Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Wow, last week’s group night episode of American Idol moved at a blistering pace, didn’t it?

Heck, it might have been the first time that I’ve ever wished that a one-hour episode of Idol had been stretched to two.

Singers were being introduced and discarded so quickly, I had trouble keeping track of who was going and who was staying.

But I’ve now got most of that sorted out, with the help of a trusty DVR. Here are the highlights:

* Justin Williams, the cancer survivor who I figured might be Idol’s designated hunk in season nine, is gone. Casey Jones, the motorcycle crash survivor who shed his shirt at Kara’s request, is still around.

* Vanessa Wolfe, the poor girl who felt trapped in her small hometown in Tennessee, is gone. Hope Johnson, the poor girl who used to take cafeteria food home to her brother so he wouldn’t go hungry, is still around.

* Seth Rollins, the big guy who wanted to give his autistic son a better life by doing well on Idol, is gone. Michael Lynche, the big guy whose wife gave birth to the couple’s first child during Hollywood Week, is still around.

* Mallorie Haley, the best female country singer among this year’s contestants, is inexplicably back in Winner, S.D., or Nashville, Tenn. Janell Wheeler, the female singer with the best original country song (”Red Dress”) among this year’s contestants, is still around.

* Pants-splitter Cornelius Edwards, beatboxer Jay Stone and the nickname misspelling Skiibo-ski are all gone. Andrew Garcia, the guy with the wonderful acoustic version of “Straight Up,” is still around.

* Three of my favorite female singer-songwriters — Katelyn Clampett, Jaclyn North and Jess Wolfe — are all gone, I think. My favorite female singer-songwriter, Crystal Bowersox, is still around.

I’ve now posted blogs profiling each and every golden ticket winner. Where possible, I’ve included links to samples of their music. Check them out. Even many of the eliminated candidates — like the aforementioned Mallorie, Katelyn, Jaclyn and Jess — have music on MySpace that’s definitely worth checking out.

And, tonight, I get my wish. Two full hours of Idol. I’m looking forward to it. I’m hoping Idol uses the time to acquaint us with some of the contestants we really don’t know much about at this point, gals like Michelle Delamor, and guys like Lee DeWyze.

The first contestant we get to hear from is Angela Martin, doing a decent rendition of “American Boy.” You all know Angela is making her third straight trip to Hollywood.

Now we get to hear Jermaine Purifory sing “Brick House.” And Casey James singing “Lovely.” Hey, the guy has a voice. In fact, I like both of them, better than I liked Angela Martin’s performance.

We keep being told the fate of 71 contestants are being decided tonight. But isn’t it tomorrow night we find out who the final 24 are?

* Jermaine Sellers sings “Man in the Mirror.” Sounded a little pitchy to me. Then makes an excuse I don’t understand.

* Siobhan Magnus sings and, wow, I’m not a big fan of her, but she sang very well.

* Crystal Bowersox sings “If It Makes You Happy.” Folks, you might just have seen our season nine Idol. Sings great and plays the harmonica and the guitar. Dang.

* Alex Lambert and Michael Lynche both decide to sing “I’m Yours” and turn in very strong performances. Toddrick Hall changes up the song, and I didn’t like that at all.

* Thaddeus Johnson takes on “Man in the Mirror,” too. Another pretty darn solid performance.

* Charity Vance and Tasha Layton didn’t sound as good as many of the others. Room 2 might be in trouble.

* Then there’s Mary Powers, whose cocky attitude rubs me the wrong way. She’s singing Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold.” Didn’t love it.

* Lloyd Thomas is next up, also singing “Man in the Mirror,” and not sounding nearly as good as Thaddeus Johnson in that small snippet we heard.

* Oh, no, Hope Johnson, one of my favorites, sings Daughtry’s “Home.” And that sounded very pitchy.

* Shelby Dressel, who has her own country band, takes on “More Than a Feeling,” and sounds, like Hope, quite pitchy.

* Aaron Kelly, one of the Pa. contestants on the show, just forgot his words, but otherwise sounded good on “Arms of an Angel.”

So, room one advances: That includes Michelle Delamor, Crystal Bowersox, Michael Lynche, Lilly Scott, Siobhan Magnus, Casey James, Andrew Garcia, Tim Urban, Tyler Grady, Todrick Hall, Thaddeus Johnson, Katelyn Epperly, Chris Golightly, Katie Stevens.

Going home in room two are Keia Johnson, Mary Powers, Lloyd Thomas, Hope Johnson, Christian Spear, Charity Vance, Tasha Layton, Jermaine Purifory, Bryan Walker, Alex Nester and Liz Rooney.

Advancing from room three are Shelby Dressel, Haeley Vaughn, Maddie Penrose, Jessica Furney, Angela Martin, Lee DeWyze, Didi Benami, Lacy Brown, Jessica Cunningham, Ashley Rodriguez, Aaron Kelly, Janell Wheeler, John Park.

OK, so we’re down to 46. Tomorrow’s episode is supposed to reveal the top 24. So what are we doing the rest of tonight? Or are we being thrown a curve by Idol producers?

Apparently, we’re going to learn the identity of many of the semifinalists tonight.

* Michael Lynche is first up. And he’s made the semifinals, unanimously. One down, 23 to go.

* Next up, Didi Benami, the gal who sings for a college roommate who died in an auto crash. Didi didn’t sound as good singing “Angel” as she sounded singing the Kara song last week. Oh, my, she’s going to start crying again. She, too is advancing.

* She’s followed by Katelyn Epperly, the girl who auditioned because her parents are getting divorced. And Katelyn is going through, too. That’s three spots already filled.

* Shelby Dressel is up next. And Shelby’s the first contestant to hear that she didn’t make it.

* Casey James becomes the second guy to make the semifinals. Looks like he’s this year’s Matt Giraud in the eyes of silly judge Kara.

* Aaron Kelly makes the semifinals, despite messing up the words twice in his Hollywood performances.

* Lee DeWyze, who has two CDs in his background with the Lee DeWyze Band (did I already say that? this is a long show) goes to the judging room next. And he’s making it to Hollywood as well. That’s four guys through.

Only 10 minutes left. Can we possibly learn the names of all the remaining semifinalists?

Hopefully not. I mean, what will be left for tomorrow night?

* Todrick Hall gets to learn his fate next. Given his background, I don’t think I can root for this guy. But he made it. About Todrick … well, let’s say Todrick and Idol have some questions to answer about a show called Oz.

* Next up, Jessica Furney. Only two girls have made it through so far. And we’ve already been told she’s going to plead her case. She’s told she didn’t make it through.

And so, tonight’s show ends with two gals and five guys through to the semifinals.

Tomorrow night, we learn the names of the other 17 contestants viewers will start voting for next week.