"American Idol" narrows the field down to 13

" American Idol" whittled its contestant pool from 24 to 13 on Thursday (3/3), thanks to a trio of wild cards chosen by the judges.

The five men chosen by the viewers were, in alphabetical order: Casey Abrams, 20, of Idyllwild, CA; James Durbin, 22, of Santa Cruz, CA; Jacob Lusk, 23, of Compton, CA; Scotty McCreery, 17, of Garner, NC; and Paul McDonald, 26, of Nashville.

Chosen on the female side were Thia Megia, 16, of Mountain House, CA; Haley Reinhart, 20, of Wheeling, IL; Karen Rodriguez, 21, of New York City; Pia Toscano, 22, of Howard Beach, NY; and Lauren Alaina, 16, of Rossville, GA.

After the viewers' choices were announced, "American Idol" judges Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson said they would hear six vocalists sing for their survival on the Fox-TV show -- Ashthon Jones, 24, of Nashville; Stefano Langone, 21, of Kent, WA; Kendra Chantelle, 22, of Loudon, TN; Jovany Barreto, 23, of Harvey, LA; Naima Adedapo, 26, of Milwaukee; and Robbie Rosen, 17, of Merrick, NY. Of that six, Jones, Langone and Adedapo were chosen to continue on as part of the baker's dozen.

More than 40 million votes were cast, host Ryan Seacrest said during the two-hour telecast.