Seventeen more finalists join the top 24 as confusion reigns over final male slot. By Gil Kaufman Andrew Garcia on “American Idol” Wednesday Photo: Fox With a wait almost as painful as the one the contestants went through, “American Idol” fans finally got the rest of this year’s top 24 on Wednesday night (February 17), with a number of early favorites making the semifinals, including Andrew Garcia, Crystal Bowersox, Katie Stevens, Ashley Rodriguez and Haeley Vaughn. After seven singers made the cut on Tuesday, the first woman through the gate on night two was Orlando’s Janell Wheeler, 24, whose Hollywood Week was filled with ups and downs, swinging between a strong acoustic performance of Estelle’s “American Boy” to a blown take of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.” New judge Ellen DeGeneres kept up her rope-a-dope style, seemingly setting the blond wine-sales rep up for disappointment only to wave Wheeler through. With the pace much quicker than Tuesday night’s pedantic two-hour torture session, deep voiced, shaggy-haired ’70s rocker Tyler Grady quickly got his ticket punched. “I think we wanna see those moves again,” Kara DioGuardi told the drummer about his Roger Daltrey-inspired stage acrobatics. He was swiftly followed by second-timer Lacey Brown, who made the top 50 last season and was back in the hot seat. Despite Simon Cowell telling her the female competition was even tougher this year, Brown got in thanks to a haunting rendition of “Over the Rainbow.” Diva-in-training Ashley Rodriguez was next, followed by ukulele-strumming Alex Lambert, little seen Joe Mu
