American Idol Live Blog - Hollywood Week 3
Three weeks down and the pool of hopefuls has gotten a lot smaller on American Idol. Last week the men got trimmed down to 28, this week the 162 female contestants will get sliced and diced down to an even 20. On tomorrow's American Idol 8 of the boys will be joining the girls that wind up on the unlucky side of the cut.
Tonight will be solos and group performances with big cuts and we'll barely be able to get to know very many of these girls. The intro promises us the biggest performances ever with lots of drama and so on, but we American Idol veterans know that for the most part this stage will be a grind.
The exception would be the acapella round. Each contestant gets to perform solo and will be either put through or cut in the moment. If there are stand outs we will see them during this portion of the contest first, but with 162 girls the American Idol editors will no doubt spare us from some of the worst performances, and sadly the best. The first round cuts a huge swath, with only two moving forward. As predicted, the American Idol editors move us through a montage of subsequent rounds without us hearing anything from them. Hang in there American Idol fans, we'll have a gaggle of recognizable faces and voices soon enough.
Country girls Rachel Hale and Janelle are setup for a head to head. Rachel impresses Nikki as relatable. She goes from pretty standard country fair to this gospel inspired riff that just blows the roof of the place. I feel bad for anyone who has to follow that. Janelle does her best to mimic the escalation of Rachel's performance but doesn't manage the same technical heights. Regardless, they both go through but the difference in ability between them highlights how early we are in the contest. It's going to be a while before any front-runners can be discerned, but Rachel is definitely worth keeping an eye and ear on.
Candice Glover who Nikki famously said she wanted to skin and wear comes out and does that thing she does. Front runner? Maybe. Meagan Miller who auditioned on crutches has to follow Candice and suffers in her greatness, going home. Is Candice a front runner for American Idol? Maybe. Mark her down.
The ever interesting Kez Ban comes out with a severely cold compromised voice and belts out the chorus of Whites and Knights satin. She seems so different that her uniqueness might get her through, and it turns out she does. Will such a singular talent work well in a group though?
And speaking of group night... here we go. Previews promise plenty of those personality conflicts we've come to love from American Idol's group week. So let's go.
The acapella round cut the contestants down to 76 girls. First round literally chewed up girls and spit them out. This year the producers choose the groups and the girls have only that night, keep in mind they are starting at 8:30 pm, to choose a song, arrange it, and choreograph. As expected, the group with Kez Ban is suffering the most. They are the last to pick a song when most of the groups have already moved on to their harmonies.
