AI 10 2-10-11 Hollywood Week Round 1

On this stage, countless dreams will be tested. This is the start of an epic journey known as Hollywood week. This will be twice as hard, twice the drama and twice the talent. Brace yourselves - this is AMERICAN IDOL!

Hollywood is like no place on earth explains Ryan. 327 contestants are here to cash in their golden ticket for their one chance to make it through. Cue video of the judges arriving. Jennifer Lopez is ready to “separate the men from the boys and the women from the girls.” Randy knows that these kids must bring it hard. Steven indicates, “I won’t go easy, even if the contestants beg. This is their one chance.”

The contestants will be broken out into groups of 10 and will sing a Capella but individually and there will be no feedback from the judges except for the announcement of who makes it to the next round and who will be going home in defeat!

Day 1

In the first group, the only contestant who gets real screen time is Brett Loewenstern who goes with “Let It Be.” I thought he added too many runs but he does have great control of his voice and this was an emotional performance. Brett moves forward along with a woman named Symphony (who we do not get to hear sing) and a few other anonymous contestants.

In the second group, we see Rachel Zevita, Thia Megia, Casey Abrams and Victoria Huggins. Rachel, Thia and Casey seem to impress the judges while poor Victoria does not do so well. Victoria ends up in the row going home but tells us she is still leaving feeling special and she is sure that North Carolina will be proud of her. The video shows she came to Hollywood with 11 pieces of luggage. What is up with that since it is just a short trip even if she manages to get past Hollywood she would still be home for sometime before she would have to come back. I went to Paris in 1979 for 8 weeks to go to school and only took two bags.

The next group includes Paris Tassin, James Durbin, Lauren Alaina and Stormi Henley. The clips of the singing are so brief but Stormi was definitely having problems and surprise, surprise is cut while the other three move on.

In the next group, the only contestant we hear is Chris Medina and I did not think he did well at all, cracking a bit under the pressure but Chris is given another chance.

It is 5:00 p.m. and the end of day one is fast approaching. The final group of contestants includes Jacee Badeaux, Hollie Cavanaugh, and Robbie Rosen. All three make it through to the next round.

As day one concludes, we are told that Steven Beghun, Sarah Sellers, Jacquelyn Dupree and Heidi Khzam are heading home.

Day 2

Welcome back to the City of Angels where Ryan explains there were 160 contestants heard yesterday leaving the remaining 163 for today. Excuse me, 327 golden ticket winners arrive in Hollywood, which means somewhere we lost four of them, isn’t that interesting?

Cue the video of exes Rob Bolin and Chelsee Oaks along with our loving couple Jacqueline Dunford and Nick Fink. How cute the producers have put Jacqueline and Chelsee together next door to Rob and Nick. This is not going to end well. Surprise, surprise they all auditioning in the same group of 10. Rob is up first and is okay but very boring. Chelsee is fine but boring. Nick definitely is having problems and was totally off the melody the entire time. Jacqueline is a little better but nothing spectacular. Oh my, Nick is in the line going home while the other three are on to the next round.

Poor Nick embarrasses himself by begging for another chance because he wants to be with his baby. Cry me a river, shut up, and get the hell out of town. Randy explains to Nick once again he only gets one chance. Wait I guess Nick suffers hearing loss as he continues to sing as he walks up the aisle.

Our next group includes Scotty McCreery, Jackie Wilson, and Jerome Bell who advance forward to the next round.

The final group of the day includes Tiffany Rios and Travis Orlando. Ms. Rios goes through while poor Travis (no pun intended) is heading home.

Ryan explains only 168 contestants will advance to the next round which includes Clint Jun Gamboa, Julie Zorilla, Naima Adedapo, Mark Gutierrez, Aaron Gutierrez, Molly DeWolf, Emily Anne Reed, Stefano Langone and Ashley Sullivan.

This episode moved very fast but we do not get to hear the majority of the singers. I think this has to be the worst Hollywood week episodes from prior seasons because we did not get to hear any new singers. We were shown only contestants who got face time in the audition episodes. In fact, except for the woman named Symphony, we did not even get to know their names.

I hope the producers are saving some surprises for the group numbers. The group numbers are always my favorite train wrecks of the season. I laugh because we are looking for the next American Idol not the next American group Idol but it creates drama.

Until next week!