American Idol 2006 final 24 contestants announced

American Idol season 5 beat the Winter Olympics comprehensively in viewership, as the final 24 contestants for 2006 were announced.

BY A CORRESPONDENT

17 February 2006

The final 24 contestants for the 2006 American Idol (Season 5) have been announced. There are a few surprises, but most of the contestants who made it to the final 24 and will face the judges now, were expected to be there by viewers.

These 24 contestants will soon be whittled down to 12. The competition begins th week starting 19 February 2006. The Idol contestants will get their chance to sing in front of the nation and on TV - the women/ girls will sing on Tuesday, and the boys/ men on Wednesday.

As the Season 5 Idol cameras focused on the more interesting and noisy Idol competitors - who were largely chucked out - the final 24 contestants list contained several faces which left veiwers scratching their heads - who are these people? It happened because the Idol cameras were always focusing on the troublesome characters - for example, the loud-mouthed Terrell and Derrel Brittenum who were accused of using a fake identity to buy a car.

Who are the favorites that we can see so far? It is too early yet to talk of Idol 2006 favorites, but Brett Ace Yound seems to be modeled as the teenage hearththrobe. Chris Daughtry fits the rockstar label a bit and Taylor Hicks feels like he is from a band before most of the young voters were born.

Idol male contestants David Radford, William Makar and Kevin Covais are also believed to be appealing to the teen school girl demographic. 

Among the female Idol 2006 contestants, Paris Bennet is widely supoprted and is quite popular, and she is a great performer too. Kellie Pickler is also widely liked.

Mandisa Hundley, who was mocked by Judge Simon Cowell for her size/ eight actually made it into the final 24 Idol contestants list too. The 16-year old Lisa Tucker, Ayla Brown, Rebecca O'Donohue and Brenna Gethers also managed to find their way into the final 24.

List of final 24 American Idol 2006 contestants

Girls
Katharine McPhee
Rebecca O'Donohue
Heather Cox
Mandisa Hunley
Melissa McGhee
Lisa Tucker
Kellie Pickler
Kinnik Sky
Brenna Gethers
Stephanie Scott
Ayla Brown
Rebecca O'Donohue
Heather Cox
Paris Bennett

Guys:
William Makar
Robert Bennett Jr
David Radford
Ace Young
Bucky Covington
Taylor Hicks
Patrick Hall
Kevin Covais
Robert Bennett Jr
Chris Daughtry
Gedeon McKinney
David Radford
Sway
Elliot Yamin