Special to the Chickasaw Journal

HOUSTON - Viewers of the hit television entertainment show, "American Idol," may have noticed a familiar face in the line-up. Jasmine Murray of Starkville is in the top 36 performers of the competition and will be working hard to move forward this Wednesday.

Murray competed in and won the Miss Houston/North Central competition in 2007 and moved on to capture the title of Miss Mississippi Outstanding Teen.

Murray, 16, has made the cut to the top 36 performers. Starting last week, groups of 12 will be whittled down to three contestants per show; top male, top female and third place. These three per show, plus four wild card spots chosen by the judges, will continue into the Top 12 finals of the competition.

On tonight's program, Murray will perform along with 11 other contestants and the voting polls will be open after the show's broadcast.

American Idol is broadcast on Fox TV at 7 p.m. Results of the voting will be released on Thursday night's broadcast.