AI 9 2-16-10 Hollywood Week Big Reveal Part 1

Tonight there will be drama, tears and the crescendo to Hollywood Week. The contestants will have one final time to prove themselves. Decisions will be made, dreams will be realized, it is Hollywood’s pivotal moment and this is AMERICAN IDOL!

We have a two hour time frame for tonight’s episode which means there is probably an hour’s worth of actual show with the rest of the time filled with commercials or teasers as to what is about to happen. I am so excited – NOT!

Imagine the leap of faith these contestants have taken to leave their jobs, their families, and their homes to travel to Hollywood. Our final 71 start their day with the routine of Hollywood including breakfast and then rehearsals for their final chance at proving they could be the next American Idol.

The contestants will get one chance to perform with a full band but the judges will not be proving any feedback after the performances.

It is 8:00 p.m. and the judges are deliberating their choices. The judges have rendered their decision and the contestants are broken up into three separate groups. These groups are then placed in three different rooms. 71 lives are on the line who will survive and who will be the next American Idol.

I love how Ryan constantly teases the audience about their favorites leaving. Excuse me! How can we have favorites when we have barely heard the majority actually sing? I am extremely interested in who will be in the top 24 but there is no one who is my favorite at this point.

I will skip over all the drama being built up about which room will be going home and just discuss the contestants we actually get to hear snippets of vocal performances.

Angela Martin provides a rousing performance of “American Boy”. I saw the spark of what type of performer she might make.

The producers editing puts Jermaine Sellers in a very bad light by laying blame on the band. Given how early in the season we are and Jermaine you have not yet won the diva behavior is simply out of place. I noticed the editor’s show Kara and Randy saying “do not throw the band under the bus”. To borrow from Randy Jackson, I found this performance “pitchy”.

Casey James while seriously needing a personality change really has a nice voice. I really enjoyed his performance of “Bubbly”.

Siobhan Magnus sings “Living for the City” in her final audition and I really like her voice. There is a very nice tone and she knows how to enunciate. There is something about her, which rubs me wrong, but she has talent, which I cannot deny.

Crystal Bowersox sings, “If it makes you happy” while playing both the guitar and harmonica. Overall, the performance was good but she was unable to hit any of the high notes.

Alex Lambert clearly needs to throw away the ukulele, which is bringing him down. We finally get to hear more of his performance from day one, which was not great, and let us try to forget his crash and burn as part of “The Dreamers” group. I did though enjoy his performance of “I’m yours”. I would have enjoyed it more without the ukulele but we were finally able to hear his vocals. There is some raw talent hidden inside and through maturity and practice could be successful.

Michael Lynche “Big Mike” also goes with “I’m yours”. Unlike some of the other performances, I have heard from him this was just okay. We can only hope the entire body of his auditions will help him through to the top 24.

Todrick Hall sings, “I’m yours” as well. I think Todrick demonstrated good vocal control and he changed the number up a bit as well. I enjoyed his performance better then “Big Mike’s”.

Thaddeus Johnson blew me away with his performance of “Man in the Mirror”. The vocals were outstanding. It takes a brave kid to shout out on national television he is a momma’s boy. Thaddeus’s mother is cool.

Charity Vance goes with “Gravity” and it was okay but there was no wow.

Tasha Layton chooses “The Scientist” as her final audition song and she definitely has some very good pipes. I really liked how she re-worked this song.

Mary “I am crazed with” Powers continues to demonstrate inappropriate diva behavior and thoroughly annoys me by sounding so freaking arrogant. I am sorry this is not live so I can call and tell her to get over herself. Mary performs “Hot N Cold” which stunk to high heaven. Mary had no breath control while singing. Mary was shouting versus singing and her pitch was off and on so much I was getting an earache.

Lloyd Thomas performs “Man in the Mirror” and I did not find him to be a strong singer. In addition, he broke the cardinal rule of forgetting the lyrics. These contestants never learn, write the damn lyrics on your hand or arm for heaven sakes.

Brian Walker who we see very briefly and what I heard really did not impress me much.

Hope Johnson clearly does not understand how this audition process works. She chooses a song, which American Idol used one season as the contestant’s goodbye song. Yes, she goes with Daughtry’s “Home”. Do you really want to sing to the judges “I’m going home”? This is an idiotic decision. On top of it, she was so off-key it was scary.

Shelby Dressel goes with “More than a feeling” and during rehearsals was having problems with the lyrics but manages to remember them during the actual performance. I am happy she remembers the lyrics but the actual performance was not good. There were some very sharp notes throughout and the ending was rough.

Aaron Kelly performs “Angel”. Aaron had issues with the lyrics as well. I also found the beginning of the number difficult to listen to but he gradually improved most likely because he was relaxing because the end of his audition was spectacular and he was demonstrating the emotions of the song.

Ashley Rodriguez attempts “Battlefield” and manages to be okay. Here is another contestant who violates the rule of trying to perform another Idol’s song.

Lee DeWyze simply cannot enunciate at all. The number he performs which I did not recognize was just a series of mumbles.

Joe Munoz who I do not remember seeing before does a good version of “Man in the Mirror”.

Haeley Vaughn performs “I’m yours” and while she changed it up a bit, I was not impressed.

Janell Wheeler struggles through her performance of “Love Story” and I found her voice very flat.

Ryan is back explaining what an emotional toll this week has brought with 181 voices coming to Hollywood and there have already been 110 cuts. We have 71 remaining voices in three rooms, who will be in the top 24 and who are going home.

It is 11:30 and the judges are ready to render their decisions. Room 1 and Room3 are moving on while the dreams of Room 2 are shattered. Luckily for all Mary Powers is heading into the sunset!

There are 46 remaining voices but only 24 will survive.

Our final day in Hollywood is here and the judges are ready with their final judgment. For the first time ever the news will be given in the Kodak Theater but the contestants are still forced to march in front of the judges and sit into the “chair” for the big reveal.

Michael Lynche is walking in first to learn his fate. There is plenty of useless banter about how do you feel you did, blah, blah, blah. Michael is in the top 24.

Didi Benami (singing for her dead BFF Rebecca) is next. We see a snippet of her final performance of “Angel”. Simon explains she has had good moments as well as bad, i.e. this means you are not consistent, however, when she is good, she is fantastic. Didi is part of the top 24.

Katelyn Epperly is next. We see her final audition where she sings “Bubbly”. Ellen drags out the reveal but in the end Katelyn too is in the top 24.

Shelby Dressell receives the bad news she did not make it to the top 24 but Randy blabbers on about how much she has grown through the week and encourages her to come back in the future. Shelby handles the decision with grace and style. I only wish other contestants could follow her example.

Casey James takes the long walk next as Ellen and Randy tease her about Casey’s hair being down for her. Casey is in the top 24 and finally shows some personality and excitement in getting the news.

Aaron Kelly is next and Ellen explains she sees that he loves performing and that he is a good guy and believes the viewers will see the same thing since he will be in the top 24.

Lee DeWyze who is following Jason Castro’s example by being high on some type of substance survives, as he too will be in the top 24.

Todrick Hall is next to face the judges and he gets a very quick you are in the top 24.

Jessica Furney faces the judges for a second time being sent home last season while Meagan Joy moved on. Jessica finds out she is not through and literally has a meltdown whining to the judges. Watching this display really irritated me and caused me to shout aloud to the television to shut the f*^k up. Jessica's behavior reminded me of a two year old throwing a tantrum. These contestants never learn.

The fate of the rest of the contestants will continue in Wednesday’s episode. We now have the names of seven of the top 24 (five men, 2 women). Who will the remaining 17 be?

Until tomorrow…