For those of you who didn't know this, Hollywood Week actually took place last November 10th-ish, well before even the Thanksgiving holiday. This explains why/how there can be so many spoilers out there about who advances past Hollywood to the Top 50 and the Top 36 (yes, if you want to snoop, there are reliable sources out there who will tell you). Each AI contestant must sign extensive contracts not to disclose stuff about the show or their status on it while it is still in progress, but of course folks still blab to peeps back at home.
People also set up telephoto lenses to capture the comings and goings of peeps from the Theater that week and then try to figure out who each of the singers are (yes, they must have a lot of time on their hands). And finally, there are also clues in the numerous MySpace pages of contestants who will, before the competition, have lots of music up that (mysteriously) comes down once they (presumably) advance...if I named names, I would be Spoiling, so I won't....but just trying to explain how it happens.
Me? I resist the urge to peek. If you are one of those folks who reads the last page of a book before you get there, maybe spoilers are for you. If you peek at your holiday gifts before the holiday arrives, then Spoil Away. Me? I enjoy getting there the old fashioned way: putting up with crappy singing, histrionic judges and lots of drama on the way to finding out :)
Hollywood Week has been stretched into two this year (by popular request?), so tonight was the first of 4 episodes from the Kodak Theater (also new to the audition round). According to the tallies, we saw 147 singers arrive with Golden Tickets, and at the end of tonight's show, there were 104 still standing. That means they only cut 43 singers tonight?! Slower pace than last year's shows for sure, we are used to the hatchet job at this point. Sorry, that made it b-o-r-i-n-g. Sorry to confuse the pollsters, but maybe I don't know what I want.
Of those 104 who remain in the game, the vast majority we'd seen before and were not surprised to be seen passed through to the next round 'cause they were all good, for the most part. We only heard a few bars from anyone, anyway. There were only a couple of names tonight I didn't recognize from the auditions (Nathaniel Marshall and FBI agent Erica Wesley) who may have been shown already, but honestly I had no recollection of them. Only Nathaniel got through for another day (but Erica argued her point, unconvincingly).
Of those passed through who didn't impress me and I think might meet the end of the road before the Top 36 are Nathaniel Marshall, Von Smith (reminds me too much of that HSM guy) (who I must add out of defense to the 'tweeners in the house is talented but just not right for AI), Jorge Nunez (cute but not good enough), "Nick" AKA Norman Mitchell (WHY did they pass him on?), and Katrina (AKA Bikini Girl, too much gimmick and baby voice to be taken seriously and I was visibly squirming over how much Simon and Randy actually defended her -- AGAIN --)
My favorites? I only marked two from the whole evening: Stephen Fowler and Danny Gokey. Stephen is so smooth, so cool, I just melted....maybe it's just because he's from my home state of Ohio but I really dig him. And Gokey? Loved him when I first saw him, loved him now. The friend I was watching tonight's show with never saw the audition footage, so no clue about his so-called "backstory", and loved him. Point made.
I didn't "star" Adam Lambert since they didn't profile him and didn't show him singing, but I also really like him and hope they show him tomorrow. If he's going to tank, get it on already!
Did the first night of Hollywood Week impress YOU? Did you buy that Paula really wanted to put Erica Wesley through even though the others said no? And do you think pink-haired tatoo'ed Emily Hughes is destined for Idol Stardom, or just a hot mess?
P.S. Barry Manilow :)
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This year's first entry from the Idol Curmudgeon! With over 140 contestants, we saw very few of them sing. Some who sang poorly survived, apparently based on the strength of their first audition. Kind of begs the question what the purpose of this second round was other than to squeeze out another hour of ad revenue. Why haul 43 contestants out to Hollywood only to send them packing after hearing just one more 10 second a capella performance?
And the Bikini Girl thing is an embarrassment. Idol Mamas and Papas should be outraged that the message sent to their daughters in what is touted as the most watched family show on TV is that in order to move up in the world, you need only strip down. Yes, I realize that many a female contestant in the past has exposed assets other than just a great voice. But never has the show sunk to the level of advancing someone based solely on the skin factor. Are we seeing a sign that the producers no longer have confidence that the show, stripped down to its bare essentials (a singing competition, pun intended), will attract 35 million viewers on a regular basis?
But to end on a positive note (sort of!), there were a few singers who showed enough promise to keep me watching even though the continued presence of Bikini Girl has deprived us of the opportunity to hear at least one person among the 43 sent home who is, no doubt, a better singer and performer.
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