Semi-finals
The top 36 were announced in a special two-hour broadcast on Wednesday, February 11, 2009.
All 36 contestants, performing in three groups of twelve, sang songs that were Billboard Hot 100 Hits.
Below are the three semi-final groups with contestants listed in their performance order. In each group, three people advanced to the next round, based on votes by the viewers. The top male and female recipient advanced, along with the next highest vote recipient of the remaining ten contestants in each group. Each week two males advanced however it was never revealed who was the highest voted and which advanced through the non-gender specific slot. Following those nine singers advancing, eight of the remaining 27 semi-finalists were selected by the judges to compete in the Wild Card round. Following another performance by each Wild Card contender, the judges selected four contestants to advance to the final group of 13.
Read more about this topic: American Idol (season 8)