Only one major disappointment

Who's Garrett Haley? He's another one we've never seen, but he's through to the finals. Kady Malloy, whom I know we've seen before, but I don't remember much about, makes it through, too.

Yay! Chikezie Eze makes it through. I'll be honest - I liked his audition, but I love his name - it just sounds very cool. I'm hoping to like him for more reasons once I hear him sing again, but either way, I'm glad to see him make it.

Amy Davis? Have we seen her? I feel like maybe we have, but I don't remember - anyway, she's through to the finals, to, as is Alaina Whitaker and Jason Yeager, the guy who for some unknown reason, thought it would be cool to dye a one-inch piece of his hair blond. Looks stupid.

Asia'h Epperson, the girl who lost her father right before her audition, makes it through, as is David Hernandez, who just knocked it out of the park last night.

Josiah Leming, the homeless guy who sings with a British accent is next, and he's feeling confident. He says he thinks they'll put him through. Part of me is annoyed by that confidence, but I suppose that in order to be successful, you have to believe that you can be successful, so I won't hold it against him. But wow... they say no to him. I'm a little surprised and he looks devastated - I feel kind of bad for him. I think he could have added something really interesting to the show this season.

So there's only four people, and two spots left. First up is the two guys - they show a clip of Colton Berry, whom we haven't seen up to this point and I have to say, I don't really care for his voice. I reserve the right to change my mind, but at this moment, I see who he's up against and I just can't bring myself to like him right now. He's up against Kyle Ensley, my adorable dork from Oklahoma.

Well, the other guy makes it - and it will take nothing short of a miracle to make me like him ever. Even Simon makes a point of saying that he doesn't agree with the decision and that he's really disappointed. Simon says he doesn't think Kyle was the best singer but that he thought he could have brought something to the competition and he would have entertained a lot of people watching at home. I know I would have loved to see more of him. I'm really bummed about this decision - bad move, I think.

Joanne Borgella and Cardin McKinney are up next and I don't really have an opinion about either of them. Joanne is from New York, though, so I'm rooting for her. WHAT!!!! My TiVo just cut the show off. Unbelievable. I'm gonna have to go online to find out who made it... Please hold...

If the Internet is at all reliable, it's Joanne who makes it through, but Paula apparently tells Cardin to come back next year. And that's it - we have our Top 24!

A couple of unknowns

Kristy Lee Cook, the girl who sang the same song in Hollywood as she did in her audition, makes it and while I think she has a beautiful voice, I liked her in the auditions, it just rubs me the wrong way when people repeat songs. In my book, it's an unfair advantage - you already know the judges like how you sound with that song - it's what got you to the point you're at. But I'll have to find a way to get past it now.

Brooke White, the girl who's never seen an R-rated movie, is freaking out. She's not even in the room with the judges yet and she's already crying. She walks in trying to hold back the tears, but she's really shaken up. She tells the judges that it's a big day because either way, it's a big change for her. Simon tells her that at this stage, if they tell her no, her music career is pretty much over. She says, "You're right," and you can see that the idea of that is sinking in. But Randy tells her pretty quickly that she's in and she shows the appropriate amount of joy and excitement.

Danny Noriega is next and he's another one I think is a shoo-in - he's just so good, and the producers must know how obvious the choice is because there's no waiting - they just tell him immediately that he's in.

OK... who's Jason Castro? and who's Luke Menard? and who's Alexandrea Lushington? I guess we'll find out next week, because they're all in the Top 24, but none of them rings a bell for me - if we saw them audition, I have no recollection of it. This is where I feel like the producers are trying to shape our opinions. These three now have an uphill battle - they have to endear themselves to the American public with just one performance next week, where the other finalists, we've seen at least once before, if not twice or three times already.

Ramiele Malusay, the little girl with the huge voice, makes it next. I have to say, there havene't been any real surprises so far. The people who've had a lot of air time have made it and the ones who were cut are people we saw little of and don't really care if we see again.

Shaun Barrowes is cut, as is Lorena Pinot, Drew Poppelreiter, the cutie cowboy whom we haven't seen since his audition, and Natasha Bloch.

Michael Johns, the Australian, is next and he joins the Top 24, as does Syesha Mercado, the girl who lost her voice in Hollywood, and Robbie Carrico, whom we saw a little bit of last night.

David Archuleta is in... and some other folks, too

So, here we are, ready to here the results. Who will be in the Top 24? Let's get right to it...

First one up is Ronald Hodge, who I don't remember seeing at all through any of the auditions, so my guess is that's a bad sign. Then they show a clip of him during Hollywood week and his eyes are crazy when he sings. I can't imagine he'll be in the Top 24, but who knows? But no, he's not and he seems to take it well, but he does say that he doesn't know what he's going to do with his life now. That's kind of scary and sad for me. I don't understand people who stake their whole futures on a TV show - it's just not realistic. But enough about that... who's next?

Nina Shaw, a beautiful young woman is also told that she didn't make it, as is Mycale Guyton and Lisa Aukerman, all people we haven't even seen audition.

But Carly Smithson is up next, and my feeling is that she'll be the first one in the Top 24 - they've shown her a lot so far and they're again telling her story about how she tried out, but couldn't get her visa, blah blah blah. They show her saying that if she doens't make it, she doesn't know if she would continue singing because
people get so hurt in the industry.

Good Lord, is she crying?? The judges are talking about how they select the finalists and she's crying - it almost makes me wish they would tell her no, so she'd really have something to cry about, but you can tell they're just setting her up for a fake-out, and she really will make it in. I was right - Carly Smithson is the first one to join the Top 24.

David Cook, the guy with the horrendous hair, is next and he's in, too. Amanda Overmeyer, the rocker nurse, is also in, and I gotta say, she didn't seem all that excited about it.

Brandon Green, Amanda Hawkins, and Buck Smith are cut next - again, people we didn't see any of - We saw a glimpse of Buck Smith yesterday and what I heard, I liked, but I suppose it wasn't good enough. Much like last year, I'm left wishing we could have seen more, so that we could judge for ourselves whether we felt they were deserving or not. So far, the only people cut have had little to no air time, so how do we, as viewers, know that that they weren't good enough?

Ooh, David Archuleta is next. If he doesn't make it, there's a strong possibility I will turn the TV off right now and just stop watching this show. He's amazing and if he's not good enough for the Top 24, then I don't know who is. But they say yes, so now I know who I'm rooting for (so far).