American Idol: Meet Your 24

Last night American Idol whittled down its ranks to 24 finalists. While it took nearly an hour to cut people on TV, which was bad enough, we can’t understand why it took the entire day for the judges to deliver a “yay” or “nay” to each contestant. Did Simon need a smoke break every five minutes? Was there a four-hour lunch break?

Anyway, some of the judges choices probably stemmed from a likeability or bankability factor more than singing ability. For example, Sundance Head was the last guy to make it through to the finals, but he kinda blew during Hollywood week. We thought for sure he was a goner.

Other notables to make through included beatboxer boy Blake Lewis, Jack Osborne’s doppelganger Chris Sligh, backup singers Brandon Rogers and Melinda Doolittle, belter Lakisha Jones, bff-less Antonella Barba, barefoot singer Paul Kim, Nick Pedro, who bowed out during Hollywoood week last year, and little Sanjaya Malakar, who is in desperate need of a haircut.

So on we go to the real singing competition...for like the next six months.