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The Top 12 Girls
(in alphabetical order)

Didi’s mother inspired her passion for music by singing to her when she was a little girl. She is currently pursuing a career in music in Los Angeles while learning to play the guitar and writing songs.

Crystal grew up on a farm in Northwest Ohio and has been playing music since she was 10 years old. She enjoys playing the piano and harmonica and spending time with her son.

Lacey began singing when she was 12 years old at churches and holiday parties. Before auditioning for IDOL, she was teaching classes at her parents’ church in Amarillo, TX.

Michelle was born in Miami, FL, and began singing at age 5 in church. Prior to her IDOL experience, Delamor was working in retail and conducting a children’s choir.

Katelyn was born in Iowa City, IA, and has been singing since she was 2 years old. She is a sophomore at Millikin University in Decatur, IL, and enjoys playing the piano.

Siobhan currently lives in Marston Mills, MA, and graduated from Barnstable High School in 2008. She has been singing since age 9, and counts glassblowing as one of her hobbies.

Paige lives in the Houston area and started singing in church when she was 5 years old. During high school, she was a competitive cheerleader and an after-school tutor.

Ashley has been singing since she was 5 years old. She recently graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she majored in music business.

Lilly was born in Houston, TX, and grew up in Littleton, CO. Prior to auditioning for IDOL, she was playing music locally and was the lead singer of a band called “Varlet.”

Katie was born in Waterbury, CT, and has been singing since she was 3 years old. She enjoys playing the guitar, piano, flute and cello, and is a senior at Pomperaug High School.

Haeley currently lives in Ft. Collins, CO, and is a junior at Poudre High School. In addition to playing the guitar, she is a member of the cheerleading squad.

Janell began singing and songwriting in second grade. She graduated from the University of Florida at Gainesville in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in theatre. She also enjoys playing the guitar and writing music.

It’s always difficult to get a true feel of the contestants with all the post-production editing before the live shows start, with some contestants getting decent coverage, and others next to nil. Next week will be the first opportunity to see and hear them at an equal level of coverage.

This would seem to give the people will little coverage an unfair disadvantage, although Kris Allen (winner) and Allison Iraheta (finished in 4th place) managed to survive that huge cut from 36 to 12 (well, thirteen actually) last season.

So my first impressions will favor those will more coverage and hopefully the lesser known contestants (e.g., Paige Miles) will be able to get their due.

Right now the most intriguing of the female contestants is Crystal Bowersox, who seems to have a complete package of talent (despite not being one of the glamour girls).

Closely following her is Lilly Scott. She has calm-cool Aimee Mann vibe to her.

Haeley Vaughn also intrigues me. It’s nice to have her break out of the pidgeonhole most young black girls shoot for (Aretha, Whitney/Mariah, Rihanna).

And we’ll see how the other girls fit into this picture as we get to hear and know them better. Ashley Rodriguez has a marketable look to her. Will young Katie Stevens be the next Demi Lovato/Selena Gomez? Will Lacey avenge being pushed out of Season 8 by Megan the “Caw Caw” Girl?

Initially the girls intrigue me more at this point, and Simon has been pimping that the girls field is stronger than it has been in past years.

Of the guys, Andrew Garcia made the best impression on me with his nice change-up of Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up.” Casey James has Kara all-a-flutter with his good looks. That 70s guy Tyler Grady reminds me looks-wise of a singer who goes by name Mika.

So in closing, and most importantly, who’s going to be our drama queen for the rest of the season now that Fat Thadbert is gone? ;-)