Hollywood Rounds – Pt 1

By On 02/13/2007 · 60 Comments · In American Idol

Ryan’s voice over starts the show.   He tells us that Chris Daughtry is the fastest  Idol debut to go platinum. Uhmm. Wouldn’t that be Clay Aiken?   I’m just sayin’…

Hollywood week – Five days, one hour.   Blink, and you miss it.   I don’t understand the logic of cutting the Hollywood round down to two shows.   Hollywood is the first opportunity to finally hear some good singers.   After 4 weeks and 11 hours of interminable auditions, we Idol faithful deserve a little reward, doncha think?   The editing was crazy.   It was obvious that more went on than we were given the chance to see.

There are 172 contestants competing.   Ryan tells us there are twice as many girls in Hollywood as boys.  

Day 1

Girls Audition

A major slash-and-burn commences as the girls are whittled down.

The first group of six are dismissed right off the bat, including the Canadian Jory Steinberg (she’s dressed just like Paula for some unknown reason) whose poise and confidence are again on display during this audition.   For whatever reason, she is cut immediately– along with  Geri Guyer 24, Altoona PA, Kelly Caruso 19, Pittstown NJ, Lisa Morrison 26, Selden NY, Christen Itam 20, Fredericksburg VA and Jeromishia Lemar 23, Philadelphia PA.

After the cut, Simon tells the group,  ”None of you were any good, it was an absolutely terrible start to the day. Sorry, no originality.”   Jory leaves the stage, visibly pissed. Simon continues,   “This is a warning to everyone out there, these were not winning performances.”   Cutting  the  entire first group completely freaks the rest of the girls out.   Which was the  desired  effect, I’m sure.   That’s  just good Tee Vee.

Next, Perla Meneses  repeats her Shakira imitation from the audition rounds.  Perla is one of the few auditioners to get backstory time during the abbreviated show, and I have to say she’s pretty annoying.  She never shuts up.  Rachel Jenkins, the reservist,  wears a picture of her husband, who is in Iraq around her neck. She sings “Unbreak my Heart” and is unremarkable, just as she was during her audition.  Rachel is cut.   Perla is  inexplicably put through to the next round.  Simon tells her that she is,  ”personality over talent.” Well, duh.  Rachel cries–she has something to cry about.   Perla cries because…Simon yelled at her?

Baylie Brown, the 16 year-old country Barbie doll from the San Antonio auditions performs and sails to the next round.   She has a decent voice, and appears to be one to watch.

We see a whole bunch of girls get cut,  including Ashlyn Carr, the San Antonio auditioner who was cut by the judges and then brought back and given a second chance. She vows that she will continue to  still do music, but not before she gets pissed at her boyfriend, puts sugar in his gas tank and gets arrested.   Porcelana Patino, the NY gal who trained like a soldier for her audition is cut too.   Finally, Sarah Burgess whose “Dad” (ahem) did not know she was auditioning in New York gets  the ole’ heave ho.   Can’t say I’m bummed.

The judges continue their cutting frenzy.   Ryan asks ominously in a voice-over, “Did they cut too many on the first day?”   I hear that  yes, in fact, they did.

Nicole Turner 27, Richmond CA,   brings her bossy aunt and mom to Hollywood. Aunt and mom persuade Nicole  to sing  ”Ain’t No Way” instead of “Tracks of my Tears”.   She doesn’t do well and gets cut. Then she admits that she sang the song for her aunt and her mom.  Nicole and her singing partner, Ashley Cleland are sent home.   Nicole is crying because she was cut, and the mom feels guilty.  Mom takes the stage to appeal to the judges, but they say actually, it wasn’t the song, the problem was Nicole.  Nicole begins to argue, Simon raises his voice.  Nicole tells Simon not to shout at her.   Someone in the auditorium yells “It wasn’t the song!”.  So that  is that–another drama dispensed with in a few short minutes.

Out of 114 girls, 56 are sent home on the first day.   Melinda Doolittle, Gina Glocksen and Jamie Lynn Ward all make it through to the next round

Day 2

Boys Audition

Brian Miller, Jarrod Fowler and Matt Sato audition together.   Jarod actually sings better than he did during his initial audition, but is cut anyway. Brian and Matt make it through.   Matt launches into a rather TMI explanation of his family dysfunction–his  Mom never tells him he loves her.   But, now that he’s made it to Hollywood, his  mother loves him.  Ãƒâ€š  Ruh  roh.   Thirty-four guys make it through including,  Chris Sligh, Blake Lewis, Nick Pedro and Phil Stacey.   Day Two blows by in 10 minutes.

Day 3 and 4

The next 16 minutes are dedicated to the group rounds.   Contestants break off into groups.   This part looks familiar.   Kids scramble to find partners, and some are invariably left out looking to be taken in by somebody.   The groups are all about stress and personality conflicts.

Matt  Buckstein, unlike last  year (remember the singing cowboys  from last year?) has better luck hooking up with good singers–Nick Pedro is in his group.

Next up.   MEEOOOW!   The girls  aren’t getting along.   Baylie Brown is set up with her fellow Barbie dolls, “best friends” Antonella Barba and Amanda Coluccio.   An argument ensues between the “best friends”.  At midnight, the contestants head  back to the  hotel to rehearse, and argue some more.  

Gina Glocksen, Jessica Gordon, Marisa Rhodes  and Perla Meneses are grouped together to sing “Be My Baby”.   Surprise, surprise, Perla can’t stay in tune to sing the backup vocals.   The other girls are not happy.  

Baylie, Antonella and Amanda are having trouble with the lyrics of “This Old Heart of Mine”.   Amanda gives up and wanders up the hall to flirt with some boys.   Baylie and Antonella call it a night.  

The next morning, the two girl groups continue to argue.

Cut to Simon saying to the assembled group of contestants,  ”DO NOT FORGET THE WORDS.”   Of course, he knows perfectly well that ain’t gonna happen.   And again, it appears that according to the producers, missed words=GOOD TV. So naturally, we the viewers, are treated to a montage of contestants forgetting the words.

Matt Sato’ with perhaps  the specter of his mother looming too menacingly over his shoulder,  completely loses it performing “Be My Baby”.   He forgets the words and sings out of tune.  Ãƒâ€š  The judges cut him.   He  calls his mom and says “Hello, I didn’t make it through today, I forgot my words” and she says, “You forgot WHAT?”   The mom is not edited very nicely.  That’s going to be one uncomfortable conversation around the dinner table tonight.

Gina Glocksen  has this whole Idol thang in the proper prospective when she  says, “I don’t care about anybody else in this competition except myself.   Sorry, I’m going to be the next American Idol.” It’s dog eat dog, baby.

Gina and Perla’s group is up next.   Jessica Gordon 27, Philadelphia PA and Marisa Rhodes, 21 Bethlehem, PA round out the group.   Perla is definitely the weakest link.   It’s obvious that the Shakira imitation is really the only trick Perla has up her sleeve.   She forgets the words and sings off-key.   When Simon says, “One of you is going home.” Perla knows she’s reached the end of the line.

Finally, we get to the good stuff.   Chris Sligh, Tom Lowe, Blake Lewis and Rudy Cardenes make up a killer group.  They sing the Bee Gees “How Deep is Your Love”  Their harmonies are good, and to really stand out, Blake does a wild human beatbox thing.   It’s very original, and they do indeed bring the house down.   These  guys know what they are doing.   Talent sought out talent here and they could not miss.

Yikes, what’s the  deal with Sundance Head?   How much would  this guy have to suck to actually get cut?   Despite singing through his nose, looking “boiled”, screaming off key and forgetting his words, he manages to advance to the rooms.   How is it that his singing partners, L’Paige Bedford, 16, Dallas TX and Robyn Troup, (she’s the chick who sang with Justin Timberlake on the Grammys–of course she doesn’t make it through–if she had no way could she have entered that other contest…)  though not great, are STILL better than he is.   Yet they are cut, and Sundance is not.   WTF?

Simon tells Paula she was “very generous with that guy” as if she’s the only one making the decision.   Sundance says, “I’m probably one of the best singers I know, but that doesn’t help when you don’t know the lyrics.”   Wow, humble too!

Is  Sundance being set up to play some sort of villain character, or a spoiler?  The producers are not editing him well, yet they are advancing him.

Baylie Brown’s group is  up next.   Despite the arguing, the gals pinky-swear to stay BFF forevah!!11111!   Antonella remembers her words. Baylie can’t remember them at all.   Amanda does better, but still forgets words. Only Baylie is cut, which is a shock, because Simon seemed to have a total hard-on for  her back during the auditions.   Baylie and mom are crying.  Then she starts whining that she worked the hardest.   She confronts Amanda and Antonella, who are appalled by Baylie’s accusations.  ”We can have as many boys as we want at home,”  sniffs Amanda.   So much for Best Friends Forever.

Thirty-six people are cut including  Sean Michel and Ebony Jointer.

Day 5

Fifty-six people are left to be split up into rooms.  They audition solo with background singers, but we only see glimpses of these auditions with no audio.   Grrr.

There are three rooms, one of the rooms is cut.

It’s hard to tell, but from what I can make out:

Make the cut:

Blake Lewis, Antonella Barba, Gina Glocksen, Matthew Buckstein, Chris Sligh, Paul Kim, Chris Richardson, Tommy Daniels, Tami Gosnell, Melinda Doolittle, Marisa Rhodes, Phil Stacey, Brandon Rogers, Nicholas Pedro, Rudy Cardenes, Sanjaya Malakar,  Anna Kearns, Jordin Sparks, Sundance Head, Tatiana McConnico, Bernard Williams, Alaina Alexander, Haley Scarnato, Tom Lowe.

Do not make the cut:

Jamie  Lynn Ward, Brian Miller, Amanda Coluccio and  Shyamali Malakar, do not make the cut.

Amanda Coluccio who doesn’t make it  puts on a brave face for her friend Antonella Barba who does.   And, Sanjaya Malakar comforts his sister Shyamali after she is cut.   We saw that one coming…

Tomorrow night:   Sixteen of the Top 40 are eliminated.   The remaining Top 24 will go on to compete in the semi-finals, starting with the boys, next Tuesday night.

 
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  • http://handicappingai6.blogspot.com RenaRF

    Whew. Recapping a show that moves at such ridiculously fast pace is HARD. It was difficult to even get a sense of who everyone was, let alone make a note of their name.

    TOO SHORT!! Ya know? I mean – they didn’t show enough of the Hollywood rounds stuff and tomorrow we go to the “long mile”.

  • WestSide

    Anyone stand out?

  • Jovi

    They should have had 2 shows of the Hollywood Rounds (another one like tonight’s show) instead of that stupid show last week “Best of the Rest” which was a total joke and waste.

  • Tracy

    I really enjoyed the beatbox group. Definitely a group of standouts for sure. Other than that? Eh.

  • jimmyboyd

    Terrible production there. Ryan says the final performances are up next, and they get back from commercial and don’t show a single performance. I just don’t get it. If Hollywood week is that bad for the ratings, just cut it out completely. A rushed episode like this is not even worth going back and watching. It moved so fast that there really is no point.

  • HollyGoDarkly
  • MsGail61

    My boy Sundance was a little shouty tonight. Hope he gets better.

  • rher

    Disappointing . . . I remember being a little more familiar with the people in the rooms. This time, I could only pick out the friends girl and the sister in the losing room. It was way too predictible and it seemed like the producers didn’t even try to have any surprises.

  • http://handicappingai6.blogspot.com RenaRF

    Tracy – Agree. That was Chris Sligh’s group, right, with Blake Lewis and Rudy Cardenas? As to whether or not anyone else stood out, not really – but frankly, they didn’t show enough of anyone to really tell.

    Bummer. :-(

  • http://handicappingai6.blogspot.com RenaRF

    MsGail – I thought so, too on the shouty thing, and it’s clear that Simon thinks Paula’s giving him a pass. I definitely expect to see better from him going forward, though.

  • xoxoyc

    Definitely pimping the guys at least early on… we have seen far more of the advanced guys than girls.

  • shay

    The foursome was AWESOME….is it on youtube yet?

  • dave

    It looks like they decided to pass Sundance through no matter how horrid he sang. I’m surprised they showed him as much as they did. I wonder why they didn’t show Brandon Rogers sing? Maybe he was even worse than Sundance.

  • Venom

    The beat boxing performance included Chris Sligh (funny, Jack Osbourne look-alike), Blake Lewis (the beat-boxing guy), Rudy Cardenas (the rumored Latino heartthrob) and Tom Lowe (the British ex-boybander – I’m guessing his boyband past helped the group a lot). And I agree with you all, that performance rocked. But the rest were only meh. And Sundance was extremely disappointing…he forgot lyrics and was off key. How did he manage to make it through?

  • GeminiDolly

    How in the heck did Sundance make it alive? He was absolutely horrid forgetting some lyrics and then managing to scream out the rest. Nobody stood out for me. Wait, the short guy making those noises, did he even sing? All I heard was noise. I hope he doesn’t make that a routine.

  • t2

    Rudy Cardenas sings in an acapella group. Blake Lewis is a one man band … literally so I think both of these were a great help in that performance. Chris Sligh’s voice was great. I thought Tom Lowe looked and sounded out of place with that group. He was lucky to get in with them.

  • Venom

    No, I think Tom Lowe fit in pretty well. In every typical boyband, you have the higher voices and the lower voices. Sure, they were not all completely on key at all times, but I don’t think that was just Tom’s fault.

  • stickitinmybutt

    anybody notice robyn troup (in the group with sundance)? She was the chick that won “my grammy moment” and sang with justin timberlake.

  • jimmyboyd

    Sundance forgot words, but he showed a good voice again. He will do fine if he brings his A game. It was not horrid. Go back and listen to to it without listening to Simon’s big mouth. Remember what Simon said about Taylor and Chris Daughtry? He is very inconsistent.

    You guys are just gullible to creative editing or have a bad memory. Even Katharine forgot lyrics last year and finished second.

  • Diana

    I agree that the Hollywood Rounds production/editing was poor – did we get to hear more than 5 people actually sing?

    The selection process also seems thoughtless and random — as if the judges are too bored to bother. They don’t seem to really care who goes through and who goes home.

  • WestSide

    wow sundance was horrid

  • primeminister

    Chris, Tom, Rudy, Blake

    http://www.rickey.org/?p=2233

  • http://www.xanga.com/werwanderflugen Preston

    ^ Thanks for that. It was definitely one of the best groups ever… (well, imo the best, but others will disagree)

    Who doesn’t love good group performances:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CuSiEeHmr0
    (Frenchie + K-Lo = AI2 Hollywood domination)

  • Kirsten

    Wow….

    I’m totally unerwhelmed. I don’t feel like I got to know the singers better tonight at all. It seemed so random. More so than usual, it seemed the judges were being very capricious in who they let stay and who they sent home.

    In the past, when they’ve shown the final rooms, I could speculate which room was going home and which was not. Balancing the capabilities of the people in each room. This time, I just sat there wondering who most of these people even were.

    Far too much material shown in far too little time.

  • http://www.xanga.com/werwanderflugen Preston

    Far too much Perla Meneses and far too much Matt Sato. I, for one, really didn’t care.

    I’m guessing as they introduce each person tomorrow they may show clips of the third-round solos. We’re bound to see some standouts then.

  • dave

    It was not horrid. Go back and listen to to it without listening to Simonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s big mouth. Remember what Simon said about Taylor and Chris Daughtry?

    I don’t need Simon to help me think. I thought Sundance was horrid. I liked both Taylor and Chris from the auditions and Hollywood. JMO.

    You guys are just gullible to creative editing or have a bad memory.

    How did they creatively edit his singing to make it horrid?

  • WestSide

    it’s not just abt forgetting lyrics, but sundance was WAY off tune.. anyone w/ at least an average ear for music can tell that…

  • Gary Seven

    I can sum up Hollywood night in one word…HORRIBLE!!!

    The worst editing possible. I could care less about Matt and the Columbian girl. They had zero chance but we were shown much too long camera time on these two.

    Ebony, Ashlyn Carr, and Grammy contest winner Robyn Troup, we get about 10 seconds total of airtime for all 3 combined!!

  • http://myspace.com/girlgeek mj

    PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES.

    I will delete posts that do not adhere to my guidelines. RESPECT YOUR FELLOW POSTERS.

    Guidelines

  • eyin

    Glad to see Robyn Troup up there. But yup, she was not up to par yet for Idol stardom. But she got to sing (very nervously) in the Grammys with JT!

  • http://www.myspace.com/swood1104 Sarah

    Dave is HOT and Sundance was terrible. Like he even said, he better start doing something right, or they’re going to send his ass packing. Maybe the judges won’t, but the voters can be pretty harsh when someone is consistently bad.

    I am STILL mad at TPTB for not showing me Leslie Hunt. Let me hear her sing for crying out loud!

  • Dov Cohen

    I agree with the person who suggested that AI should have added a second H’wood ep in place of the “Best of the Rest”. It would have even added some suspense showing two parts of the H’wood rounds first on a Wednesday, and the second the following Tuesday.

    It was strange how at the beginning the ppl shown singing got about three words each – just long enough to show their name.

    One thing everyone can agree on is that Matt Sato’s mom is a bleep. First she shocks him by giving him a hug for making it to H’wood, then she says she loves him for making it to the group round, then she HUNG UP ON HIM when he got cut. Sounds like a mom made in heaven. Poor guy.

    TPTB are not always manipulative; sometimes they follow what the early buzz is, and the early buzz was completely around Sundance Head. This is why they kept him around and showed him so much. At this point the two who have the greatest buzz around them are Sundance Dead and Chris *sigh*. It will be fun watching them compete against each other. Chris seems to be the fav of lots and lots of ppl at this point. How remarkable that he auditioned from BIRMINGHAM!!! “The place where Idols are made…” He apparently is also from Greenville, South Carolina, and if memory serves that’s the same city Clay Aiken was from. So, right away he is linked to several previous Idol winners.

  • jenniferg72

    Anyone else upset about Bailey (the blonde uncountry girl) who got cut from the group for forgetting her words?

    I really liked her and thought she should have made it through.

    I was also upset about the girl who sang the Shakira song in the auditions. I thought the girls in her group were HORRID to her and was mad that they made it through and she got cut. I didn’t think she was that great, I just didn’t like how she was treated by her group.

    Did they show the female backup singer? I can’t remember her name. I don’t remember seeing her last night.

    I also thought it should have been longer. Way too much crammed into one hour.

  • t2

    Anyone else developing a small crush on Rudy Cardenas?

  • http://www.xanga.com/werwanderflugen Preston

    I’m sorry, but I just don’t see any pimpage from TPTB for Chris Sligh.

  • bean99

    I completely agreed with them sending Bailey home. She forgot her lyrics badly and Amanda had to jump in to help her. I realized last night how much she looks like Denise Richards. Jennifer, the Columbian woman was a horrible singer and shouldn’t have made it to that point imo. The others may have been mean to her but she was dragging them down and we all know that it’s do or die in the group sings. Sundance did do badly in his solo bit but thought he was only screechy in the group song because it was too high for him, probably because of the women. I’m glad he made it through by the skin of his teeth. Chris Sligh’s group was very good. I hope to see more of Paul, Brandon, and Melissa Doolittle tonight.

  • dee

    I gotta tell ya, I’m pretty pissed off by last night’s show. First we speed through a bunch of singers…not actually hearing them sing…then we get bogged down in the ‘Amanda flirting with the boys’ sequence just so that Amanda becomes the bad guy in our minds and Baylee is the poor put-upon one, then we rush through some more singing and surprise, surprise, Baylee is dumped in favor of Amanda (BTW, this was entirely Baylee’s fault…She choked…froze like a deer in the headlights..she’s too young maybe she could try again next year) Then suddenly,after Ryan announces that they’ll be singing one more time, they’re all divided into the ’3 rooms of death’ and boom! the show is over. Have we heard even HALF of the 40 who will be on duty tonight? Nope!

  • http://www.xanga.com/werwanderflugen Preston

    ^ I don’t mean to be nitpicky, but we have seen 26 of the top 40.

  • http://handicappingai6.blogspot.com RenaRF

    Regarding Sundance – I think “horrid” is a bit strong. I’ll admit I was disappointed given what we saw in the audition round. But I also think it’s worthwhile to note that he probably sings very LOUDLY (e.g., he has a big voice) and I could hear the distortion that created through the microphone. That doesn’t account for some clear slightly sharp or flat notes, but it does explain a bit of the overall negative impression.

    Still and all, even given that he didn’t sound as good as I had hoped he would last night, I think he stands out and has shown enough to get him to where he is. My general, overall impression of the girls is that only one or two stand out from what we’ve seen. The gal who drives the pedi-cab is one that sticks in my mind. The gal who was put through on the last day always stands out. Where the boys are concerned, I think there are many, many boy-bandish cutouts and a few true standouts in terms of offering something completely different. I would put Chris Sligh, Sundance Head, and Brandon Rogers in the standout crowd and I think that’s why Sundance went through.

    Just my $.02.

  • dee

    Yeah Preston..that was kinda nitpicky but I was ranting…not looking for accuracy! I’ll forgive you. :rolleyes_tb:

  • MaryS-NJ

    I’ll make an off-hand prediction that the PTB will not pimp Sligh because they don’t need to. He’s already established quite a fanbase for his personality + voice + original music + internet self-promotion. In other words he’s smart – like Taylor.

    They will instead try to slow his momentum by giving him modest or non-commital praise each week (i.e. the Elliott treatment), otherwise known as “damning with faint praise” unless he genuinely screws up in which case they will call him on it harshly. They may show some unflattering angles when they film him live. The goal I think will be to keep Chris around long enough because he is “interesting” and “quirky”, but let his fans not feel every week is his last or that he’s being picked on.

    Also, I think that if Brandon or one of the girls are the the CO this season, the PTB will be much more subtle in how they pimp him/her. Last season the over-pimping of Chris in favor of Taylor, especially by Simon, didn’t work out for them and pissed off and probably energized Taylor’s fans to vote even harder.

    Maybe that’s why we haven’t seen Brandon (except audition), or Leslie (except in promos) – just enough to entice interest without the big glowing sign that says *CHOSE HIM/HER!!!!!!!*.

    It may also be why we haven’t really seen Tami, because they won’t put her through to the top 24. She’s too good and too potentially an upset to the PTB favorites – one of the pretty pop princesses with passable but not exceptional voices.

    As for Sundance, they could have NOT shown his performances in Hollywood but they did. I don’t know how they could have edited it to make him look worse than he did, but they do seem to want to staunch the momentum for him as well.

    But we’ll see won’t we? *rolling up tinfoil hat and putting it away*

  • SODF

    Sundance Head was one of four or five people I was looking forward to hearing last night, and he was definitely disappointing. He’s got potential, but he was intermittently off-pitch, he oversang, he muffed lyrics and he tried to cover up the faults at the end by showboating on a final glory note. Covered most of the bases of classic bad Idol performing. Fundamentally, he’s got a good voice, so I can see why they kept him around, but he’s not living up to his hype so far.

    More damaging to his long term prospects might be his comments after the group performance. Did I hear wrong, or did he actually say “I’m one of the best singers here, but you can’t forget lyrics and get away with it”? I think he was trying to be self-deprecating, but it didn’t come out right. The Idol public can be unforgiving about gaffes. Why did TPTB choose to show that comment, by the way? Has the de-pimping of contestants already begun?

  • folk

    unflattering camera angles…

    a trick they used most famously on K LO and Mandisa.

  • rher

    I agree with MaryS; I can’t see another quirky gent being the next AI. How many want to bet that the Blake guy will “beat box” (wha-ever is called) down the green mile? I could wager a bunch . . .

    In my ideal world, I hope that we didn’t see much of the great performances so that we can treat the top 24 equally, with not too many preconceived notions. How many girls did we see last night? Just the friend from NJ (she has to go) and Gina with the red streak (she also has to go). I need me a good singer . . . please!?!

  • t2

    I need me a good singer . . . please!?!

    Watch reruns of last year then because it looks like they are only putting a couple of contestants through for their voice.

  • SODF

    So Sundance Head actually said “I’m probably one of the best singers I know…….?” LOL. Worse than I thought – the moment went by quickly and I didn’t hear exactly what he said. So he’s not restricting the field of singers he’s better than to the few who happen to be competing on Idol this year?

    Well, I’ll give him some more chances. It’s early. But I sense the makings of a possible tool of the first rank…..

  • shar

    Wow, kudos MJ, that is exactly how it came down and how the hell you keep these names straight is freakin’ amazing!

    I am looking forward to the cuts tonight and getting to the real talent, it seems like it has taken forever this season to get this far.

  • dave

    I’m not saying this to be a suck up but MJ IS HOT.

    I loved your recap. I will continue to watch the show just so I can keep up with your prose. Well that and so I can have some www friends.

  • anibundel

    MJ:
    How can we get it through to TPTB that Hollywood really requires two weeks of two hour episodes? You have the contacts, I”m sure you can start a movemtn. I Believe in You!
    I’ve seen agreement across the board with TWOP and EW and all the rest of those who recap. Yesterday was too much crammed into too little time. And they cannot possibly believe that FOX would protest and say, no, too much!…it’s their steam roller show…I think they’d have AI on five nights a week if 19E would allow it.
    I would have vastly prefered a two hour show of one hour of first eliminated girls, and then one hour of guys, followed by a 2 hour episode devoted to nothing but groups. Then the next week a two hour episode devoted to nothing but the final accapella round…NOT ONE NOTE SHOWN tonight from the accapellas! GYPED! I tell you….and then a final episode devoted to the selection of the top 24. If you’re going to force us to suffer the crappy episodes the “normal watchers” tune in for, you should reward the faithful with getting to know tyhe contestants before we have to vote.

    That said, I’m totally getting hyped for the top 24, and the “real” show to start. Who’s with me?

  • anibundel

    MJ:
    How can we get it through to TPTB that Hollywood really requires two weeks of two hour episodes? You have the contacts, I”m sure you can start a movement. I Believe in You!
    I’ve seen agreement across the board with TWOP and EW and all the rest of those who recap. Yesterday was too much crammed into too little time. And they cannot possibly believe that FOX would protest and say, no, too much!…this is their steam roller show…I think FOX’d have AI on five nights a week if 19E would allow it.
    I would have vastly prefered a two hour show of one hour of first eliminated girls, and then one hour of guys, followed by a 2 hour episode devoted to nothing but groups. Then the next week a two hour episode devoted to nothing but the final accapella round…NOT ONE NOTE SHOWN tonight from the accapellas! GYPED! I tell you….and then a final episode devoted to the selection of the top 24. If you’re going to force us to suffer the crappy episodes the “normal watchers” tune in for, you should reward the faithful with getting to know the contestants before we have to vote.

    That said, I’m totally getting hyped for the top 24, and the “real” show to start. Who’s with me?

  • patty cee

    i’m sorry that navy guy was cut. maybe he shouldn’t have sung that josh gracin song (if that’s what it was, you lift me up?). maybe he should have gone punchier. anyway, he had a really good voice imo and i’m surprised he’s gone. surprised the other military guy (with the new baby) stayed. i’ll have to listen again.

    baylie had to go; she forgot her words. it’s stressful; she’s still very young. she can come back next year if she doesn’t get a record deal first. somebody might snatch her up and spend a few years developing her.

    i don’t think any of the backstories to group-sing were very interesting.

    i may be a sucker, but i felt sorry for the gayish kid with the scary phone mom.

    those four guys (chris sligh et al) really stood out; they showed everyone how it’s done.

  • radname

    i thought the foursome weren’t that good, there was someone who was singing horribly offkey during their “harmonies” and i didn’t even hear blake lewis, wow that guy can dance and beatbox, i’ve barely heard him sing..and what i have heard is no where near good enough to be in the top 40, let alone top 24

  • MaryR

    I was wondering how you were going to recap what was advertised as great teevee last night (not).

    Holy smoke! It was like a bad adolescent novel:

    Who does she think she is, we can get any boys we want.

    My mother doesn’t love me.

    My mother interferes in my life too much resulting in me losing. But then I’ll let her make excuses for me when convenient (Really Simon, it was all my fault she failed the science project because I did it all for her).

    I deserve to be the next American Idol because I wear cool clothes just like the popular girl (Paula).

    Ugh. I almost thought I was prowling the halls of junior high again.

    Do we ever get to see any talent????? I’m sure there is some there somewhere……isn’t there?

    Happy Valentine’s Day mj! You’re still the hostess with the mostest!

  • squishy

    MJ,

    Although it was confusing, Ryan did say Chris was the fastest to go platinum this past season thus Season 5. However, as you assumed of ALL the seasons because it was confusing, I suspect the public in general now think that Chris Daughtry is the fastest Idol to go platinum of ALL the seasons.

    I think TPTB wanted it to be a little ambiguous to pimp for Chris. I don’t think they need to “stretch” the truth or be ambiguous when it comes to Chris’ success. They could just state the facts straight and it still would be remarkable what Chris has done.

  • Grammie Kari

    What a mess! MJ, thanks for sorting it out. Sometimes, I truly believe TPTB don’t care what the fans of the show think. Throw in this; throw out that. It’s good teevee. The editting was terrible.

    Regarding Tami…I cannot believe they are passing on a unique contestant who can sing!

    We did see Melinda Doolittle looking upwards as if she was praying. No singing, though.

    Obviously, the Boy Band performance was appreciated by the others with a standing ovation. We did not see everything. Remember they were practicing a high five move. Now I would like to have seen the entire 2 minutes or so. Wait – that might make a fan of the show happy!

  • http://handicappingai6.blogspot.com RenaRF

    I have to say – I thought Baylie Brown deserved to be cut. She’s certainly a good singer and a beautiful girl with a lot of potential, but she didn’t just “forget” her words – she pretty much missed the opportunity to sing AT ALL during her solo and just stood there. How can you justifiably advance her when she didn’t do the bare minimum that would consistute a basis for comparison? I also thought the idea that she “worked the hardest” to be ridiculous. Because, at the end of the day, she FORGOT HER WORDS utterly and completely. The fact that she worked harder than anyone else in the history of Idoldom can’t negate that simple fact. Although I’m no Amanda/Antonella fan, I thought they were right to be annoyed at Baylie’s attacks. Sheesh.

  • Allison

    For some reason, the Idol machinery likes to pretend Clay Aiken doesn’t exist. Of course his debut was the fastest to platinum.

    On October 14, 2003, Aiken released his first solo album, Measure of a Man, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and was, with 613,000 copies sold in its first week, the highest-selling debut for a solo artist in 10 years, and to date the highest debut of any Idol. The album received RIAA Double Platinum certification November 17, 2003 (a Double Platinum plaque was presented to Clay by Clive Davis on October 21, 2003, during Good Morning America)

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