Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The scene is the same but nearly everything else has changed.

American Idol heads to Vegas this week, with two-hour shows scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

In past years, that would mean a repeat of what we saw in Hollywood — a solo round, followed by a group round, followed by another solo round, followed by the judges making heart-wrenching choices over who stayed and who went home.

Season 12 brings a new and seemingly much improved format.

Over the next four episodes, 10 singers will perform solo each night — gals on Wednesdays, guys on Thursdays. Each night, the judges will pick five to advance, whittling the current field of 40 to just 20.

Then, in the first week of March, we’ll be voting on which of those semifinalists make the Idol Season 12 finals.

Here’s what I like most about the new format: Barring some incredibly creative editing, we will get to see each of the top 40 perform in Vegas.

In past years, mystery contestants have shown up in the semis, contestants who have barely been mentioned in previous episodes. I always thought they entered the voting shows with a huge disadvantage.

And Idol enters Vegas with mystery contestants again this year. Like Amber Holcomb and Jett Hermano among the ladies. Like Elijah Liu and Kevin Harris among the guys.

Under the new format, we’ll get to see a complete solo performance from each of them and the other 36 remaining contestants before viewer voting begins.

Want to learn more about the Vegas-bound contestants in the meantime? The links below will take you to a profile of each contestant as well as videos of them performing, mostly in a non-Idol setting.

THE LADIES

Adriana Latonio
Amber Holcomb
Angela Miller
Aubrey Cleland
Brandy Hotard
Breanna Steer
Candice Glover
Cristabel Clack
Isabelle
Janelle Arthur
Jenny Beth Willis
Jett Hermano
Juliana Chahayed
Kamaria Ousley
Kree Harrison
Melinda Ademi
Rachel Hale
Shubha Vedula
Tenna Torres
Zoanette Johnson

THE GENTS

Bryant Tadeo
Burnell Taylor
Charlie Askew
Chris Watson
Cortez Shaw
Curtis Finch Jr.
David Willis
Devin Velez
Elijah Liu
Gurpreet Singh Sarin
Jimmy Smith
Johnny Keyser
Josh Holiday
Josh “Jada” Davila
Kevin Harris
Lazaro Arbos
Mathenee Treco
Nick Boddington
Paul Jolley
Vincent Powell