Lucky Thirteen Will Continue Competing on "American Idol" After March 5th's "Wild Card" Round Got Wilder

Thirteen is sometimes referred to as an unlucky number, but it turned out to be a very lucky number on Thursday, March 5^th's "American Idol" Wild Card round, when the judges, in their infinite wisdom, chose to let 2 boys and 2 girls through to compete against the previously selected 9 contestants.

The chosen children this night were Megan Corkrey, the girl from Utah with the tattoos on one arm; Jasmine Murray, the gorgeous African American girl who improved markedly over her last outing and...in a bit of showmanship.... both Matt Giraud, who was announced first, and Anoop Desai, the Chapel Hill, North Carolina grad who had the crowd with him and, apparently, the judges, as well.

This was a fairly interesting night in that both my TVO machine and the one being watched at the home place chose to record all but the final excruciating moments of the selection process. We did get Tatiana's Last Stand, as she knelt down in front of Paula after being eliminated, and I did get to hear all of the singers perform, but the final results had to be relayed to me in a phone call to an equally addicted friend watching in Denver, Colorado. (Thanks, Joan!)

The evening's competition started out with Jesse Langseth of Minneapolis, Minnesota, singing off-key and trying to be slinky. Kara called her "Sasha Fierce," in remarking on her tenacity and determination, but the singing was just not that good.

Next up, Matt Giraud from Kalamazoo, Michigan, sang the Jackson Five's "Who's Lovin' You" and hit it out of the park. Kara said, "That you for bringing back the bluesy soulful Matt." Paula added, "This is the right zone for you. I happen to think you did an amazing job and right now America is loving you." Simon pronounced his performance this time "a billion times better" but said, "I hate what you're wearing," which was a strange Sinatra-style hat and scarf combo. Randy said, "That's how to sing. That is competition." I immediately marked Matt as one who should make it through.

Megan Corkrey was up next and did the same song ("Black Horse and a Cherry Tree") that "Kat" did in a previous "Idol" finals competition. "You look beautiful tonight," said Paula, while others commented "You picked the right song," and "You are current. Original. Different. I think we need you because you give us some variety." (Simon). It was pretty clear that Simon would see that Megan made it through. He kept telling us how much he liked her throughout all her appearances.

Von Smith had an "off" night. He chose to sing "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" and had a bad opening. Simon said, "It didn't start out very well, to be honest and you are beginning to become a bit boring. It's like you've decided to become Mr. Serious." Randy also agreed, saying, "It seems a little bit serious for me." Kara said of Von, "It's serious, but it got very dark. You have what it takes, but you haven't dialed it in yet." Paula urged Von to forget about what he is singing, saying, "When you do let that out, you take us with you and soar." She thought he was "overthinking" his singing.

Jasmine Murray, the gorgeous 17-year-old from Columbus, Missouri sang Christina Aguilera's "Reflection" and seemed determined to do her best. She was clad in a pink dress, sleeveless, with a darker hem and looked lovely. The lyric "When will my reflection show who I am inside" seemed to fit her appearance and her performance. Randy said, "I still think this song is too big for you," but Kara said, "I'm really confused," commenting on the "big voice" that she had not heard from Jasmine before this selection. Paula, as usual, was the "nice one," saying, "You look lovely. You picked a beautiful song and did, overall, I think you did a wonderful job." Simon said it was "a very, very brave song choice. Compared to what we heard before, I thin it was a huge improvement."

Ricky Braddy, who sang flawlessly early on but still was cut, came out and sang "Superstition." He looked geeky and the vest with the white shirt hanging over it and the jeans with the hole in the right knee, completed by white tennis, did not make him look less geeky. "Kara said, "You can sign your butt off" and pronounced him to have "good chops," with which Randy agreed. Simon said, "It was a bit karaoke. A bit clumsy." He declared himself "disappointed." Randy thought the song was "self indulgent."

Tatiana DelToro, age 24, from Puerto Rico, suddenly became not only the reigning drama queen but also very Latino, complete with an accent we had not heard before. She had on a glittery dress that was flattering, except that it would have been more flattering if it had gone to the floor and covered her not-that-great legs. She had a dramatic finish in singing "I'm Savin' All My Love for You." Simon immediately began criticizing her for singing the song 3 times in competition. Tatiana said that she didn't have time to 'clear' the song, with only one day to prepare and that it was a beautiful song. Randy declared that the song "started off really rough" but admitted that it had "some good moments." He also added that it had "some not-so-good moments."

Anoop Desai, the 22-year-old Chapel Hill, North Carolina Indian student pronounced, "Noop dog is back and I'm here to stay," which would turn out to be prophetic. He sang, "My Prerogative" and was very animated. Comments coming from Simon were: "You're like an enthusiastic dog, aren't you?" Simon went on to say, "You're not the best singer we're going to hear. This is the Anoop we liked before, so congratulations." Randy said, "You slayed it, dog. I had a good time." Kara felt that "this is the best you ever did it." Paula said, "You certainly are a showman" and noted that some of his moves were even a little bit "nasty." Said Paula, "The truth is that everyone liked that performance and you showed a tremendous amount of personality."

The way the announcement of the winners was handled, poor Anoop was led on, made to think he had lost to Matt Giraud, before the judges announced that...whoops!...we're letting 13 go on.

And so it goes. The Lucky Thirteen continue their Quest for the Holy Grail of "American Idol-dom" next week.