american idol 8: top 36 revealed

after 8 audiution cities and a grueling hollywood week, the top 36 of american idol was revealed in the show's last episode. the ones whose dreams are still alive are the following:

male semi-finalists

1. kris allen
2. ricky braddy
3. matt breizke
4. anoop desai
5. stephen fowler
6. matt giraud
7. danny gokey
8. ju'not joyner
9. kai kalama
10. brent keith
11. adam lambert
12. scott macintyre
13. nathaniel marshall
14. nick mitchell (aka normal gentle)
15. jorge nunez
16. michael sarver
17. von smith
18. alex wagner trugman

female semi-finalists

1. arianna afsar
2. kendall beard
3. anne marie boskovich
4. casey carlson
5. megan corkrey
6. tatiana del toro
7. alexis grace
8. mishavonna henson
9. allison iraheta
10. jesse langseth
11. kristen mcnamara
12. jasmin murray
13. joanna pacitti
14. lil rounds
15. jackie tohn
16. taylor vaifanua
17. jeanine vales
18. stevie wright

the top 36 will perform in three groups. after each group performs, america will vote and the top male and the top female will advance to the finals. among the other perfrmers, the one with the nxt most number of votes will also advance while the next one will advance to the wildcard where 3 more contenders will advance to the finals.

the first group that will perform will be anne marie boscovich, ricky braddy, casey carlson, tatiana del toro, anoop desai, stephen fowler, danny gokey, alexis grace, brent keith, michael sarver, jackie tohn and stevie wright.

from this group, the most distinguishable male contenders are danny gokey (who is paula abdul's favorite), anoop desai (who got a lot of exposure in the audition and hollywood rounds) and michael sarver (the oil rig father and was praised a couple of times in the hollywood week). among the girls, it would be between anne marie boskovich, alexis grace and stevie wright. but vote for the worst might go for tatiana del toro.

based on exposure in the earlier rounds, my fearless forecast for the top 4 spots would be danny gokey, michael sarver, stevie wright and anne marie boskovich, with tatiana and stephen fowler in there to make a big surprise. but this prediction might change after their performances.