Hollywood Week Day 1:
This is the 1st round of Hollywood Week. It’s sudden death where contestants either move on to the next round or head home. The contestants came onstage in groups of 8 with the choice of singing acapella or with an instrument. Then the judges compare notes, divide the group of 8 into two lines by asking certain contestants to step forward or back. Then of course, only one of the lines will be going through to the next round. Hollywood Week’s always a lot to take in because not only do we see the contestants who were already highlighted during their particular audition, but we’re now finally introduced to the contestants who won the golden ticket, but weren’t highlighted in their audition city. So we’re getting to know a whole new crew of contestants. Half the contestants will try out on Day 1, then the other half will try out on Day 2. Here goes…
We already see a couple of familiar faces…SkiiBoSki from the Atlanta auditions and Katie Stevens from the Boston auditions. Katy chose to sing Stevie Wonder’s “For Once In My Life” acapella. Her voice was a little weak in the beginning of the song, but she got her confidence back and finished up strong. Simon & Randy liked her. SkiiBoSki also sang acapella. He did “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” by The Temptations. He sounded decent. Of course, Ellen started off with a funny comment saying that he scared her with the way he was prowling the stage during his song! After deliberating, the judges chose to send Katy to through to the next round. That means that Skiiboski is out. He asked the judges why and Simon replied that he’s not a good singer. I have to disagree with that. He’s not the best singer in the world, but he’s not bad either. Besides, why would they send him to Hollywood Week if he wasn’t a good singer?
The two familiar faces from the next group were Vanessa Wolf from the Atlanta auditions, Andrew Garcia from the Los Angeles auditions and Tasha Layton from the Los Angeles auditions. And wow, I can’t believe that Andrew chose to sing his own rendition of former Idol Judge Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up”! He chose to sing it while playing the guitar. He pulled it off though! He sounded really good with his acoustic, slowed down version of “Straight Up”. Kara was really impressed and I think it was really smart of him to take the song and flip it the way no one would have imagined…every season on Idol, the contestants who take those kinds of risks always outshine the others. Vanessa was extremely nervous, but you could still tell that she has a nice and unique voice under all those nerves. She sang “No Rain” by Blind Melon. Sadly, she didn’t make it through to the next round. I still think she could be a huge country star though. She just needs to get past those nerves…which are understandable seeing that this was her 1st time flying on a plane and being under such huge pressure. It’s okay though, at least she made it as far as she did. Andrew, on the other hand, did make it through to the next round. And although they didn’t show Tasha singing, she also made it to the next round.
Along the way, they briefly showed some contestants already familiar to us from the auditions, but didn’t make it past this 1st Hollywood Week round. Contestants like Cornelius Edwards from the Orlando auditions. Now they already knew that he shouldn’t have even made it to Hollywood Week in the 1st place. The only thing that stood out about his audition was the split he did that ended up splitting his pants, lol! Also Maegan Wright from the Dallas auditions didn’t make it through to the next round. And I’m kinda disappointed that Amedeo DiRocco from the Boston auditions didn’t make through either. I loved his personality and his big Italian family stories. But more importantly, he actually has a good voice.
Things turned out a little better for Janell Wheeler from the Orlando auditions. She did a nice acoustic guitar rendition of Estelle’s “American Boy.” It was the perfect song for her because it highlighted her voice beautifully! And she’s going to the next round!
Remember Bosa Mora from the auditions? Well he played the keyboards while he sang this time around. He sang Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love” and he just couldn’t seem to stay on key. So sadly, Bosa did not make it through to the next round.
Up next was 16-year-old Haeley Vaughn. I was sick last week and missed her auditions in Denver last week. This week, she sang with her guitar and sounded pretty good. Now I do remember Mary Powers from the Los Angeles auditions. She chose to sing Pink’s “Sober” acapella. She sang it a little fast to me, but still sounded good. Both Haeley and Mary were lucky enough to make it through to the next round.
Of course, we didn’t get to see all of the contestants who made it through to the next round. But among them were Todrick Hall from the Dallas auditions, Charity Vance from the Chicago auditions and Ashley Rodriguez from the Boston auditions. At this point, I still think that Ashley’s got the voice and look to win the entire Idol competition this season. We’ll see if she holds up.
In all, 46 contestants made it through to the group round!
Hollywood Week Day 2:
The 1st familiar face is Jay Stone from the Orlando auditions. You’ll remember that he was the dude that thought he was original, but was really doing the kind of beatboxing that Blake Lewis already did a few seasons ago on Idol. He beatboxed his way through an acoustic version of Shai’s “If I Ever Fall In Love.” Simon wasn’t impressed with him when he auditioned the 1st time in Orlando and this time was no different. And since Ellen joked that there was something wrong with his mic, I think we can safely assume she wasn’t impressed with him either.
Lilly Scott was another contestant that I missed during last week’s Denver auditions. She chose to sing the standard “Lullaby of Birdland” acoustically with her guitar. Wow, she’s got a gorgeous and unique voice! Kara said that everything about her is refreshing and unique. After deliberating, the judges sent Lilly through to the next round. Not surprisingly, Jay did not make it to the next round.
Michael Lynche’s wife broke the news that her water broke and that she was going into labor right before his audition. Now that’s what I call a lot of pressure! He played his guitar as he sang “Waiting On The World To Change” by John Mayer. Sounded pretty good too. He really made the song his own and he made it to the next round!
Up next was Jason Williams, the cancer survivor from the Boston Auditions. You may also remember me reporting that he’d also made it through to Hollywood week last season. This go round, he played the keyboards has he sang “In Other Words I Love You.” Randy said he sounded interesting. Not sure if that’s a compliment. I guess not because he didn’t make it through to the next round.
Tim Urban from the Dallas auditions played his guitar while singing “Come Back To Me” by former Idol winner David Cook. He sounded a lot better this time around than he did during the Dallas auditions and for that, he’s going through to the next round.
Some of the contestants already familiar to us from the auditions, but didn’t make it past this 1st Hollywood Week round were Page Dechaucey, sisters Amanda & Bernadette from the Orlando auditions and Erica Rhodes from the Dallas audtions. I was really surprised that Erica didn’t make it through. I thought that her past as a star of “Barney & Friends” when she was a kid and the fact that she’s talented and pretty would help her through to the next round. Didn’t happen though.
Up next Maddy Curtis from the Boston auditions. She sang acapella and sounded just okay this time around. Simon told her that it was definitely the wrong song for her.
Casey James from the Denver auditions was next. He played guitar while singing and sounded really good. In the end, Casey made it through to the next round, but Maddy didn’t.
In the final 8 contestants was Los Angeles auditioner Didi Benami. I think she figured that she’d score some brownie points by singing Judge Kara DioGuardi’s song “Terrified.” She actually sounded pretty great singing it while playing her guitar. Her voice reminds me of Natasha Bedingfield’s voice. Simon said that he hated to admit it, but he really liked that song! Lol. It was a backhanded compliment to Kara I guess. Simon…he’s so funny. Kara actually seemed like she wanted to cry while Didi performed her song. And she couldn’t believe that Simon sorta gave her a compliment!
Chicago auditioner Crystal Bowersox was up next. She also sang an acoustic version of Aretha Franklin’s “Natural Woman.” I liked that she didn’t try to sound like Aretha. She made the song hers and I think she sounded pretty good. I had a feeling that they’d both make it through to the next round…and they did!
And that does it for Round 1 of Hollywood Week. In all 96 contestants made it through to Group Numbers tomorrow! So what’s my opinion of Ellen Degeneres as an Idol Judge? I thought she did a great job! I wish we could’ve heard more from her, but that’s always a challenge when you have four judges. She and Simon seemed to get along splendidly. We’ve been hearing so many rumors that they didn’t like each other…maybe we’ll see some of that in the coming episodes. Or maybe those were all just vicious rumors. I’ve always thought of Ellen as a nice person, but I was really impressed that she was able to be nice AND be truthful about whether a contestant had talent or not. And she added some great comic relief to the show. Keep reading to find out what to expect from Idol in the coming weeks…
During the Hollywood Round, hopefuls from around the nation will endure an intense rehearsal schedule and pressure-packed auditions as they vie for a coveted spot among the Top 24. Contestants will be put to the test during solo performances and group numbers Tuesday, Feb. 9 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT), Wednesday, Feb. 10 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and Tuesday, Feb. 16 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) as the judges decide who will make it through and who will go home. Finally, on Wednesday, Feb. 17 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), this season’s Top 24 semifinalists will be revealed.
The following week, it will be solely up to America to decide who will garner a spot in the Top 12. On Tuesday, Feb. 23 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed), the Top 12 female semifinalists take the AMERICAN IDOL stage for the first time to perform LIVE for the judges and for the nation. On this season’s first night of voting, the contestants will sing their hearts out in hopes of winning America’s vote and surviving another week in the competition. Tune in to see who impresses the judges and who buckles under the pressure.
On Wednesday, Feb. 24 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed), the Top 12 male semifinalists will sing their hearts out LIVE for America and the AMERICAN IDOL judges. After the performances, America will vote, and on the first LIVE results show airing Thursday, Feb. 25 (8:00-9:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) four semifinalists – two girls and two boys – will be eliminated from the competition and sent home.
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