Jasmine Murray and Jorge Nunez were eliminated from American Idol 8

After America voted, a guy and a girl became the first two finalists eliminated from American Idol season 8. The 16-year-old high school student from Starkville, Miss., Jasmine Murray and the 20-year-old college student from Puerto Rico, Jorge Nunez bid goodbye to the popular singing competition.

Murray, who sang "I'll Be There" was one of the wild card pick showed her vocal ability but failed to impress with her personality. Nunez who sang "Never Can Say Goodbye" on the other hand, gave a lackluster performance and song selection. The two received the lowest number of votes.


The judges were given the power to save one contestant from being eliminated until the top five finalists are selected but they opted not to use to save any of the two finalists. In case the judges unanimously agree, no singers will be eliminated that week, but two contestants will be eliminated the next week.

"The whole point of this competition is America votes for who they want to save… if someone happens to be at the bottom, and we think they deserve another chance, we're going to give them another chance," Simon Cowell said.

Ryan Seacrest cited as an example the early eliminations of past contestants like Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson, as the motivation for the new power. Hudson was booted sixth during season 3 but later won an Oscar for her role in "Dream Girls." Daughtry, on the other hand placed fourth in season 5 but his band had the top-selling album for 2007.

The 11 finalists remaining in the competition are Adam Lambert, Alexis Grace, Allison Iraheta, Anoop Desai, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen, Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud, Megan Corkrey, Michael Sarver and Scott MacIntyre.