With the new season of “American Idol” only two weeks away, a partial list of the show’s Top 42 finalists has leaked onto the Web.
It’s interesting to note that many of the names on the list — posted on theidolpad.blogspot.com — are people who’ve auditioned for “Idol” in seasons past, including seven wannabes from last season (Season 10).
The Top 42 finalists represent the cream of the original crop of 300 “Idol” hopefuls who were chosen for Hollywood Week. That list was then cut to 60 for the Las Vegas Round — and then winnowed down further to the “Top 42.”
Among the partial list of Top 42 contestants who auditioned for “Idol” last season are Aubrey Cleland, Birelle Von Hugel, Chelsea Sorrell, Hollie Cavanagh, Michael Colton Dixon and, most notably, Scott Dangerfield.
Dangerfield, 23, who wowed “Idol” judge Jennifer Lopez in his Milwaukee audition last year — and was even considered by some fans to be an early favorite to win the whole shebang — eventually withdrew from Hollywood Week to return to his student-teaching job at Milwaukee’s Riverside University High School.
“I don’t think there was one student who said, ‘I think that was a good idea’ or ‘Thank you for sticking around.’ No, they were all, ‘You did what?!’ ” Dangerfield told uwmpost.com last February.
It’s also old home week for Bayle Brown, who auditioned for the sixth season of “Idol” back in 2006 — and made it all the way to Hollywood Week in the winter of 2007 before being cut from the competition.
Brown, who’s now also made the Top 42, according to theidolpad.blogspot.com, was 16 years old when she auditioned in Texas (San Antonio) the first time around.
She apparently floored “Idol” judge Steve Tyler during her audition for Season 11.
A clip posted on YouTube shows Brown singing during her audition — and Tyler telling her, “You are so under the influence of that song!”
The Top 42 also includes Aaron Marcellus Sanders — who’s now marking his third time going through the “Idol” audition process.
Sanders auditioned for Season 7 (making it to the Top 50) and was around again last season, when he failed to make it to the Top 24.
The 11th season of “American Idol” kicks off with a two-hour premiere on Wednesday, Jan. 18 (8-10 p.m./Ch. 5) with judges Tyler, Lopez and Randy Jackson and show host Ryan Seacrest.
That will be followed by another “Idol” episode the next night.