American IdolHollywood Week
Original Air Date: Feb 4, 2009
PMB - TwoCents Reviewer
pmb@thetwocentscorp.com
I never thought I would be saying this, but last night’s American Idol should have been two hours instead of one.
Continue Reading...
[photo: CNN.com]
Posts
There were so many favorites that we never got to hear sing. Case in point, Jessica Furney, who takes care of her grandmother and whose singing has a Janis Joplin vibe. We were told of her elimination, but didn’t hear why — or hear her at all! And I didn’t hear one note from my favorite going into Hollywood Week, Adam Lambert (the one Simon called too theatrical – but then, I like theatrical), who did get through. Whew!
ReplyDeleteAlso not shown but safe: Megan Corkrey, Michael Castro, Joanna Pacitti (former A&M recording artist), Matt Giraud (dueling pianos), Anne Marie Boskovich (the one they demanded get a makeover), Scott McIntyre (the almost blind guy) and Austin Sisneros (senior class president from Salt Lake City).
This year the producers added a nice touch with a Boot Camp session, complete with stylists and a vocal coach. So now we know they have the ability to bring things up a notch from the audition rounds. Sad that they added Barry Manilow as a mentor — he was wasted with just two lines.
Then each singer had one more minute to impress the judges. One. Minute. And still, we only heard about 20 of them sing in the course of an hour-long show.
Some of these were exceptionally good. Danny Gokey’s “Kiss From a Rose” was without a doubt a stand-out (I played it twice on my DVR). I already predict he’s a true frontrunner. I didn’t remember Stephen Fowler from the audition round, but now I won’t forget him after he nailed a Stevie Wonder song. And the Bohemian Rose Flack still struggles to make all her notes but obviously has major star quality. Her “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay,” with some fun runs, made me want to get up and dance,
A few others did almost as well, including Anoop Desai, Jasmine Murray, rocker Jackie Tohn, David Osmond and oil field worker Jeremy Michael Sarver.
I scratched my head when Lil Rounds, a huge judge favorite, and Von Smith both screamed their songs and got through. And the judges gave Lil a standing ovation. Is it possible that the memory of her awesome audition is the only reason she din’t get eliminated? Not sure why Von, who has never learned the meaning of the word “subtle” let alone heard of it, got through.
In the WTF category are two singers. Katrina Darrell, better known as Bikini Girl, sang better in Hollywood than at her audition, but her voice is still nothing special. Then there’s Norman Gentle (real name: Nick Mitchell) who sang "And I'm Telling You..." while hamming it up. The judges let him through, warning him that next time he needs to be serious — but they told him that at his audition and he still clowned through this stage. Isn’t there someone more deserving who wants to seriously sing that should get that space?
Hollywood Week is probably the most soap operatic the show gets, which was evident when two contestants came back onstage and asked the judges to reconsider. When Dennis Brigham got cut, he screamed at the judges and started mocking Simon’s *bleep* fashion choices. (Like he thought he could wound Simon with words. Ha!) Later a female contestant tried to argue with the judges, but took their final decision with grace.
All in all, more than 40 singers went home after the first round, leaving 107 to continue. Next up, the group competition. Get ready for plenty of tears, backbiting and shaky performances. Let’s hope we get to hear more of our favorites this time.
What did you think of the first round? Did anyone stand out to you? Vote here if you think Norman Gentle should be disqualified for just being stupid… come on, I dare you.