Wildcard Round: American Idol Season 8

I can almost smell the kick-off for American Idol Season 8’s “real” competition. Now that the first top 9 of the final 12 have been indentified, previous contestants will have a shot of becoming the final 3 that would complete the top 12 that will get to compete to become the American Idol winner for this season.

Some of those that skirted through the first 9 positions in the top 12 were tough competitors, but after a four-year absence, the Wildcard mechanic to the show was brought back. This provided an opportunity for previous contestants that did not get enough viewer votes to prove themselves yet again, this time to the judges. Personally, this delighted me as some of my favorites in the top 36 did not make the initial cut.

Before providing a rundown of the eight contenders vying for the three wildcard positions, let’s do a little recap of the first 9 contestants who are set to compete in the top 12.

First round:

*Alexis Grace

*Jeremy Michael Sarver

*Danny Gokey

Second round:

*Adam Lambert

*Kris Allen

*Allison Iraheta

Third round:

*Lil Rounds

*Scott McIntyre

*Jorge Nunez

Two people I am most pleased about of making it into the Wildcard round after failing to get enough votes to make the top three for their respective batches are Megan Corkrey and Anoop Desai.

Simon Cowell of Anoop Desai: original, likable and talented.

Anoop Desai impressed judges right off his initial audition and during the Hollywood elimination. But more importantly, he endeared several fans of the show. He did a pretty magnificent job with his rendition of Monica’s “Angel of Mine”. But he was undeniably a part of a tough group during the first batch of elimination round. Cowell referred to Anoop as “one of the easiest decisions out of the eight [for the Wildcard]“.

Megan Corkrey is one of the judges' favorites all along.

These two contestants have the talent, plus they are both spirited and fun performers. I believe they’d deliver much to the weekly competition, if they do make it to the final 12.

The rest of the eight contestants vying for the final spot after the Wildcard round include: Matt Giraud, (drama queen) Tatiana del Toro, Von Smith, Jasmine Murray, Ricky Braddy, and Jesse Langseth.