American Idol season 8 is officially rocking forward, now that not just 12, but, 13 finalists have been selected ! Sixteen-year-old Mississippi-bred singer Jasmine Murray and twenty-three year old singer Lil Rounds are among those who made the hit reality show’s final cut this week. The latter of the two, Lil Rounds, who was selected in the final round this week, performed a rousing rendition of Mary J. Blige’s “Be Without You”. (watch below) “Be Without You,” Mary J. Blige’s Grammy-winning single, scored Lil Rounds points with judges including Simon Cowell ! Simon, often known to be harsh with contestants, called Lil Rounds “Brilliant” ! Rounds, who spoke with MTV this week, says “With Simon, I feel like he’s an honest person, and I think so far, I’ve been staying consistent as far as going out there and putting my best foot forward and singing with heart and with feeling.” For Rounds, song selection is based upon meaning and not the cliche’ “that sound’s cute or I think they’ll like this”. Rounds, who is a wife and mother says “Be Without You,” I chose that song because it really does remind me of my husband, and I think about my children and my family, and I feel like people can relate to the fact that when you have loved ones, you think about how special they are to you, you don’t wanna be without them”. Lil Rounds and Jasmine Murray, who auditioned in Jacksonville, FL, join Megan Corkrey, Matt Giraud, Anoop Desai, Scott MacIntyre, Jorge Nunez, Alexis Grace, Kris Allen, Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, Michael Sarver, and Allison Iraheta as American Idol’s official final 13 ! Tune in Tuesday as the final 13 battle it out in hopes of winning American Idol !
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