Alexis Grace, Michael Sarver and Danny Gokey Advance on American Idol

Anoop Desai looked to be one of the front runners on American Idol: Season 8. He was denied his shot when Ryan Seacrest announced that Michael Sarver would advance to the next round. It was the first shocker of the season. Not that Michael Sarver is bad. He has a good voice and really looked like he was enjoying himself during his performance last night. Both are 'likable' guys and Ryan Seacrest admitted only a 20,000 vote difference. Hopefully we can hear Anoop again in the wild card round.

As expected, Alexis Grace was seated almost immediately in the next round. She looked great again tonight and it is really fun to see her find herself. Alexis was full of confidence as she belted out "Never Loved A Man" by Aretha Franklin for the audience again. A true joy over previous years of having the losers sing through sniffles as they leave. I really hope they keep this up.

The American Idol producers brought it down to Tatiana Del Toro and Danny Gokey. Obviously they were hoping for a shocking outburst from the over-emotional Tatiana, the camera stayed glued to her. The odd thing was that Tatiana stayed glued to the camera, watching herself on the screen. Ryan Seacrest and Danny Gokey seemed secondary even as Ryan declared that Danny would be moving on. It was all a little surreal as the camera stayed on Tatiana as Danny sang "Hero" by Mariah Carey. Tatiana started to run off stage, then grab a prime spot for the camera to get her full on dramatic reaction and sobbing.

The next group of 12 AI hopefuls are: Adam Lambert, Alison Iraheta, Jasmine Murray, Jeanine Vailes, Jesse Langseth, Kai Kalama, Kris Allen, Matt Breitzke, Matt Giraud, Megan Joy Corkrey, Mishavonna Henson, Nick Mitchell.

The obvious front runners based on experience and Hollywood week are Adam Lambert, Mishavonna Henson and Jesse Langseth. Experience did not add up to much this week on American Idol. Let's hope for an enjoyable evening next week for both the singers and the audience.

I am picking Adam Lambert as my favorite, though he has not had much TV air time. What little I've heard I enjoyed. Watch American Idol next Tuesday night on FOX at 8/7c EST to catch the next 12 contestants live.