On Thursday night, "American Idol" revealed its Top 12 finalists for the ninth season of the hit show. MTV News "Idol" expert Jim Cantiello whipped up a handy cheat sheet for each finalist, breaking down each candidate's journey thus far. He also got the "Idol" hopefuls to weigh in when he caught up with them at Thursday night's Top 12 Party in Hollywood.

TIM URBAN

What Tim Urban lacks in vocal prowess, he makes up for with perseverance (and teeny-bopper appeal). A last-minute replacement for the [article id="1632112"]disqualified Chris Golightly[/article], the achingly earnest Urban tries to improve each week even though he's received some nasty reviews. But it appears his young female-skewing fanbase could care less about how the all-American hearththrob sounds. This is "American Teen Idol"!

Best Performance: Wednesday night, Tim [article id="1633662"]attempted Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah"[/article] and didn't completely ruin it. Golf clap. In fact, it was so not-terrible that it inspired the judges to stop using Tim as a punching bag and start using him as a huggable body pillow.

Weakest Performance: Featuring the most laughable failed high notes in "Idol" history, Urban's "Apologize" was worse than some of the "bad" auditions that the show airs in January.

Tragic Backstory: The only human-interest angle we've picked up on is his large family. (Think TLC reality-show size.) He's also displayed an impressive amount of maturity in the face of vicious criticism from the judges. Say what you will about his vocal ability, but you can't knock his "never give up" attitude.

Why He Will Win: His abs. OK, OK, there's more to him than that. He has dreamy hair, too.

Why He Will Lose: As Ellen pointed out in his "Idol" debut, Tim's performances only work if you mute the TV.

What He Should Sing: Does it even matter?

On The One Criticism That's Stuck With Him: "I try not to take it too much to heart [but] the overall theme that I need to figure out who I am, and just be me. That stuck with me. I kind of got that the first two weeks. And so that's why the third week I wasn't going to worry about it, I was just going to be me."

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' [article id="1486475"]"American Idol" page[/article], where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.