Casey Abrams News

Last night on American Idol, the top 13 finalists became the top 12 in a suspenseful results show. Meet the contestants below!

Ryan Seacrest and the American Idol judges have been referring to this year's finalists as the lucky 13. We've followed them as they have traveled from their hometowns, to Hollywood, to Vegas, and right back to the Idol stage. Last night we heard 13 desperate people singing for their lives in the hopes of snagging America's votes for the second time.

In yet another season 10 twist from American Idol, tonight's top 13 performances were pre-taped...again. A FOX rep told People magazine, 'We have pre-taped shows at this stage of the competition before ... although it's rare.' Why the hold up, you ask? This being only the second time in Idol history that there are 13 finalists instead of 12, producers wanted to make sure all of the performance fit into the 2 hour time slot.

It's one of the most common rejections on American Idol: 'Sorry, but you're better suited for Broadway.' But as we've seen over the past ten years, American Idol and the Broadway stage are not mutually exclusive - not by a long shot! In fact, it's the opposite: every single season of the show has either borrowed talent from the New York theatre or created stars that have rocked musicals on Broadway and/or on national tours across the country.

Every year, tens of thousands of hopefuls from across the nation audition for a shot at stardom. The show's judges travel across the country in search of the next AMERICAN IDOL. They winnow down the competitors to a select group of semifinalists who sing their hearts out each week in front of a studio audience and television viewers.

This week on American Idol, the top 24 contestants sang for America's votes and were reduced to the top 13. The finalists include: Scotty McCreery, Casey Abrams, Jacob Lusk, Paul MacDonald, James Durbin, Pia Toscano, Lauren Alaina, Karen Rodriguez, Thia Megia, and Haley Reinhart, Naima Adedapo, Ashton Jones, and Stefano Langone. heck out photos of the top 13 in action below!

This week on American Idol, the top 24 sang for their lives in attempt to secure a top ten spot. And in this first official results show of the season, an additional two contestants were picked from the loser bunch to round off the top 12. Ryan quickly revealed that this week's shows picked up more votes than ever this early in the American Idol process- so clearly the new online voting is working out.

Last night American Idol's top twelve guys of season ten showed their stuff for the first time in front of a live studio audience. Though this week's performances have been prerecorded, the boys still had to work a crowd of over 700, which is positioned 360 degrees around the stage this year! As always there were a few poor song choices in the mix (Cough. Jordan Dorsey. Cough), but overall the boys put up a good fight. Only tomorrow night's results can tell who will get to take yet another step forward.

After having to endure hours of exhausting, prolonged, and almost completely performance-lacking episodes last week, American Idol fans have plenty of reasons to rejoice, as the official competition kicked off tonight. Now that the best of the best have been filtered from the rest, expect episodes to include a lot less deliberating and a lot more singing!

Three-Night AMERICAN IDOL Event Begins This Week When Top 12 Guys Compete Tuesday, March 1; Top 12 Girls Compete Wednesday, March 2; First LIVE Results Show Airs Thursday, March 3, on FOX

Auditions concluded tonight for the 10th season of AMERICAN IDOL, and the judges' remaining picks for the Top 24 semifinalists were revealed. The Top 24 semifinalists are: Males - Casey Abrams, Jovany Barreto, Jordan Dorsey, James Durbin, Clint Jun Gamboa, Tim Halperin, Stefano Langone, Brett Loewenstern, Jacob Lusk, Scotty McCreery, Paul McDonald and Robbie Rosen; Females - Naima Adedapo, Lauren Alaina, Kendra Chantelle, Ashthon Jones, Thia Megia, Haley Reinhart, Karen Rodriguez, Pia Toscano, Lauren Turner, Tatynisa Wilson, Julie Zorrilla and Rachel Zevita.

Auditions concluded tonight for the 10th season of AMERICAN IDOL, and the judges' remaining picks for the Top 24 semifinalists were revealed. The Top 24 semifinalists are: Males - Casey Abrams, Jovany Barreto, Jordan Dorsey, James Durbin, Clint Jun Gamboa, Tim Halperin, Stefano Langone, Brett Loewenstern, Jacob Lusk, Scotty McCreery, Paul McDonald and Robbie Rosen; Females - Naima Adedapo, Lauren Alaina, Kendra Chantelle, Ashthon Jones, Thia Megia, Haley Reinhart, Karen Rodriguez, Pia Toscano, Lauren Turner, Tatynisa Wilson, Julie Zorrilla and Rachel Zevita.

In a last minute switch by American Idol, Wednesday night's episode featured just one hour of Las Vegas Beatlemania instead of the scheduled two. Because of the change, Idol fans got an early taste of the ever dramatic and always bittersweet Green Mile portion of the show, when each contestant took the long and painful walk to their impending doom.

There's good news for Idol this week: for the first time in the show's history, American Idol went up against CBS's megahit Survivor. In fact, while contestants were shakin' it in group numbers last night, the rival reality show's most recent adaptation, Redemption Island had its season premiere; and rating results were mortifying. Fox crushed CBS with more than double the viewers, marking Redemption Island as the lowest rated premiere in Survivor history. That's embarrassing.

Week three of the revamped American Idol kicked off in Austin tonight, and with this third trip to the Lone Star state marks the midpoint of the initial audition round. That's right, in just two weeks, on February 16, the golden ticket holders will begin the annual Hollywood showdown. Until then, we'll have to stay content with the 7500 auditionees that Texas had to offer tonight.

Hosted by Ryan Seacrest with judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, television's No. 1 is now in its milestone 10th season airing Wednesday and Thursday nights on FOX. Here's photos from Wednesday, February 2 on Fox! Every year, tens of thousands of hopefuls from across the nation audition for a shot at stardom. The show's judges travel across the country in search of the next AMERICAN IDOL. They winnow down the competitors to a select group of semifinalists who sing their hearts out each week in front of a studio audience and television viewers. Here's photos from the show's Nashville auditions! CR: Michael Becker / FOX.