Four Sent Home As ‘American Idol’ Top 12 Are Revealed

“American Idol” unveiled the Top 12 on Thursday night after sending four more contenders packing, including two shocking eliminations.

Lilly Scott was one of the four “Idols” sent home in an elimination that left the 20-year-old singer from Colorado very, very surprised.

“I thought that I did really well. I thought that I was appealing to a lot of people,” Lilly told show host Ryan Seacrest as she learned she was cut from the group.

When asked by Ryan Seacrest if her song choice – Patsy Cline’s “I Fall To Pieces” — might have been behind her elimination, Lilly said she couldn’t comprehend her dismissal.

“You know, I put my heart into every performance and I thought I really gave it my all every time,” she said. “It’s surprising… A lot of incredible talent is going home tonight and I don’t know what America wants to hear.”

Also sent on their way were Todrick Hall, Katelyn Epperly and 19-year-old high schooler Alex Lambert, who got good reviews from the judges throughout his three weeks of live performances. In fact, his only real criticism on Wednesday was due to his nerves, the young singer having only performed live prior to “Idol” a handful of times.

“I had a lot of fun and I learned a lot of stuff and I wish I would have like, not been so nervous on stage because there’s a lot of things that America hasn’t seen me do yet, and a lot of things that I know I’m capable of, but the judges and America hasn’t seen it [yet],” an emotional Alex said. “I wish I coulda just broken out of my shell.”

And Ellen, who had deemed Alex a ripening banana over the last three weeks, offered him some encouraging words

“You’re so good. You just need to have more experience,” she said. “You need to believe in yourself and that only comes from time and getting knocked down and getting back up again. You’re so good. Don’t ever stop believing in yourself.”

Todrick who gave two weeks of shaky performances, and just one the judges lauded (on Wednesday) thanked everyone for his time on the show and said he did what he set out to do.

“I came here to prove I’m not just a dancer, I can also sing and I think I’ve done that,” he said.

As for Katelyn, she said she planned to keep on singing.

“I’m not stoppin’ now,” the curly-haired blonde said. “It’s just a push for me to do more stuff.”

The eliminations reduced “Idol’s” numbers to 12, the group that gets to perform on the show’s big stage. Next week the group will pull from the Rolling Stones catalogue, Ryan revealed.

Top 12 are:

Didi Benami
Siobhan Magnus
Paige Miles
Casey James
Tim Urban
Lee Dewyze
Crystal Bowersox
Michael Lynche
Lacey Brown
Aaron Kelly
Katie Stevens
Andrew Garcia