By Alex Gonzalez

Anoop Desai did it! Somehow, someway, Anoop got it done!  He advanced to the finals of American Idol by sheer luck and a last minute change by judge Simon Cowell.  This is the first time in American Idol's eight year history that there will be 13 finalists instead of 12.  They found it eventually too hard to choose between Anoop and Matt Girbaud. 

After performing Bobby Brown's 'My Prerogative,' a song he performed during his auditions in Hollywood, he got rave reviews.  He was the last one to go so all eyes were on him.  The judges gave him plenty of compliments.  Randy Jackson said he 'slayed it,' and Simon Cowell said the crowd loved him even if it wasn't his best vocal performance and called him 'an enthusiastic dog.'  Now the performance was good though.  He really seemed to come out of his shell a bit, even if he needs a lot of work on his dance moves.

It looked like everything was going to plan.  Jasmine Murray and Megan Joy Corkrey advanced leaving room left for assumedly one guy.  The guys are girls remaining were being cut left and right, leaving it up to Anoop Desai and Matt Girbaud.  If you reacted the way I did when the judges chose Girbaud over Anoop, then you were upset and disappointed that we weren't going to see Anoop Dog in the finals.  Just as Anoop is about to fade into the background and accept his fate, Simon Cowell had some words for Anoop that shook up the entire competition as we knew it.  He said to Anoop and the public that what was originally going to be 12 finalists became 13, and a look of shock overcame Anoop Dog as well as everyone who was watching.  I won't lie.  I genuinely felt happy for Anoop Dog seeing him get that opportunity.  It was nerve wracking but he sneaks in again to his credit.

At least Anoop was gracious in defeat at the time, shaking people's hands and congratulating them, unlike Tatianna Del Toro, who was definitely the biggest psychopath on the show.  She kept talking over the judges and performed the same song three times in a row.  She needed to be consoled by Paula Abdul at the end of the show, when really what they should have done was pay for her first month of treatment.  Loony doesn't begin to describe her last night.  She was definitely the only one I saw that didn't advance that I was glad to see go.

Next week's American Idol will feature Kanye West as well as Kelly Clarkson.  Now we'll get to see how far Anoop Desai can advance in this competition.  Of course, we here at DesiHits! will keep you posted on his progress.  Wish him luck!

So now that the final 12...um... I mean 13 are picked, who do you think will win?  How far do you think Anoop Desai can go?  Do you think he'll win?  Drop us a comment and let us know what you think.