'American Idol' on February 24, 2011: Only 24 Contestants Left in the Competition Now

Thursday, February 24, 2011, FOX, 8 PM (ET) Tonight's episode of "American Idol" opened with a lot of drama ("Will Jennifer Find the Strength to Go On?") and a quick look at J-Lo saying, "I don't want to do this any more."

JENNIFER LOPEZ

Why was Jennifer Lopez crying? She and the other judges cut Chris Medina, the singer from Milwaukee with the fiancée with TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). Randy tried to get his compassion on by saying, "We were all so moved by that story." But, ultimately, it is supposed to be about the singing (and, of course, the body and the dress and the onstage presence and charisma). And Chris was not the "best" singer in the competition.

That is why you just knew the chubby little kid from Louisiana (Jaycee Beaudeaux) was going home.

FINAL 24

The final 24 Finalists for "American Idol" this year were brought in and told their fate. Now, the 12 boys left will sing for 30 minutes on Tuesday, March 1, the 12 girls left will sing on Wednesday, March 2, and the results show will be a 2-hour one on Thursday, March 3^rd.

The "last contestants standing,' as of tonight were (in no particular order):

Naima Adedapo, 26, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Clint Jun ("Junebug") Gamboa, 26, Long Beach, California

Asthon Jones, 24, Nashville, Tennessee

Paul McDonald, 26, Huntsville, Alabama, now living in Nashville, Tennessee

Haley Reinhart, 20, Wheeling, Illinois

Pia Toscano

James Durbin

Casey Abrams

Thia Megia, 15, of Wisconsin

Brett Lowestern

Karen Rodriguez of New York

Robbie Rosen, 17, of New Jersey

Tatynisa Wilson

Tim Halperin, 23

Julie Zorrilla (from Columbia, originally)

Scotty McReery

Jovanny Barretto

Rachel Zevita of New York

Lauren Turner, 24

Kendra Chentelle, Nashville, Tennessee

Jordan Dorsey

Lauren Alaina, 15, from Georgia

Stefano Langone

Jacob Lusk

You'll have to excuse me if I didn't report the ages and hometowns of all. The first 6 were announced and on the "American Idol" website, but the last 18 were obtained from watching the show on Thursday night. While I have referenced some of their ages previously, this information was not flashed on the screen for us and not (yet) up on the "A.I." website.

Below, a few observations:

ROBBIE ROSEN

One of the most impressive back-stories left is probably Robbie Rosen's, the 17-year old from New Jersey with the big nose but the dark Italian good looks who spent much time in a wheelchair when young. Robbie was told, "Honestly, you're one of the best singers we've got," by J-Lo and Steven Tyler said, "So good, right out of the box. You sang you're a** off right out of the box."

KAREN RODRIGUEZ.

J-Lo told her "You had me at 'If You Had My Love." Karen played the Hispanic card and sang a Jennifer Lopez song ("She ain't no dummy," said the flattered J-Lo.) Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler have all the contestants fawning over them at all times. Randy: not so much.

TATYNISA WILSON

Tatynisa Wilson: The comment was made to Tatynisa, "On this show, it's about not having a rough day." I do not look for Tatynisa to go far, as she was inconsistent and actually off-key forgetting her words and starting over during one performance, (but I'm going to mark her first name down as a potential name for future Wilson children.)

TIM HALPERIN

You knew he would make it when Jennifer Lopez murmured, "I love this guy." He sang an original song and played piano to accompany himself.

JULIE ZORRILLA

I refer to Julie as "Silver Dress Girl." J-Lo commented favorably on the short silver dress she wore to perform on one occasion. She is the girl with the second-best back-story, about her family's escape from Columbia. It doesn't hurt that she's gorgeous.

SCOTTY McREERY

He let Jennifer Lopez know that he is 25% Puerto Rican. (Let's all play the Hispanic card!). Seems like a nice guy. Has a distinctly country voice and a very low one, at that. Accompanied himself on a gospel tune that sounded like it might have been entitled "That Long Black Train." Scotty's staying in the competition meant that cowboy-hat guy John Wayne Schulz got cut. He said he felt like he "tripped at the finish line."

JOVANNY BARRETTO

This contestant screamed, "No more shipyard for me, Baby." The judges commented, "He's got so much power in his upper register!" Jovanny had sunglasses dangling from his dark shirt and was wearing a brand-new jacket and seemed to be pretty stuck on himself.

LAUREN TURNER

Lauren's back-story is that she was previously cleaning houses for a living. She is good, but she is not the most attractively packaged contestant.

RACHEL ZEVITA

Rachel is this season's Siobhan Magnus. She is quirky and odd and wore, among other things, feathers on her shoes, a weird thing in her hair, and a silver crystal tie. She also tried out in Season 6.

KENDRA CHANTELLE

Representing Nashville, Kendra, a blonde, told the judges, "I don't know my future and it's right there in your hands" as she nervously waited. Unless she steps up her game, I don't look for her to make it very far. However, her final duet in Vegas was memorable.

JORDAN DORSEY

The judges told him, "From the beginning, you were a stand-out for me" and commented on the "high expectations" they have for the African-American singer.

LAUREN ALAINA

Only 15 and from Georgia, she wore a sparkly lavender outfit that included what she called "Barbie cowgirl boots." She sang with Steven Tyler during her audition. She has been a standout, for me, since the beginning.

STEFANO LANGONE

Another good back-story contestant, he was in a serious car accident and had to fight to regain his health. He did so in only 4 months. He sang an original song he had written.

JACOB LUSK

Randy told Jacob that his performance of "God Bless the Child" was "The single best performance ever on 'Idol.' Steven Tyler said, "Shut the front door!" (Whatever that means.) Jacob should go far.

PIA TOSCANO

She came with a female partner from MySpace auditions, with whom she had been singing for a while. Very attractive.

JAMES DURBIN

James scares me. I'm not sure if I'm more afraid of his Tourette's Syndrome or his Asperger', but good luck to him. I wish him well, as he sounds like he's had a rough row to hoe. Steven Tyler told him, 'You sang it better than me" of a Steven Tyler/Aerosmith song James performed, and also said, "Go big or go home."

CASEY ABRAMS

Randy told Casey, "I don't think we've ever had a musician as talented as you are."

I would like to suggest that Randy tone down the hyperbole. It seems as though he may be overstating the case for this year's talent. It is, however, undeniable that Casey's playing of the bass and the melodica were refreshingly different. He reminds me of Joe Cocker.

THIA MEGIA

The judges are far more impressed with this 15-year-old than I was. The other girl, who was cut for (what seemed like) the 7^th time, was a 25-year-old rocker named Jessica Cunningham. It was her birthday. She gave "A.I." the finger and said, "Getting cut on my birthday. They ruined my birthday." I think it was a mistake to let the extremely young Thia through, if it meant cutting Jessica, who looked like the total package and had really done well and was more seasoned. The show needs a rocker and now it really doesn't have too many girls that qualify. Reminds me of the year they cut Angela Martin, which even Simon Cowell admitted was a mistake, later. Tiny Thia was so young: she could have come back next year. Jessica said she didn't know if she could handle getting cut 3 times, as has happened. J-Lo said she could empathize with that.

BRETT LOWENSTERN

This is the singer with the Carrot-Top red hair. It came down to Brett and Jaycee and Colton. I would have kept Colton. I'm not that impressed with Brett. I realize kids were mean to him when he was young. I'm sure he was not the only contestant who has been "dissed." For example, chubby Jaycee, who was cut tonight, has had such experiences and that didn't buy him a ticket to ride. If Brett cut his hair, it would be like Billy Ray Cyrus cutting his mullet: no identity afterwards. Should make for some interesting "transformation' possibilities for the "A.I," stylists, however...like the year we all watched the young man with the dreadlocks, (Jason)

One comment from the previously announced contestants of Wednesday night, "June Bug" has been represented as the mean Evil Emperor, so I don't look for the country to take him to its heart and keep him around very long. I hope he loses the weird glasses.

Another comment: this year, we will be able to vote online, using Facebook, with details forthcoming.

This group represented the top 40 out of thousands (ultimately 327 whom the judges saw), and they are a talented group.