Wheeling native in 'Idol' top 13; Aurora native eliminated

Early in Thursday night's “American Idol” live results show, Haley Reinhart told viewers, “I want this so bad. It's the only thing I've ever wanted to do.”

Reinhart, of Wheeling, got her wish.

Voters selected her as one of the top 10 finalists for “Idol's” tenth season.

She joined Casey Abrams, Lauren Alaina, James Durbin, Jacob Lusk, Scott McCreery, Paul McDonald, Thia Megia, Karen Rodriguez and Pia Toscana.

The wild cards chosen by the judges were Naimi Adedapo, Ashthon Jones and Stefano Langone to bring the total number of finalists to 13.

Aurora's Ta-Tynisa Wilson wasn't as lucky.

She wasn't chosen by the public, nor was she picked by judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler to sing for her life to try and earn one of the three wild card spots.

Host Ryan Seacrest made Reinhart sweat it out as he slowly revealed the five men and five women voters had chosen to fill out their top 10.

But there wasn't much drama when the final female spot came down to Reinhart and Rachel Zevita, as Zevita's Broadway spin on Fiona Apple's “Criminal” was roundly panned by the judges.

Reinhart celebrated and joined her fellow finalists on the couch as the judges announced they'd pick six singers they wanted to hear again in order to determine the three wild card contestants.

Wilson's face fell when her name wasn't called, and Seacrest brought her to the front of the stage to say goodbye.

A clip of Wilson showed she refused to be discouraged by the elimination, fitting for a woman who has tried out for “Idol” five times.

“I've made it this far and I'm not going to give up now,” Wilson said.

Kimberly Bennett, a 23-year-old perfomer who has worked with Wilson, said Wilson will seize the opportunities her “Idol” exposure has brought her.

“It's still a great opportunity,” Bennett said. “It's still a great accomplishment, I would say. I wouldn't take it as a failure for her or anything.”

As for Reinhart, she has her work cut out for her.

Her version of Alicia Keys' “Fallin'” impressed Lopez and Tyler, but Jackson was unmoved. Reinhart will have to do a better job of making songs her own if she hopes to keep advancing.

The top 13 perform at 7 p.m. Wednesday night on Fox, with eliminations scheduled for Thursday.

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