American Idol Review: Hollywood Week, Round One

Hollywood week finally arrived and this is when the judges really bunker down to weed out the phenomenal from the “meh”. A whopping three hundred and nine individuals from around the country were given a coveted golden ticket and every one of them shuffled onto the stage to remind the judges why they were chosen. The first round of Hollywood week plays out like this: a random group of ten singers file out onto the stage where each is asked to sing a few lines from any song of their choosing. They receive no feedback until everyone in their group has sung and then are asked to either stay or leave the competition. By the end of the week, half would be going home.

Idol got down to business almost immediately but not without the judges first giving the crowd a little pep talk to encourage their hopefuls. I’m pretty sure the anxiety that was quickly filling up the room could not be eased either by Randy or Jennifer’s words of wisdom, nor by Steven Tyler’s attempt to channel Dr. Seuss by rambling off of meaningless rhymes about fruits or something but, it was encouraging nonetheless. I think…

The first group kicked off the show with some memorable singers from the audition road. Johnny Keyser from the St. Louis auditions has been one of the judges’ personal favorites thus far and one of the contestants to keep an eye on. Johnny’s smooth voice and charming persona were more than intimidating to his fellow group contestant, Heejun Han. Heejun is the native Korean who blew the judges away with his surprisingly strong voice and, although he was taken aback by all of the talent and good looks that surrounded him, he managed to impress the judges yet again. Both Johnny and Heejun were asked to take a step forward in their line which meant they were going on to the next round.

Several ladies in the crowd were invited to continue on into the next round as well, like Elise Testone from South Carolina, Baylie Brown from Texas, and the more memorably named Hallie Day from the Pittsburgh auditions. Another fellow Texas auditioner, Jen Hirsh, secured a place along with St. Louis auditioner Lauren Gray. With so many talented people that the judges had faith in during audition week, it’s wasn’t going to be easy to cut fifty percent of them. And then the winning streak the girls were on began to break. Heather Youman’s cat-tastic singing sounded oddly similar to a wailing feline but Candice Russell was right there with her, too, when her own voice went rogue on her.

The slump of mediocre singers didn’t last long, however. Before we knew it, the next line came out with some of the judges’ favorites like Phil Phillips from the Savannah auditions and Reed Grimm from the Pittsburgh run. Phil was the gritty voiced guitar player that stunned everyone with a rockin’ acoustic version of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and who managed once more to impress the judges up on the Hollywood stage. Meanwhile, Reed’s enthusiasm for American Idol could barely be contained and he felt that singing the famous “I’ve Got A Golden Ticket” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was just the perfect thing to liven up the tense room. Well, it worked because his fellow contestants and the judges alike loved him and he was sent through to the next round along with Phil. Unfortunately, there was one singer, Travis Orlando, who was not so lucky. The returning contestant who had been cut during season ten’s Hollywood week last year was sadly cut once again this year, making it seem as if history was doomed to repeat itself over and over. Another disappointing cut to the team was Ramiro Garcia, the young man that miraculously overcame hearing and speaking disabilities to follow his musical dream. Overall, by the end of day one, sixty-eight potential hopefuls were sent home.

Day two arrived and we saw many more familiar faces from the auditions. A deep, soulful voiced Adam from Pittsburgh was up, as well as Jane Carrey from the San Diego auditions. Adam’s rendition of “Walking In Memphis”, as per Jennifer’s request, earned him a continuing spot in Hollywood week. The same could not be said for Jane, though, as she let her nerves get the best of her when a shaky voice rose out of her. I’m sure she’s learned a lot about the entertainment industry from her famous father and luckily grace is one of them. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of everyone trying to make it on American Idol. Some of the rejected just couldn’t take no for an answer and begged for second chances rather than fading quietly into the background. The Idol crowd is full of tough, relentless fighters, as they love to remind us, but sometimes taking constructive criticism should just simply be heard and not argued with.

The seventeen-year old baby-faced ladies’ man David Leathers didn’t have to do any begging to stay in the game. Neither did Shannon Magrane or Jessica Phillips since all three in their group were sent on to continue to the next round. On the next line, the raspy voiced mobile dj from the Pittsburgh auditions, Erika Van Pelt, went through, along with New Yorker Creighton Fraker and music teacher Aaron Marcellus.

The last line for the day was the most interesting, and possibly devastating, so far. Lauren Mink, the program director for mentally disabled adults from the Savannah auditions, sang her little heart out. Lauren was joined onstage with fellow Savannah auditioner Jeremy Rosado, the self-described germaphobe, who sang a little Luther Vandross for the judges. Final auditioneer in the line, Symone Black from the San Diego auditions, took the stage and sang Otis Redding’s “Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay” which the judges loved. Symone seemed cool and collected until the judges attempted small talk with her which only ended in her staggering around on stage and abruptly passing out. People become overwhelmed with big time competitions like this all of the time, and becoming a little lightheaded isn’t uncommon. However, Symone was standing so close the edge of the stage that she took a major dive and may have severely injured herself. Of course, this is exactly where the episode cuts off and we’re forced to wait until the next night to find out what exactly happened.

So the next night’s episode picks up right where the last ended, as presumed. Luckily, Symone was fine and after a brief trip to the hospital to be sure, everything was pretty much chalked up to dehydration. That’s some good news but what was better was the fact that the judges had decided she move on to the next round. Jeremy and Lauren were still anxiously awaiting their fates from the last episode and only one would move on and that one was Jeremy. Their line ended the first round of Hollywood week dramatically and only one hundred and eighty five were left standing.

Just when everyone begins to relax and breathe again, the group round is announced and all hell breaks loose! Like every season, the group round is where the singers frantically race to form groups of four or five with people they barely know and then somehow all agree on a song that they want to sing for the judges the next day. In past Idol seasons, the contestants typically are seen staying up all night rehearsing lyrics, choreography, and in some cases ditching group mates for other, more fruitful endeavors.  This year was no exception and many of them struggled to find a group that they could fit into. It doesn’t help that at least half of them are temperamental artists that resist change and other’s creative input. It’s frustrating enough to watch and it’s no wonder so many of them get into fights and their groups break apart.

One singer, Alicia, was the perfect example of a musical tyrant. The police officer by day was so intimidating, overbearing, and dead set on what she wanted that the few people she actually was able to wrangle up eventually tiptoed away from her at the first chance they had and joined another group. Somehow she made her way into another group last minute but her pack leader mentality dwindled when she began having trouble remembering the groups’ song lyrics.

Amidst the frustrating tears and dramatic eye-rolling that was running rampant through the hotel lobby-turned-rehearsal room, some contestants were getting so stressed out that they were just plain sick to their stomachs- literally. The American Idol gods were angry this week and began to pick off random individuals one by one in the form of the dreaded flu bug. The sickness tried to keep some people down but most people were way too determined to give up their dreams for a little nausea and managed to keep chuggin’ along.

Some of the newly formed groups were seriously lucky. They meshed well with their group mates and were so far ahead in their planning for the next day that they were able to call it a night early and get some much needed rest back at their hotel rooms. On the flip side, there were still a lot of groups that still were not in sync with each other even into the wee hours of the morning. One girl group, The Bettys, were among the unlucky and looked as if they were on a slow train to being a total wreck the next day. Slowly, each member called it quits and optioned to sleep rather than practice before the major kinks were worked out in their routine and, as fate would have it, they were set to be the very first performers the next morning. When group day finally arrived mere hours later, The Bettys took the stage and as their first note was about to be belted out, the show abruptly ended. Once again, we are forced to wait until next week to see the outcome. Could this be the end of The Bettys altogether? Possibly. Does group week have me on the edge of my seat this season? Not really. Does the constant cut-offs at the end of every episode make me feel like American Idol is being overly dramatic? Completely! For all that build up, next week’s group week conclusion better be worth the wait.

 

Season 11, Episodes 8 & 9: Hollywood Week (originally aired February 8 & 9, 2012)

Images courtesy of American Idol.