no images were found

That time has come. The semi-finalists for this season’s American Idol have been selected. Very few major surprises, but two definitely stood out:

Tatiana Del Toro is staying
Jamar Rogers was cut

Huh?! Seriously?!

Hit the clicky thingie for more and a complete list of this season’s Top 36…

Tatiana’s last Hollywood week audition showed that she does, in fact, have some singing talent. But is that talent worth the ridiculous, over-the-top, obviously-b.s. antics that she brings with her everywhere?

And I’m still confused about why Jamar was cut. Every time we saw him, he sang well. And we saw at least 1/2 of his Hollywood week performances. So either the ones we didn’t see were just dreadful, or…or actually, I’m not sure.

Those two were the biggest disappointments of last night. Also, even though I think Nick Mitchell is funny and mildly entertaining, there’s a legitimate danger to keeping him into the live shows. Let’s remember that people thought Taylor Hicks was kinda goofy. He also brought a crazy energy to the show. And he ended up winning. If Nick wins (although it seems like an impossibility), AI has shot themselves in the foot, making a complete mockery out of the competition forever more.

Not likely, but possible.

Also, check out the final 36: Joanna Pacitti is nowhere to be found. The reason? After being told that she was going to be a part of the Top 36, Pacitti was later disqualified and replaced with Felicia Barton. Pacitti was formerly signed with A&M and some of her songs were featured on CDs such as the Legally Blonde and First Daughter soundtracks.  So what’s the reason for the disqualification here? Many previous Idol contestants have been signed before and had CDs actually released.

UPDATE: It seems that it wasn’t just that Pacitti had been signed before, but that it had to do with the “appearance of impropriety” that might have arisen due to the alleged “close personal relationships” that Joanna had (has?) with several executives of 19 Management. Ouch. It has since come out that Pacitti lived in the same apartment building as two executives from 19, and had described one of them as her “best friend”.

Anyway, here’s the list of the final 36 with their ages and home towns:

Adam Lambert – 26 – Los Angeles, CA
Alex Wagner-Trugman – 19 – Studio City, CA
Alexis Grace – 20 – Memphis, TN
Allison Iraheta – 16 – Los Angeles, CA
Anne Marie Boskovich – 22 – Nashville, TN
Anoop Desai – 21 – Chapel Nill, NC
Arianna Afsar – 16 – San Diego, CA
Brent Keith – 28 – Blanchester, OH
Casey Carlson – 20 – Minneapolis, MN
Danny Gokey – 28 – Milwaukee, WI
Felicia Barton – 26 – Virginia Beach, VA
Jackie Tohn – 27 – Silver Lake, CA
Jasmine Murray – 16 – Starkville, MS
Jeanine Vailes – 27 – Sherman Oaks, CA
Jesse Langseth – 25 – Minneapolis, MN
Jorge Nunez-Mendez – 20 – Carolina, PR
Ju’Not Joyner – 26 – Bowie, MD
Kai Kalama – 26 – San Clemente, CA
Kendall Beard – 23 – Austin, TX
Kris Allen – 23 – Conway, AR
Kristen McNamara – 22 – Napa Valley, CA
Lil Rounds – 23 – Memphis, TN
Matt Breitzke – 27 – Bixby, OK
Matt Giraud – 23 – Kalamazoo, MI
Megan Corkrey – 22 – Sandy, UT
Michael Sarver – 27 – Jasper, TX
Mishavonna Henson – 18 – Irvine, CA
Nathaniel Marshall – 18 – Malone, NY
Nick Mitchell – 27 – Brookfield, CT
Ricky Braddy – 25 – Nashville, TN
Scott Macintyre – 23 – Scottsdale, AZ
Stephen Fowler – 26 – Beachwood, OH
Stevie Wright – 16 – Phelan, CA
Tatiana Nicole Del Toro – 23 – Los Angeles, CA
Taylor Vaifanua – 16 – Hurricane, UT
Von Smith – 22 – Kansas City, MO

And, of course, you can get your fill of info, photos and videos on the various contestants on the official American Idol website.