Twenty-four million votes were tabulated to bring us the first results show of American Idol 8, which aired live Wednesday night. Out of the twelve who came to sing, only three would definitely move forward into the Top 12.

And all of them wanted to be there.

The night started out slowly - it takes a lot of filler to say three names in sixty minutes - with judge reactions from last night’s singing. Of course, we all heard their reactions right after the singing, but let’s hear it again. New judge on the panel Kara DioGuardi “thought it was a good show” but found some performers (namely Casey Carlson, Stephen Fowler and Stevie Wright) “disappointing.”

The first group of twelve then performed “I’m Yours,” only passably well, which disappointed me. But soon enough, it was time to start weeding the Idol garden.

Casey Carlson, who had a terrible night Tuesday, was called up front first. She admitted that she “should have picked a different song,” but the damage was done. Carlson was the first casualty; she was banished to the bleachers without even a good-bye song.

Stephen Fowler also agreed that his “might have been the wrong song.” Kara suggested he “play to your strengths.” Like Carlson, Fowler will not be going on to the Top 12.

Alexis Grace was then called forward, only to be told by Paula Abdul that she did a “marvelous job” during Tuesday’s performance round. Grace scored enough votes to seal her fate, and she stepped forward to perform as one of American Idol’s Top 12. She sounded even better Wednesday than Tuesday. The outfit was better, too.

Ricky Braddy and Jackie Tohn were called Ryan Seacrest before as a pair. Tohn didn’t think she “blew it at all” and disagreed “100%” with Simon. “We’ll see,” Simon Cowell retorted ominously. He’ll have the last laugh in the end - neither Jackie nor Ricky made it into the Idol dozen.

Anoop Desai and Michael Sarver took to the stage, two favorites among the media and the fans. Ryan Seacrest asked Anoop if he was nervous yet. “Yeah, man. Yeah,” Desai offered. Sarver optimistically stated “tomorrow is another day.” And with one Gone With the Wind quote, he suddenly became my favorite contestant. It’s a good thing he’ll be going on to the Top 12. Desai, sadly, will not - though “only twenty thousand” votes separated the two.

Idol threw in a plug and a clip for the new American Idol attraction at Disney next. The unveiling was attended by all seven Idol winners in their first public appearance together. Here, Idol is staged every single day with winners, judges and a live audience.

Two AI alum from season 7, Michael Johns and Carly Smithson, arrived to entertain. Michael has an album coming out in May; Smithson wears fake hair. Both looked and sounded wonderful even as they performed “The Letter,” and they’re both still two of my favorite Idol contestants.

Ann Marie Boskovitch, Brent Keith and Stevie Wright were asked to stand up in place. All three were summarily bid to sit right back down, destined not to move toward the last stool that stood on stage. This spot was reserved for the last winner of the evening - but two contestants remained.

Together, Tatiana Del Toro and Danny Gokey approached Seacrest. Both were heavily featured favorites of the show, and honestly I wanted both to go on. But only one could, so of course it was Danny Gokey (the current pet of judges and producers). He performed his winning song powerfully as Del Toro cried buckets of tears in the background. I’m hoping against hope that she’ll manage to win a random Wild Card - not because I love her, because I love to hate her. Don’t we all? I see a future for Del Toro no matter where her Idol fate lies.

Michael Sarver, Alexis Grace and Danny Gokey have passed their first test - they’re in the Top 12. Six more from the next two groups of twelve will follow, and three more will return from oblivion for one last chance.

Group 2 is scheduled to perform next week. This means you’ll get to hear and see Megan Corkrey, Kris Allen, Mishavonna Henson, Matt Breitzke, Kai Kalama, Jasmine Murray, Jesse Langseth, Matt Giraud, Allison Iraheta, Jeanine Vailles, Adam Lambert and Nick Mitchell.

The week after that, you’ll hear Group 3, which can only be comprised of those who are left. They are: Alex Wagner-Trugman, Von Smith, Kendall Beard, Scott MacIntyre, Taylor Vaifanua, Nathaniel Marshall, Felicia Barton, Ju’Not Joyner, Arianna Afsar, Kristen McNamara, Jorge Nuñez and Lil Rounds.

(You can find all the American Idol 8 posts here.)