American Idol XIII Enters Rush Week With One Twist After Another! (DETAILS)

Here’s what you can expect this week and next on American Idol XIII.

On Thursday (Yes THIS Thursday), fans can vote between the 15th and 16th boy. The winner of the vote will complete the Top 30.

This twist has already been spoiled. If you want to discuss it in detail (i.e the boys who will face off against each other), please take to the spoiler post pinned above. Thanks!

Also, during Rush Week, which begins next week,  a brand new set will be revealed as the Top 30 take the stage to compete for a spot in the Top 10.

The Top 15 girls perform on Tuesday February, 18 and the Top 15 boys on Thursday February 19. Except–uh oh.  Not all of the Top 30 will perform!  The judges will choose whom they think are worthy for a shot at the top 10. Some contestants will leave Rush Week without singing even a note.  ETA: This is similar to a Season 3 twist, during the Wild Card round, when some contestants who didn’t make it through the semi-final rounds were brought back for another shot. Only–not all of them got to sing. There was footage of the judges “mentoring” the singers during the week. Based on their experiences, some of the singers were cut before they had a chance to compete for a spot.  It was very controversial. There was one contestant in particular–a red headed gal who already amassed a fanbase–who was unceremoniously cut and no one understood why. There were lots of pissed off fans. The following year, the semi’s were completely revamped to the Top 24 system.

Definitely these twists are designed for maximum outrage and water cooler/twitter talk.

In house mentor, Randy Jackson, makes his first appearance during Rush Week (With a little help from Adam Lambert and Chris Daughtry, who aided the mentoring sessions with the contestants).

The Supervote returns, and text messaging appears to be open to ALL with a cell phone and text messaging plan, regardless of carrier! ALSO VOTES WILL BE LIMITED. Yep. Voting is limited ACROSS ALL PLATFORMS. There are details in the press release below, but basically, the limit is 50 votes per land line, cell phone (50 each for dial and text) and all Supervote platforms. The Supervote expands a little to allow 50 votes for EACH contestant.

So, if the cute guy with the guitar wins, you’ll have to find another thing to blame it on. Heh.  Actually, I don’t mind that votes are limited.  It does level the playing field, somewhat, between the invested and not-so-invested.  But personally, I don’t think it’s going to make an impact on in any way, except for limiting cases of carpal tunnel syndrome.   I don’t believe limiting votes will have an affect on what type of singer wins. As the decision to limit votes came in the wake of parting ways with AT&T, I have to wonder if they were the stumbling block all along.

Now, Idol needs to allow their iTunes performances to chart, and we’ll be all set!

Check out the official press release below

NEXT WEEK IS “RUSH WEEK,” AS RANDY JACKSON RETURNS TO LEAD INTENSE WORKSHOPS ON “AMERICAN IDOL XIII”

“Hollywood” Round Continues Wednesday, February 12; Semi-Finalists Revealed and America to Vote on Final Contestant to Join Top 30  Thursday, February 13

Award Winner Louis J. Horvitz to Direct LIVE Shows,

New Set by Award-Winning Production Designer Baz Halpin to Be Unveiled During “Rush Week”

Top Girls Perform on Tuesday, February 18; Top Guys Perform on Wednesday, February 19;

Wild Card Round and Top 13 Finalists Chosen, Thursday, February 20, on FOX

With the “Hollywood” round ending this week on AMERICAN IDOL XIII, fans can expect even more surprises, as the show prepares for “Rush Week” and the first live shows of the season. On Wednesday, Feb. 12 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), the “Hollywood” round continues, followed by its conclusion on Thursday, Feb. 13 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT), when the top semi-finalists – 15 girls and 16 guys – are revealed. However, the last two guys chosen will still be in jeopardy with their IDOL fates left in the hands of viewers. After this Thursday’s show, fans will get the chance to vote via toll-free calls, text, online and the AMERICAN IDOL App, for which guy they want to make it to the Top 30 semi-finalists.

Next week, AMERICAN IDOL XIII’s “Rush Week” will be LIVE for two nights of performances and the season’s first results show. In a new twist, not all 30 singers will get to perform, as the judges – Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick, Jr. – will choose only whom they think are worthy of America’s vote, leaving some packing their bags before they get a chance to sing. On Tuesday, Feb. 18 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live /PT tape-delayed), Randy Jackson returns as in-house mentor, and the Top 15 girls will take the brand-new stage designed by acclaimed designer Baz Halpin (Britney Spears’ Piece of Me, Pink: Funhouse Tour). On Wednesday, Feb. 19 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live /PT tape-delayed), the Top 15 guys do the same.

Then, on the first results show of the season, Thursday, Feb. 20 (8:00-9:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed), the Top 10 finalists chosen by America – five girls and five guys – will be revealed, followed by the judges’ wild card picks to round out the Top 13 finalists.

On both Tuesday and Wednesday night, the voting lines will open immediately after each LIVE show and fans will be able to cast their votes for their favorite contestants.  Viewers will be able to SuperVote™ – cast multiple votes at one time – via any of these AMERICAN IDOL VOTE destinations: americanidol.com, the AMERICAN IDOL App (data and message rates may apply) and Facebook. To SuperVote, fans can submit up to 50 votes per contestant (across all SuperVote destinations) and submit them all at once. [Only fans with a registered Facebook account in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands will be able to cast their vote(s) online.]

In addition to SuperVote™ voting, fans will be able to vote during the voting window via toll-free phone lines, as well as text-messaging across all wireless carriers (message and data rates may apply). At the end of each performance show, the phone lines will open for at least two hours and AMERICAN IDOL XIII viewers will be able to vote for their favorite contestant(s) via the toll-free telephone numbers (1-855-4-IDOL-01, -02, etc.). Wireless customers can use their cell phones to vote by sending a text with the keyword number that corresponds with the contestant of their choice to the five-digit short code, 83676 (e.g. text the number 1 to 83676 to vote for contestant 1). Fans can submit up to 50 votes per contestant per originating phone number for toll-free and 50 votes per contestant per originating phone number for text messaging.

About mj santilli 34841 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!