American Idol 2010: Meet the Top 24

After several rounds of hardcore auditioning and meeting thousands of talented (and not so talented) Idol wannabes, the good ole American Idol judges have picked this year's top 24. MSN Entertainment gives you the lowdown on each contender still living the dream.

Although barely a month into the new season, American Idol has already grabbed headlines and the attentions of viewers around the globe, with the Top 24 contestants having just been announced last week. Between Paula Abdul's dramatic exit and Simon Cowell's X-Factor announcement, the backstage gossip has threatened to outshine the talent on this year's show.

Mere days after the finalists were announced, another bomb dropped when 25-year-old shoe salesman Chris Golightly, initially picked as one of the Top 24, was disqualified from the show. According to Fox, Chris was "ineligible to continue in the competition" because he had a standing recording contract with a label.

While it hasn't always been smooth-sailing, we have to admit that this year's contestants are a talented bunch. As good as the Idol headlines were, the hopeful voices shone through, reminding critics and fans alike how the show earned its place on the dais.

2010 : New mudslide alert in Madeira as Portugal mourns dead

Rescuers were braced to find more bodies in flooded carparks and mud-filled homes two days after killer mudslides ripped through the picturesque Atlantic island, gutting buildings and overturning cars.

A Portuguese warship carrying helicopters and loaded with medical and relief supplies arrived off southern Madeira Monday, with more gendarmes and emergency workers to fly in on a military aircraft later in the day.

Buildings were still threatening to cave in across the southern region surrounding the main city of Funchal, where the violence of the storm partly destroyed a four-lane highway.

In Ribeira Brava, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Funchal, authorities ordered 30 to 40 people to evacuate their homes for fear a nearby hillside was about to collapse, the local mayor told TSF radio.

Families were also evacuated from a high-risk zone in Ponta do Sol a bit further west while a helicopter surveyed damage to the surrounding hills, local mayor Rui Marques told the Lusa news agency.

Green groups and construction experts charge that rogue development has left Madeira vulnerable to flash floods. Related article: Breakneck development blamed for Madeira flood toll.

The island has undergone spectacular modernisation in the past 30 years but hundreds of buildings have sprung up on flood-prone land, with roads and luxury hotels preventing engorged rivers from releasing water into the soil, they say.