I don't know how they're going to arrange that. Will they choose 4 from each of the three groups of 12 to form the Wild Card 12? Or will they choose 12 of the better singers from ALL the groups? It's confusing.
Wait—they will have one group of 9 (the three winners from each group of 12)...and then choose 12 wild cards to make 21 Idols? Help!
Whenever you're unsure of what's going on, step back for a second and think like a 19E producer.
Let's presume 12 wild-card spots. Of those, you're only going to be picking 3 to move on. Of those, you only need to use 1 or 2 to put through a truly talented contestant that the voters just missed on during the first vote.
So, figure that you'll fill 6 of those spots with people legitimately in the running for those 1 or 2 spots. You'll look at a combination of how they've done to date from their initial audition to now and how the votes went. Did they come close despite having a bad night? Did they do well but just couldn't pull the votes?
The remaining wild cards will be the "entertainment" factor. You know, the Tatianas and the Normans of the world. One of these will likely make the top 12, as long as the producers are pretty sure they can nudge them off before the touring top 10. (Of course, in Tatiana's case, one could argue that she fits in both the "legitimate" and the "entertainment" group... a nice 2-fer for 19E. I'd bet serious money that she is a wild card and makes the top 12.)
I thought there will be 4 shows — three with these groups of 12, from which 3 Final Twelves will be picked, adding up to 9 Final 12s. Then the fourth show will be with the Wild Cards the judges picked from the rejected ones, and from that show there will also be 3 Final Twelves picked, making a total of 12.