American Idol's Top 10 twelfth-season finalists were revealed during Thursday night's live results show broadcast which ended the competition's semifinal round and eliminated 10 of the season's Top 20 contestants.
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The five male finalists who made it through to the Top 10 were Lazaro Arbos, a 21-year-old from Naples, FL; Curtis Finch Jr., a 24-year-old from St. Louis, MO; Paul Jolley, a 22-year-old from Palmersville, TN; Burnell Taylor, a 19-year-old from New Orleans, LA; and Devin Velez, an 18-year-old from Chicago, IL.
The five female finalists who also landed spots in the Top 10 were Janelle Arthur, a 23-year-old from Oliver Springs, TN; Candice Glover, a 23-year-old from St. Helena Island, SC; Kree Harrison, a 22-year-old from Nashville, TN; Amber Holcomb, an 18-year-old from Houston, TX; and Angela Miller, an 18-year-old from Beverly, MA.
America's chosen finalists were revealed one by one throughout the episode and given the opportunity to sing a victory song after briefly being congratulated by Idol judges Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban, and Randy Jackson. In a departure from previous seasons, the judging panel had no "Wild Card" picks this year.
Arthur, Glover, Harrison, Holcomb, and Miller advanced to American Idol's finals after they received the most home viewer votes following Tuesday night's broadcast in which the Top 10 female semifinalists performed. Arbos, Finch Jr., Jolley, Taylor, and Velez advanced after they finished as the top five vote-getters following Wednesday night's performance show in which the Top 10 male semifinalists took the stage.
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The Top 10 finalists do not come as much of a surprise, as the majority of the males and females in the bunch had received top praise from the judges this week for their performances.
However, the Idol dream ended for the following Top 20 semifinalists: Charlie Askew, a 17-year-old from Little Rock, AR; Elijah Liu, an 18-year-old from Rowland Heights, CA; Vincent Powell, a 29-year-old from Austin, TX; Cortez Shaw, a 21-year-old from Dallas, TX; Nick Boddington, a 27-year-old from Memphis, TN; Aubrey Cleland, a 19-year-old from West Linn, OR; Zoanette Johnson, a 20-year-old from Tulsa, OK; Adriana Latonio, a 17-year-old from Anchorage, AK; Breanna Steer, an 18-year-old from Laplace, LA; and Tenna Torres, a 28-year-old from Queens, NY.
During last night's broadcast, American Idol host Ryan Seacrest revealed 39 million votes were cast over the last two nights of performance shows. While Seacrest noted that's almost 10 million more than last year, he also didn't point out that the show introduced a new "SuperVote" ability this season -- allowing viewers to cast up to 50 votes at once.
American Idol's Top 10 twelfth-season finalists will take the stage and sing for home viewer votes on Wednesday, March 13. One finalist will then be eliminated the following night during the season's first live elimination results show.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski