“American Idol” finished picking its 24 semifinalists on Thursday’s show, and there wasn’t a ton of drama. For the most part, the singers you’ve heard of made it, the singers you barely remembered from their initial auditions did not.
What drama there was largely centered on a pair of 15-year-olds looking to take full advantage of the lower age limit. Of course, the two hopefuls had to wait until the final moments of the selection process to find out their fates.
It was good news for Thia Megia, who ruined Jessica Cunningham’s 25th birthday by beating her out for the final spot among the women. It wasn’t much of a surprise to Cunningham, who was in her seventh attempt at trying out and apparently her second consecutive spot among the final 40. “You are the undertaker right now to me,” the birthday girl told host Ryan Seacrest when he called the two girls upstairs.
She was right. Then in the post-show interview, she gave the judges a couple of middle fingers for ruining her birthday. However, she showed enough veteran savvy to note that her gestures would be covered up rather than shown on camera.
The result just goes to show that Peggi Blu must either be the best motivator in “Idol” vocal coach history, or else must have zero influence on who the judges pick.
Surprisingly, Jacee Badeaux did not join Megia. The young singer, who was called to the stage with Brett Loewenstern and Colton Dixon, was denied in favor of Loewenstern.
“It doesn’t matter because we’re all shining stars,” the ever-earnest Loewenstern said afterward as the three guys broke the news to their families. “I’m serious. To be in the top 40 out of hundreds of thousands of people ... we have to give ourselves a round of applause.”
It was great to see that heartfelt sentiment from Loewenstern, and also great to see that the two rejected contestants didn’t react by punching him in the stomach. Or flicking off the judges.
Few surprises
Obviously, everyone who made it to this point is a very good singer, so some of the selections were splitting hairs. Still, there were a few surprising picks.
Aside from Badeaux’s omission, the biggest shock was Tatynisa Wilson. She got in despite a very uneven performance in Hollywood. The pressure seemed to get to her there, and it's something that will only get worse in the live performances. If she falters later, a lot of the women who were cut at this last stage will be figuring they could have done better.
Obviously, none of the 16 singers who got this close only to fall short were thrilled to be going home, but some were more stoic than Cunningham when they got the word.
John Wayne Schultz came just short of the mark despite the cool name and the cowboy hat. “I feel kind of like I tripped at the finish line,” he said.
Meanwhile, Eryn Kelly walked past Ryan with a thousand-yard stare. “Going back to reality, ‘cause this was nothing but a dream,” she said.
Top celebrations
Some played it cool when they got the good news or tried to play a joke on everyone by implying they didn’t make it. And then ... there were those who couldn’t contain themselves.
Julie Zorrilla, for example, was so ecstatic that she picked up Ryan. Then she couldn’t hold his weight, lost her balance and ended up on her knees for a moment. Photos of that scene should wind up in the tabloids shortly for reasons that will become obvious to those who missed it.
Then there was Jacob Lusk, who literally skipped and danced the entire length of the extra-long runway back to the holding pen once he heard the news. Regardless of whether his voice resonates with people or not, it was hard not to be happy for him.
Good advice
One benefit to having actual singers serving as judges is that you get better advice than some of the nonsense that came from the panel in previous years.
One beneficiary of that was Rachel Zevita. She had her highs and her lows in Hollywood, but did enough to get to the semifinals. J.Lo has been her biggest fan throughout and found an effective way of telling Zevita what her big weakness has been thus far.
“You can’t be wondering, ‘What does the person in the third row want me to do? Why isn’t he smiling?’ That’s not what it’s about. It’s about doing something sincere from your heart. You feel it, they feel it and then it all works,” J.Lo said.
It sure beats the “I wasn’t feeling it, dawg” that Randy Jackson probably would've given Zevita.
Of course, now the young singer has to go look at the footage of Ryan flirting with her grandmother while they waited for the results. Who needs that visual?
And your final 24 are ...The complete list of 12 women: Naima Adedapo, Lauren Alaina, Kendra Chantrelle, Ashton Jones, Thia Megia, Haley Rinehart, Karen Rodriguez, Pia Toscano, Lauren Turner, Tatynisa Wilson, Rachel Zevita and Julie Zorrilla.
The 12 men: Casey Abrams, Jovany Barreto, Jordan Dorsey, James Durbin, Clint Jun Gamboa, Tim Halperin, Stefano Langone, Brett Loewenstern, Jacob Lusk, Scotty McCreery, Paul McDonald and Robbie Rosen.
Craig Berman is a writer in Washington. Follow him , where he live tweets each "Idol" show. Want to get the latest Entertainment news? Follow TODAYshow.com Entertainment .