The Top 12 finalists
Ray Michshaw/FOX
Contestant Paris Bennett, 17, called the experience "surreal," and 16-year-old Lisa Tucker, the youngest performer, said she hadn't measured the full impact of the event. "I don't know if it hit me yet," she said.
Things weren't so sweet for the four who won't be advancing. Ayla Brown, Kinnik Sky, Will Makar and Gedeon McKinney were all sent home. McKinney's vote-off by fans provided at least one surprise for the judges, who had praised his rendition of Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman."
However, the other contestants' exits seemed inevitable, including Sky's. After her performance judge Simon Cowell said, "I think you just booked your plane ticket home."
Thursday night's show also marked the end of the separate competitions between the men and the women, and also an end to the three-nights-a-week Idol. The show will now air twice a week until the final Idol is selected May 24.
For fans who want more Idol, the FOX Reality cable channel is debuting a new series, American Idol Extra, March 16. The show reportedly will offer a look onto "the backstage drama of what really happens" after contestants are voted off, AP reports.
