Published January 13, 2015
"American Idol."
The FOX talent show trimmed down the competition Wednesday night, leaving 24 semifinalists — 12 men and 12 women — to vie for the "Idol" title and a record contract. The decision-making finale will be held in May.
"Idol" hopeful Marisa Rhodes broke down in the elevator after she was told she wasn't going through to the next round, saying "I don't get it."
"I wasn't expecting this at all — and nobody was," Rhodes said later.
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Things were better for curly-haired jokester Chris Sligh, who succeeded in winning over Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul even though he wasn't one of the strongest singers. Cowell even praised his "great personality."
Next Tuesday, the top 12 male singers are in the hot seat, and, on Wednesday, the women follow.
The men are — drumroll, please — Sligh, Sanjaya Malakar, Brandon Rogers, Philip Stacy, Blake Lewis, Rudy Cardenas, Paul Kim, A.J. Tabaldo, Nicholas Pedro, Chris Richardson, Jared Cotter and Jason "Sundance" Head.
And the ladies: Melinda Doolittle, Gina Glocksen, Haley Scarnato, Jordin Sparks, Stephanie Edwards, Leslie Hunt, Alaina Alexander, Sabrina Sloan, Lakisha Jones, Nicole Tranquillo, Amy Krebs and Antonella Barba.
Their ages and hometowns were not immediately available.
"American Idol" airs on FOX, which is owned by the parent company of FOXNews.com.
Check out FOXNews.com's 'American Idol' Center for complete coverage.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/now-its-serious-american-idol-announces-top-24-semifinalists