Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Editor’s
Note: See an update on the Chris Golightly story below.

Another group of American Idol semifinalists yields another controversy.

Should we expect less? I mean, this is getting to be the routine.

Last year, Joanna Pacitti got the boot after being welcomed to the semifinals in the judges’ mansion episode.

The next day, Joanna was gone, Felicia Barton was in. And explanations about what happened weren’t available.

This year, all the spoiler blogs had Chris Golightly, the orphan who found solace in music, among the 12 male semifinalists.

Eagle-eyed bloggers insist Chris was among the contestants in the celebratory group shot with Ryan at the end of the show.

But when the male semifinalists were introduced individually, Chris wasn’t among them. Tim Urban, a very good singer in his own right, was doing the Idol happy dance instead.

It was clear something was amiss before the show-closing shots, at least to anyone closely following last night’s episode.

The drama was building. Idol was down to the last two male contestants, teenager Thaddeus Johnson and dad Andrew Garcia.

Only one male semifinalist spot was left.

Say what? Anyone counting only had 10 male semifinalists at that point. Twitter was abuzz with bewilderment.

What happened to Chris?

The official word from Fox is that “it has been determined that Chris Golightly is ineligible to continue in the competition.”

That’s likely the most detailed explanation we’ll get from Idol.

But here’s a link to a blog where the writer reportedly talked to Chris last night. Chris says his disqualification came from confusion over a previous contract he was under.

UPDATE: USA Today has interviewed
Chris Golightly and the head of the record company which supposedly had Chris under contract.

Their stories don’t quite match, but both agree that Chris’ disqualification is unfortunate.
Meanwhile, I disagree with some of the picks, but Idol has compiled a pretty impressive cast of semifinalists for season nine.

Go here for profiles, photos and links for the female contestants; here for profiles, photos and links for the male contestants.

Check back tonight. Simon Cowell is talking to the media in a conference call, and I’ll be posting a blog immediately after the chat ends.

I’ll also be delivering more news about this year’s contestants as soon as time permits.

And live blogging, with song-by-song grades, starts Tuesday night, when the American Idol season nine competition truly begins.