Danny Gokey: Top 12

Danny Gokey made it. He's in the American Idol Top 12.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

For the first time since "American Idol" launched in 2002, there's a Milwaukeean in the finals.

Danny Gokey, 28, was among the first three performers named Wednesday night to fill a dozen finalist positions in the top-rated TV singing competition.

Gokey was picked by viewers after his performance Tuesday night of Mariah Carey's "Hero," which brought effusive praise from three of the Fox show's four judges.

But the show's producers made Gokey and viewers wait Wednesday night through a tense segment in the show's closing minutes.

Gokey and another semifinalist, Tatiana Del Toro, were the final two singers to learn their fate.

Host Ryan Seacrest asked Gokey what was going through his mind.

"I just want to find out," he said, and then Seacrest announced that he'd been picked. Gokey repeated Tuesday night's song, while the flamboyant Del Toro sobbed in defeat.

...Gokey's pursuit of the "Idol" crown, which includes a recording contract, has been shaped by his church and by the death last year of his wife, Sophia. She had urged him to try out before she went into the hospital for what had been expected to be relatively routine surgery.

In an interview with the Journal Sentinel last week, Gokey talked about his wife's role in his decision to try out for the show just four weeks after her death.

"She didn't let any limitations be put on her life. That's what I think about when I sing. I have such a passion to tell people, 'Get up, get out of your situation that has brought a lot of heartache to you and move on, move forward.'"

I had decided that I wasn't going to get that into American Idol this season, but then Danny Gokey came along and I got sucked in again.

It's so easy to support Danny. He's got a great voice and he seems like a great person, embracing and living out his faith.

Following him and his friend, fellow Milwaukeean Jamar Rogers, through the earlier rounds of the show was a highlight. It's evident their friendship is real. There's such selflessness in their relationship, both pulling for each other. I think Jamar got a raw deal when he was eliminated. Although he belonged among the 36 semifinalists himself, he still was in the audience to support his friend.

Danny's personal story, the loss of his wife, is heartbreaking, but how he's coped with the tragedy is also tremendously inspiring.

What with making the Top 12, he has shown that nice guys don't necessarily finish last.

I wouldn't be surprised if this nice guy finishes near or on top.

Video.