Finally, Hollywood Week begins. WOO-HOO!!!
Let’s go to the recap…
We start out with 147. And this year, they all get something special—a tour through “Idol Boot Camp,” where they get tips from the show’s vocal coaches and stylists. Also, Barry Manilow (?!) stops by to tell them to make the songs their own. Is that what he’s doing when he’s butchering “Never Gonna Give You Up” on his new CD?
Half of the contestants will get one shot to sing on day one while the other half goes sight-seeing in Hollywood. They will perform in groups of eight and then we get the famous “front row, back row” thing as to who is going home. And this year, if you’re out, you’re out—no second chances…
In our first group is Lil Rounds (“I Will Always Love You”) and Dennis Brigham (“For Once In My Life”). Kara and Paula give Lil a standing ovation, but I honestly wasn’t that impressed. Lil goes through, while Dennis gets sent home. However, he returns to the stage to chastise them for their decision and tries to spar with Simon (It doesn’t work.). He leaves the stage with “Y’all suck as judges.” He should have never gone through to begin with…
During a break in the action, Kara and Paula tell Ryan that the day has been “rough” and “abysmal”…
Next, we see Nathaniel Marshall who does “The Anchor Holds.” Paula actually gives some astute musical advice by telling him he shouldn’t have done a song that was so monotone in pitch. Simon asks him the inspiration behind the song and Nathaniel breaks down over how bad he wants this.
Anoop Desai, who I don’t think we have seen before, nails a song I didn’t know and Jasmine Murray nails “The Trouble With Love Is.” Rose Black gets set to take the mike and we cut to her struggling to find her voice in Boot Camp. She does “Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay.” Nathaniel, Anoop, Jasmine and Rose are all through…
Buckeye Stephen Fowler does a Stevie song very well, while Jorge Nunez nails “Angel” (Woo-hoo! Jon Secada is always a good choice!). Von Smith gives a WAY overblown performance and Simon trashes him. However, all three go through and Von says the second chance is “very humbling.” My second favorite Canadian, RT, says that Von reminds her of Lucas Grabeel and I can kind of see it so I haven’t totally turned on him yet. But he better bring it…
The judges start criticizing the contestants for their song choices. Cut to vocal coach Debra Byrd preaching about song choice at Boot Camp…
I really wish the show would put supers on everyone they show so we’ll remember who they are…
Nick Mitchell reprises his character of Norman Gentle (the guy with the headband) for “And I Am Telling You.” But since he’s actually got talent, he goes through…
Scott McIntyre (the blind contestant) and Frankie Jordan both go through, but we don’t see their performances. My guess is they sang something that didn’t clear…
Time now for day two…
But first, it’s a short Ford commercial with Danny Gokey…
Jackie Tohn sings something about rockin’ and goes through…
Cut to a montage of friendships made and the goodbyes that come with people going home…
Speaking of friends, we now see Danny Gokey (who lost his wife) and his friend Jamar Rogers. Jamar sings “California Dreamin’” and Danny absolutely nails “Kiss From a Rose.” They both go through…
Cut to a montage of people going through, but since we don’t see their names, I have to think they won’t figure in the mix…
Katrina Darrell, aka Bikini Girl, does “Breathe.” It started out okay, but then it went REALLY weak. But, of course, Simon sticks up for her and Randy agrees. And, she gets to go through. Kara tells Simon to bring a pole tomorrow. I think she’s going to be a BIG problem for her group…
Not going through were Jessica, who we remember as her grandmother’s caretaker; Shannon, who charmed Simon with her dog; and Patricia, who I loved from San Juan…
Next, it’s Jeremy Michael Sarver, the oil rig worker, and Jesus Valenzuela, who had the kids with the signs. Jeremy goes through, but Jesus doesn’t and leaves in a huff…
The final line has David Osmond, Erika Wesley and Emily Wayne-Hughes, the punk rocker from all the commercials who changes her song at the last minute to “Excuse Me Mister.” It totally disappoints the judges, but she and David go through. Erika, who was the only one in the line to not go through, comes back to ask for another chance. Paula tells her she said yes, but she was beaten out, which leads to a fight between Paula and Simon about her handwriting. Erika tries the “It’s my cousin’s birthday” route, but that upsets all of the judges and they tell her it’s not up for debate. She leaves in frustration.
Also getting through during this round was Alexis Garcia, Brent Keith Smith, Adam Lambert and Ann Marie Boskovich. In total 104 contestants moved on to the group round.
But was Joanna Pacitti one of them? If she was, you would have thought they would’ve mentioned her…
So, my new favorite is absolutely, one hundred percent, Danny Gokey. I’ve never been a big fan of “Kiss From a Rose,” but he SERIOUSLY rocked it. However, I haven’t given up on David Osmond. In fact, I’m thinking that he’s a shoo-in for the top 36 since his uncle Donny told “TV Guide” that now he’s not going to do “Dancing With the Stars” until the fall…
Tomorrow night, it’s the group round—the best part of Hollywood Week. And hovering over it are the words that Simon uttered in the previews tonight: “Forget the words and you’re out.”
Oooh. If you’re a new “Idol” viewer that’s never seen a group round, you are in for a serious treat tomorrow night. Remember it’s an hour beginning at 8…
And I’ll be here tomorrow night as usual to recap the action, weather and electricity permitting…
UPDATE: Michael Slezak of "EW" said in his recap this morning that according to his DVR, Joanna Pacitti did make it to the next round. Not that any of us really had any doubt...
