AMERICAN IDOL's 'Rush Week' Kicks Off Next Wednesday

With the "Hollywood" round ending this week on American Idol XIII, fans can expect even more surprises, as the show prepares for "Rush Week" and the first live shows of the season. On Wednesday, Feb. 12 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), the "Hollywood" round continues, followed by its conclusion on Thursday, Feb. 13 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT), when the top semi-finalists - 15 girls and 16 guys - are revealed. However, the last two guys chosen will still be in jeopardy with their IDOL fates left in the hands of viewers. After this Thursday's show, fans will get the chance to vote via toll-free calls, text, online and the American Idol App, for which guy they want to make it to the Top 30 semi-finalists.

Next week, American Idol XIII's "Rush Week" will be LIVE for two nights of performances and the season's first results show. In a new twist, not all 30 singers will get to perform, as the judges - Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick, Jr. - will choose only whom they think are worthy of America's vote, leaving some packing their bags before they get a chance to sing. On Tuesday, Feb. 18(8:00-10:00 PM ET live /PT tape-delayed), Randy Jackson returns as in-house mentor, and the Top 15 girls will take the brand-new stage designed by acclaimed designer Baz Halpin (Britney Spears' Piece of Me, Pink: Funhouse Tour). On Wednesday, Feb. 19 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live /PT tape-delayed), the Top 15 guys do the same.

Then, on the first results show of the season, Thursday, Feb. 20 (8:00-9:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed), the Top 10 finalists chosen by America - five girls and five guys - will be revealed, followed by the judges' wild card picks to round out the Top 13 finalists.

On both Tuesday and Wednesday night, the voting lines will open immediately after each LIVE show and fans will be able to cast their votes for their favorite contestants. Viewers will be able to SuperVote™ - cast multiple votes at one time - via any of these American Idol VOTE destinations: americanidol.com, the American Idol App (data and message rates may apply) and Facebook. To SuperVote, fans can submit up to 50 votes per contestant (across all SuperVote destinations) and submit them all at once. [Only fans with a registered Facebook account in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands will be able to cast their vote(s) online.]

In addition to SuperVote™ voting, fans will be able to vote during the voting window via toll-free phone lines, as well as text-messaging across all wireless carriers (message and data rates may apply). At the end of each performance show, the phone lines will open for at least two hours and American Idol XIII viewers will be able to vote for their favorite contestant(s) via the toll-free telephone numbers (1-855-4-IDOL-01, -02, etc.). Wireless customers can use their cell phones to vote by sending a text with the keyword number that corresponds with the contestant of their choice to the five-digit short code, 83676 (e.g. text the number 1 to 83676 to vote for contestant 1). Fans can submit up to 50 votes per contestant per originating phone number for toll-free and 50 votes per contestant per originating phone number for text messaging.

American Idol XIII is produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment, a division of CORE Media Group. The series was created by Simon Fuller and is executive produced by Simon Fuller, Cecile Frot-Coutaz, Trish Kinane, Per Blankens, Jesse Ignjatovic and Evan Prager. Louis J. Horvitz is director and Rickey Minor is musical director.