"American Idol" will begin its Final 12 on Tuesday (March 15) with a different dozen than viewers saw unveiled last Wednesday night. In a surprising move, Mario Vazquez has withdrawn from the popular FOX talent show and will be replaced by Nikko Smith.

Offering no explanation beyond the always vague "personal reasons," FOX announced on Sunday (March 13) that Vazquez would no longer be competing on "Idol." A 27-year-old from New York City with smooth dancing moves and a pure voice, Vazquez had been one of the favorites since his "Idol" audition in Las Vegas.

A recent set of odds put out by an offshore betting group had Vazquez as a third betting choice, behind only Anwar Robinson and Bo Bice.

Smith, son of Cardinals and Padres great Ozzie Smith, will take the place in the Top 12 that many viewers had assumed would be his before his unexpected departure last week. Smith had been considered another of the competition's favorites after strong renditions of "Georgia on my Mind" and "Let's Get It On" in the previous two weeks, but was not originally one of the six leading votegetters among the "Idol" men.

In an interview that will air Monday (March 14) on "Extra, Vazquez remained cryptic.

"It was a very, very hard decision on my part...'American Idol' was only positive and wonderful with me...but overall, my intuition told me there was things I really needed to take care of, personal areas in my life that I'm trying to keep private... to me that meant that I couldn't continue on with the competition." Vazquez says "Everything is great! I'll be expecting some bad press and some good press, but that's what comes with being in the public."

But other theories are certainly swirling. In Roger Friedman's Fox News entertainment column, he speculates that Vazquez may have wanted to avoid the risks of being an "Idol" also-ran like Justin Guarini and Diana DeGarmo. Then again, Friedman mostly references unnamed sources, manages to repeatedly misspell Vazquez's name, doesn't know that Nikko Smith was added to the competition to keep a Final 12 and thinks that Frenchie Davis' departure last year opened the door for Fantasia Barrino to win, even though Davis was briefly a contestant two seasons ago.