In some ways, it's kind of funny that American Idol [1] makes such a big deal out of who makes it into the top 12. There's no real prize for it; you don't get to go on tour or anything. I guess you get to make Ford "music videos" and do more group sings, but are those rewards, really?

Nonetheless, the top 12 is always a milestone in any Idol season, and on Thursday we learned which of the 16 people pictured above would advance to the final round. Want to see who? For the first picture of your top 12 together, just .

There's the top 12! Missing from the picture: Danny Noriega, Asia'h Epperson, Luke Menard, and Kady Malloy. Two of the eliminations — Luke and Kady — seemed like a given, while I sensed the other two might be wild cards. Even when the guys' side came down to Danny and Chikezie, it still felt like things could swing either way. I'll miss Danny's presence and spunk, but in some ways, I'm glad he's gone before he could be turned into another Sanjaya. On the girls' side, Asia'h had been one of my picks for the top 12, but I'm still not terribly surprised to see her go home now. Overall, I picked three out of four eliminations this week — how did you do? Don't forget to check your ballots for the guys [2] and the girls [3].

Here are some other thoughts on Thursday's show:

• Blake's song: love it or leave it? I err on the side of loving it, and I still think he has the potential to have one of the more interesting careers of all the Idol finalists. Then again, I'm also the gal who put "Break Anotha" on her iPod about eight seconds after it leaked, so . . .
• Seacrest, five minutes in: "That is it for the fun stuff." Dude, you have got to stop telling the truth like that.
• So, Lionel Richie loved David Cook's version of "Hello." Interesting. I wonder if they ever hear from, say, Whitney Houston about how she feels of the versions of her songs on Idol.
• Aw, Kady definitely knew she was going; did you hear that resigned sigh when her name was called? Meanwhile, every time it's Carly's turn, I honestly worry she's going to hurl. For someone with so much experience, she seems so rattled.
• Speaking of hurling: Chikezie! I thought it would never sink in for him that he was safe; then I thought he might completely take out little Danny with that big bear hug.
• For real, what was that hat Paula was wearing? Was she channeling Peter Pan? Robin Hood?
• Apparently, it's a good year to be an Idol contestant named David.
• There was an honest-to-goodness reaction shot of Amanda smiling and looking happy! Who knew she was a fan of "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"?

All in all, I picked eight of the top 12 [4] in my snap judgments, one better than last year. Pop [5] and I each correctly picked four guys and four girls. How about you? Who's the biggest surprise in the top 12 — and who are you most shocked was left out?

Photos courtesy of Fox [6]