American Idol: Hollywood Singin'

Last night, "Idol" really got down to business.

Sure, a part of me will miss the train wrecks and delusional disasters, but last night's "Hollywood Week" performance episode (unfortunately, it's more like "Hollywood Night") mostly backed up the judges' insistent claims that this is a "singing competition."

After four weeks of seeing wannabe "Idols" strut into a smallish room and try to impress three people (well, two out of three technically), it was kind of jarring to see the contestants on such a big stage (literally). The effect was enhanced by the fact that the auditorium was empty (eliminating rowdy crowds that'll cheer anything during the finals) except for more than 150 other prospective singers. Intimidating much?

For example, Ghaleb Emachah was absolutely exposed as the fraud I knew he was back in Miami, although this time around he looked a bit more like Naveen Andrews from "Lost" than Antonio Banderas.

We also saw the fall of a couple of contestants who'd gotten significant screen time during the audition process. The ones that stand out are Angela Martin, the single mother of a child with Rett's syndrome, Amy Flynn, the abstinence cheerleader (who not even a vocal coach could save), Jeffrey Lampkin, the snaptastic, larger-than-life sibling with more energy than everyone else combined, and Perrie Cataldo, who really should've brought his adorable son from the San Diego auditions.

On the other hand, I saw a few contestants advance that I would have probably sent home. For example, there's no doubt that Kristy Lee Cook sounds great when she sings "Amazing Grace", but what is she going to do when she has to perform something else. I thought it was a bit cheap (and safe and boring — and smart) to rehash her audition when she was singing to stay in the competition.

Meanwhile, I'm just not convinced that Kyle Ensley's voice is good enough to make up for how dorky he is and make him more than a novelty (like the producers game HIM of all people a room with two girls by accident). Finally, while Josiah Leming started the evening strong (a delightful performance of "Grace Kelly"), I liked him a lot better when he wasn't constantly reminding us how he lives in his car (you dropped out of school dude — you're not a exactly a character on "The Wire"), dismissing the band because he was ultra-nervous (what's he gonna do, like, every week from here on out?) and threatening to become Ricky from "Project Runway" with all the waterworks. Oh yeah, he also delivered his absolute worst performance when it counted the most.

I'm mentioning a ton of singers by name because "Idol" smartly decided to SHOW us more singers. The producers seemed to realize that people gagging away their dream on the big stage — as Natashia Blach ALMOST did by forgetting her lyrics, but totally saved by singing "Kill me now!" — is more compelling that watching some fool stay up too late, or forget the lyrics and not learn the dance moves for his or her (incredibly cheesy) group-of-three performance.

For the first time, the "Idols" also had the chance to perform while playing a musical instrument. But, as with all things, just because you're allowed to do something, doesn't mean you should — right, Jake Mellema and your full drum set?

Another one of the kicks from "Hollywood Night, er Week" is catching up with some of the favorites in the competition. Contestants like Michael Johns — the charming Aussie who doubles as the unofficial heartthrob of the competition — Carly Smithson, coming strong with an emotional, if not technically perfect "Alone" — David Cook, ditto what I just said for Carly, but with "Everything I Do" — and Amanda Overmyer, a good "Light My Fire", though Simon is right that she needs to mix things up a bit — solidified their position as favorites in the competition and virtual shoe-ins for the top 24.

Then there were the surprises. I wondered how good Asia'h Epperson really was, seeing as how the first time we saw her, she was singing right after her dad had died, but she brought it last night with her "I'm Going Down". David Archuleta, who I really liked the first time, turned out a strong singing performance last night to match his winning personality (Josiah Leming should stop crying and take notes).

Finally, there's David Hernandez (pictured, right), who performed near the beginning of the episode and seemed like he'd been on the big stage most of his life. His "Love the One You're With" was confident without seeming cocky and entertaining without being cheesy. So why is it that I can barely remember him from the auditions? Sure, I have a bad memory, but it's not THAT bad. It'd be nice if they didn't mostly hide a talent like this in the future, just because he doesn't have a violin-worthy backstory or an edgy haircut.

So what'd you think of this episode? Were you charmed by Syesha Mercado's use of notecards to save her voice? Did you like the new format? Is it just me or do the guys seem to have an advantage so far over the women? Where the hell did Amy get a voice coach? Finally, who do you be most surprised to see in the final 24?