Last night we learned the next three finalists on American Idol. Three would advance to the next round: the girl with the top votes, the guy with the top votes, and the next highest vote winner. The results were based on 25 million votes. The three finalists who had already been announced, Alexis Grace, Danny Gokey and Michael Sarver, sat on stools at the edge of the stage, as if to further impress their faces into viewers' minds.

As is customary, the show started out with a video summarizing the journey of the second group of 12 semifinalists. Then they performed a group number: Ne-Yo's "Closer."

Kai Kalama was really hamming it up, and Nick "Norman Gentle" Mitchell looked distinctly uncomfortable in normal jacket. Later, Nick got down, crouched and sang directly into the camera, which looked spontaneous but must have been planned since it fit so neatly into the choreography.

After a recap of the previous night, host Ryan Seacrest brought some contestants down to learn their fate. This time, instead of doing it two at a time, he brought down larger groups. The first group consisted of Allison Iraheta, Jesse Langseth, and Matt Breitzke. Ryan asked judge Randy Jackson who he thought made it through, and Randy guessed it had to be one of the women. He guessed Allison. He was right, and Allison performed again.

The next group to get their news were Kris Allen, Megan Joy Corkrey, Matt Giraud and Jeanine Vailes. After some suspense, Ryan announced that Kris was going through. Since it's unlikely he was the highest male vote-getter, he must therefore have been the next highest vote-getter. He sang one more time.

This means that Megan Joy Corkrey (who gave a great performance) and Matt Giraud (a judges' favorite) are likely to perform in the Wild Card round.

Then, in a clear effort to pad the show, Ryan announced a re-airing of a video aired earlier this season, an Idol retrospective, set to "A Wonderful World." Maybe they had something else planned but it fell through. Who knows? There's no other good reason to reair it, even if, as Ryan asserted, it had received good audience feedback..

In a bright spot of the evening, season seven finalist Brooke White performed her first single, a song she co-wrote called "Hold Up My Heart." The song was reminiscent of some of the Carole King songs she performed so well last season.

Then the final contestants, Mishovonna Henson, Kai Kalama, Nick Mitchell, Adam Lambert and Jasmine Murray gathered to hear their results. Ryan sent Mishovonna, Kai and Jasmine, leaving back to the couch, telling them their Idol run was over. Ryan quipped, "That leaves us with these three: Nick, Norman and Adam," referring of course to Nick's alter ego, Norman Gentle.

Ryan asked Simon if he had prayed last night, a nod to the fact that Simon had said he prayed Nick wouldn't get through. Simon claimed he prayed for about six hours straight and was hoping that he and God have a good relationship. Those prayers were probably not necessary, for although he was entertaining, there's little chance that Nick would have made it through. Adam was announced the third finalist and took the stage in the pimp spot once more.

Next week, the third and final group of three finalists performs: Arianna Afsar, Juno Joyner, Kristen McNamara, Nathanial Marshall, Lil Rounds, Jorge Nunez, Kendall Beard, Scott MacIntyre, Felicia Barton, Von Smith, Taylor Vaifanua and Alex Wagner-Trugman (dance video).

How things go next week could very well decide the likelihood of some judge and audience favorites being selected in the Wild Card round to complete the final 12. So far, two weeks in a row, the third slot has gone to a male. If this happens again next week, it's unlikely that more than one male will be selected in the Wild Card round to be part of the final 12.

The producers like to keep males and females as evenly paired as possible, which helps with choreography. Therefore, it's extremely unlikely that the judges would put together a final 12 consisting of only three or four women. Of course, next week does include some of the most promising female vocalists (Lil Rounds and Felicia Barton come to mind), so perhaps the gender balance won't be an issue.

All video clips come from mjsbigblog.

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