“American Idol” Wild Card Round Explained (Sort Of)

noah | February 23, 2009 3:00 am

With Round Two of the American Idol semifinals scheduled for tomorrow night Wednesday and Thursday (thanks, President Obama!), a glimpse into just how the Wild Card Round—which will pick the final three members of the Top 12—will be structured has finally been offered up. Apparently, Anoop Desai (pictured), whose vote tally last week was third-highest among the males, is a lock for that round thanks to people calling in; each contestant who gets the highest vote total without automatically advancing to the Top 12 this week and next will get in, too. But that’s the only say the American public will have as far as rounding out the finalist pool goes! Come with me as the selection process gets explained to us all.

Ryan Seacrest announced that, of the 24 million votes cast, Anoop Desai and Michael Sarver were separated by a mere 20,000 votes. According to the new rules, the next highest vote receiver gets an automatic berth in the American Idol Wild Card Round. It looks like it just might be the smooth-voiced Desai.

But the Wild Card Round will be structured a bit differently from the other three elimination rounds as well. After the three contenders from Rounds 1 – 3 get their automatic berths, nine others must be chosen to complete the Wild Card 12 that will literally be given a second chance to become the next American Idol. The judges will do the choosing for those nine slots. American Idol viewers will just have to sit back and enjoy the show as the 12 nearly-made-its get one more chance, because the judges will choose finalists 10, 11, and 12 as well.

So, that’s nine of the Wild Card’s potential 12 being chosen by the judges, with the three that emerge victorious also being hand-selected by the Big Four, and not punched into cell phones. The show is claiming that this would “pick up the pace” of the final semifinal round, but I just see this as an insidious plan to deny Tatiana in hopes that she’ll really for real this time have a freakout once again.

American Idol Wild Card Round: Choosing the Last 3 of the Final 12 [Associated Content via JoesPlace] [Pic via Anoop Dog]

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