Hello and welcome to a new weekly feature here on TV Squad. As this is the year in which American Idol is focusing more on current and past contestants, I thought we should do no less. So each week, as one more Idol hopeful is eliminated from the competition, we'll take a look back at contestants past who were eliminated in the same week. We'll examine how they did on the show and what they've been up to since their elimination.

This week: 12th place finishers, featuring Vanessa Olivarez (Season 2), Leah LaBelle (Season 3), Lindsey Cardinale (Season 4), Melissa McGhee (Season 5) and Brandon Rogers (Season 6). Season 1 broke at the Top 10 so we don't have 11th and 12th place finishers to examine.

I guess once you're an American Idol finalist, you're always an American Idol finalist (unless you get an Oscar nomination and decide to bite the hand that fed you). But as long as you stay on good terms with the show's producers, you could probably milk this thing for the next century.

On Friday, February 9, past finalists Kevin Covais, Melissa McGhee, Diana DeGarmo, Ryan Starr, LaToya London, and Frenchie Davis (the disgraced, disqualified finalist) will be guests on The Dr. Keith Ablow Show.