The top 24 competition has yet to officially began and there has already been a major shake up on American Idol.
Curly-haired contestant Chris Golightly was removed from the competition this week and replaced by Tim Urban in the Top 24. Chris is the 19-year-old Texas native who spoke in the audition rounds of living in 24 different foster homes as a child.“It has been determined that Chris Golightly is ineligible to continue in the competition,” says FOX in a press release.
The show’s host Ryan Seacrest echoed the same statement on his Twitter page, where he also announced that for the first time in the show’s history, the contestants will have MySpace, Twitter and Facebook pages on the Idol hub. Ryan did not elaborate on why Golightly was booted.
However, Joes Place Blog was able to score an interview with Chris and revealed the exact reason he got booted. According to Chris, he had an old contract with a Boy Band that expired in June 2009. Chris tried out for AI in July 2009 and when asked if he was entered into any contracts, he answered no.
After making it into the top 24 in January 2010. Chris’s former manager then called Chris and American Idol and told them that he still had a valid contract. Chris denied this but couldn’t find his copy of the release. American Idol unfortunately decided to cut Chris when he couldn’t prove he wasn’t under contract. Chris’s old manager ended up finding the contract release and emailed it to American Idol, but according to Chris, the people at AI are not taking his calls.
Even worse, Chris was told by American Idol he can no longer audition for the show again because he made the top 46.
Also, no word yet on whether or not Michael “Big Mike” Lynche was dismissed from the competition. It was reported back in January that he got the axe after his father revealed to a Florida newspaper that he made the Top 24, breaking the confidentiality rule of the show. As of today, his profile is still intact on Idol’s website.
The official Top 24 semifinalists are as follows:
Didi Benami, 23, of Knoxville, TN
Crystal Bowersox, 24, of Elliston, OH
Lacey Brown, 24, of Amarillo, TX
Michelle Delamor, 22, of Miami, FL
Katelyn Epperly, 19, of West Des Moines, IA
Siobhan Magnus, 20, of Cape Cod, MA
Paige Miles, 24, of Houston, TX
Ashley Rodriguez, 22, of Chelsea, Ma
Lilly Scott, 20, of Denver, CO
Katie Stevens, 17, of Middlebury, CT
Haeley Vaughn, 16, of Fort Collins, CO
Janell Wheeler, 24, of Tampa, FL
Lee Dewyze, 23, of Mount Prospect, IL
Andrew Garcia, 24, of Moreno Valley, CA
Tyler Grady, 20, of Nazareth, PA
Todrick Hall, 24, of Arlington, TX
Casey James, 27, of Fort Worth, TX
Aaron Kelly, 16, of Sonestown, PA
Alex Lambert, 19, of North Richland Hills, TX
Michael Lynche, 26, of Astoria, NY
Joe Muñoz, 20, of Huntington Park, CA
John Park, 21, of Evanston, IL
Jermaine Sellers, 27, of Joliet, IL
Tim Urban, 20, of Duncanville, TX
The Top 24 competition begins next Tuesday. The men and women will have to sing Hot 100 songs.
