Everyone knows David Archuleta won Star Search when he was 12. But did you know that he competed against Alexandrea Lushington (yep, the same girl from this year's top 24) on the show and beat her? She was much better than him, but he had been pimped so much by the judges, they let him win. It looks like exactly what's going to happen this year! Not only that, American Idol has always been recycling Star Search contestants for their show. Among the reused contestants from the past are Lisa Tucker from season 5, hot mess Jessica Sierra and fro queen Nadia Turner from season 4's top 12, Joe Murena and Amanda Avila from season 4's top 24, and Tatiana McConnico who had her audition shown from season 6. With all of this lame recycling going on, American Idol should open a plant!

Click "read more" to see if your favorites are rumored to have made it to the top 24. This is all thanks to JoesPlace.

Did plants like Kristy Lee Cook and Carly Hennessy make it? How about inoffensively bland Drew Poppelreiter, Colton Swon, and Brooke White? Read on and find out. (Photochop by Unravel)

When American Idol debuted in 2002, its supposed goal was to find the best undiscovered talent in America. Singers like Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken, who had dreams of stardom but never had the connections, were catapulted to megastardom. The producers found diamonds in the rough and launched their careers. But a disturbing trend has surfaced with the spoiled contestants of American Idol 7 – they’re no longer even remotely undiscovered talent. A large percentage of them are failed singers and entertainers who have already had their shot at fame. Yet Idol thinks that repackaging these failures is a good idea to make us watch their show. Gone are the days where you or your friends could try out for Idol and make it big. Now you have to already have connections. Read on to find out more about how this year’s show will just be a boring hash of recycled pseudo-celebrities who weren’t good enough to make it the first time around. And keep checking back as this article is updated almost every day with new information.

(Last updated 1/26/08 with the top 24)