By MATT GLEASON World Scene Writer
2/15/2007
Top 24 includes two with state ties
Melinda Doolittle, a former Tulsan living in Tennessee, and Philip Stacy, a Navy petty officer third class from Shawnee, are among the Top 24 performers on "American Idol."Now there are 12 men and 12 women left to battle it out on national television to become America's next American Idol.
On Wednesday evening's program, Idol's toughest judge, Simon Cowell, who said Doolittle was in the top 2 percent of Idol contestants when she auditioned in Memphis, Tenn., once again praised the gospel singer.
The 29-year-old singer, who is an alum of Union High School and the University of Tulsa, sat before Cowell and the two other Idol judges after a clip was shown of Doolittle singing a song that includes the lines "I'm stunned and amazed by your loving ways."
Cowell alone gave the verdict of whether or not the shy professional backup singer would make the cut.
"Melinda Doolittle, basically there's a reason why you are a backup singer, because normally someone is better than you," Cowell said. "You may be surprised when I tell you you're good enough to stand at the front of the stage and you're through to the next round."
Cowell then told the jubilant singer, "This was unanimous, kid."
And Cowell added, "You are no longer a backup singer. Got that?" To which Doolittle told him, "I got it."
Cowell even gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Soon after, Stacy sat before the judges.
This time, Randy Jackson, who acknowledged the fact that Stacy had missed the birth of his daughter to audition in Memphis, let the singer know his fate.
"So you ready for the truth?" Jackson asked.
Stacy responded, "I'm ready."
At that, Jackson said, "Dude, you made it. You through to the next. You're on the show, baby."
The singers both made their way from auditions in Memphis to Hollywood. Tuesday evening, millions watched as 172 contestants were whittled down to 40 performers.
At the beginning of Wednesday night's show, and before Doolittle learned she made it into the Top 24, Doolittle looked into the camera and said, "Today, my life could change drastically."
And it did.
Her two best friends from Union High School's class of '95, Amber Kaseman and Tiffany Wills, watched the show together at Kaseman's home in Broken Arrow, Wednesday night.
They were understandably excited about watching their best friend, who they stay in regular contact with, make the next step toward making her dream a reality.
"Oh my God," Kaseman said during a brief telephone interview. "Tiffany is sitting right here next to me. We are so excited. We screamed our heads off. It's just awesome. We're so happy."
Wills was similarly overjoyed.
"Just overexcited," she said. "Couldn't be happier for her."
Next week the Top 12 male singers perform Tuesday and the Top 12 female singers perform Wednesday. The first live results show is Feb. 22.
The other men making it through are Chris Sligh, Sanjaya Malakar, Brandon Rogers, Blake Lewis, Rudy Cardenas, Paul Kim, A.J. Tabaldo, Nicholas Pedro, Chris Richardson, Jared Cotter and Jason "Sundance" Head.
And the other women: Gina Glocksen, Haley Scarnato, Jordin Sparks, Stephanie Edwards, Leslie Hunt, Alaina Alexander, Sabrina Sloan, Lakisha Jones, Nicole Tranquillo, Amy Krebs and Antonella Barba.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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