesday night, but he was not included in the Top 24 in the end. Instead Tim Urban was in the Top 24. Tim Urban’s entry into the Top 24 was not aired, except in the end when his name and face was shown.  The bloggers are claiming that Chris was formerly under a music contract and believed the contract expired 30 days before he auditioned for Idol in July 2009. Unconfirmed blog chatter says when an alleged scuffle developed as to whether Chris’ contract did or didn’t expire in June 2009 with one person allegedly claiming Chris was still under contract, Chris allegedly failed to provide proof he was in fact released from contract in June of 2009.  Wonder if we'll hear anything about it from the judges?  Doubt it.

The male finalists are:  Andrew Garcia, 24, Moreno Valley, Calif.; Tyler Grady, 20, Nazareth, Pa.; Alex Lambert, 19, North Richland Hills, Texas; Joe Munoz, 20, Huntington Park, Calif.; John Park, 21, Evanston, Ill.; and Jermaine Sellers, 27, Joliet, Ill; Lee Dewyze, 23, Mount Prospect, Ill.;  Aaron Kelly, 16, Sonestown, Pa.; Casey James, 27, Fort Worth, Texas; Todrick Hall, 24, Arlington, Texas and Michael "Big Mike" Lynche, 26, Astoria, N.Y.and Tim Urban, 20, from Duncanville, Tx.

The female finalists are:  Crystal Bowersox, 24, Toledo, Ohio; Lacey Brown, 24, Amarillo, Texas; Michelle Delamor, 22, Miami; Siobhan Magnus, 20, Marstons Mills, Mass.; Paige Miles, 24, Houston, Texas; Ashley Rodriguez, 22, Chelsea, Mass.; Lilly Scott, 20, Denver; Katie Stevens, 17, Middlebury, Conn.; and Haeley Vaughn, 16, Fort Collins, Colo' Didi Benami, 23, Los Angeles; Katelyn Epperly, 19, West Des Moines, Iowa; Janell Wheeler, 24, Tampa, Florida.

The top 12 women will perform live next Tuesday with the top 12 men taking the stage live Wednesday. Viewer votes will determine which two women and two men will be eliminated.  Stay tuned!