Having actually subjected ourselves to back-to-back episodes of AMERICAN IDOL this week, we’re not about to go all Paula (translation: crazy) on you by defending the Top 24. But what we will do — following a morning of procrastination from actual work that had us reading one too many headlines that have all but written off the season as the, “Worst Top 24 EVER!” — is take a moment to defend these poor contestants.
True, with the exception for Casey James on the guys side and Lilly Scott on the girls, those were indeed four hours of our life we’ll never get back. And, thanks in no small part to contestants making poor decision after poor decision on everything from song choice and interpretation to wardrobe, for very long hours at that! That said, who in their right mind wouldn’t be a massive barrel of nerves knowing full well that this week’s performance could quite literally change the course of their entire life? Which is why, before you give up on these Top 24, it might behove you to keep in mind that it usually takes more than a week or three to find the next Kelly, Kris or David (Squared). We’re just sayin’ 
Photo Credit: Patrick Ecclestein/FOX