With the audition round over, I was really looking forward to the first Hollywood Week episode.
I was particularly looking forward to this year’s Hollywood Week because the show finally decided to expand Hollywood Week to two weeks’ worth of episodes, instead of the customary rush job we get in two episodes.
The drama in Hollywood Week is unique because of when it takes place in the competition. Since we’re not in the audition round anymore, these are people we’re supposed to potentially grow to care about and attach ourselves to (and vote for) because they’re the ones who (are supposed to) have a real chance of winning this thing. It’s also the last time we see the contestants before they get all shiny, and cleaned up for their semifinal and top 12 performances.
This is really the last time we get a chance to see these young people under enormous pressure struggle to learn their lyrics or cheesy dance routines and have meltdowns. I mean, how endearing was it to see Rose Flack wonder out loud if her voice was strong enough to compete with the other contestants, and how hard were you shaking your head at the TV when Emily Hughes inexplicably decided to change her song selection to an unflattering No Doubt number at the last moment?
Unfortunately, other than the two moments I just mentioned, last night’s first Hollywood Week episode — which had the singers performing solo acappella songs in lines of eight — fell somewhere between snoozeville and “huh?!”
The main lesson we learned last night was that (unless you’re likable Jessica Furney) if the judges (and producers) liked you and featured you during the audition episodes, you were pretty much advancing. It didn’t matter if were too screamy (Lil Rounds), WAY too screamy (Von Smith), a marginally-talented vocalist (Bikini Girl), an obnoxious guy who won’t stop being obnoxious (Norman Gentle) or totally picked the wrong song (almost everybody).
Sadly, the most puzzling audition last night was the first and involved one of the more talented vocalists. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not puzzled by the fact that Lil Rounds took on Whitney (WAY too many people make this mistake to be surprised). What I didn’t get was the judges’ euphoric reaction to her “song”. I say “song” because the audition consisted of the “I Will Always Love You” chorus which basically meant she was screaming at the judges the entire time. And where was Simon during the audition? Was he taking a nap or did they edit out the part where he tore her down for her third-rate (that’s right, not even second-rate) Whitney impersonation.
Then again, Lil Rounds seemed like a master of subtlety compared to Von Smith (pictured, left). I don’t know what America did to this guy that made him want to yell at us whenever he’s on TV, but I wish he’d just stopped. The judges (especially Simon) trashed his performance, but let him through anyway.
Simon was even less kind to Norman Gentle, who everyone agrees is just a clown. He sang the exact same song he did in his audition “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” and he did it in the same obnoxious way, wearing the same obnoxious outfit. So why am I so surprised that the judges allowed him to advance, just like they did during his New York audition. He wasn’t even as funny last night as he was then.
Then there’s the ongoing Bikini Girl (sorry, but I don’t care what her real name is) saga. As I mentioned before, I’m not so much mad at Bikini Girl for courting attention, as I am at Simon, his lapdog Randy and the rest of the show for giving it to her. She’s obviously shrewd, but even she seems oblivious to Simon’s backhanded praise of “I agree that would’ve sounded a lot better with music” and “it WAS a lot better than last time.” (Last time she sucked. Last night she, um, sucked less.) Unfortunately, the worst part is that Kara has decided to stoop to Bikini Girl’s level and has actually ended up coming off looking worse, in my opinion. Yes, Bikini Girl is a twit, but Kara is supposed to know better, isn’t she?
Of course, there’s no doubt Normal Gentle and Bikini Girl are being kept around to keep the newly-expanded Hollywood Week interesting. Dennis Bingham, the Chris Tucker soundalike who was also put through for dubious reasons had no such luck. He threw a fit, insulting Simon’s cheap fashion sense and ending with “You all suck as judges.” Watching Kara become more irrelevant with each passing episode, I’m tempted to agree with him. It’s more than a little annoying that these two fools are still around instead of more talented singers, but I totally understand the business of putting on an entertaining TV show.
Last night wasn’t all bad though. It’s true that we didn’t get to hear much from a lot of this season’s supposed front-runners from the audition rounds, but we did get Danny Gokey, who let his voice (and not his sob story about his recently deceased wife) do the talking for him with a lovely rendition of “Kiss From a Rose.” After it was revealed he was in the same group with his (screechy) buddy Jamar Rogers, I was sure they’d be split up and Danny would advance. After they both advanced, I realized that these two won’t be split up until the Elevator Ride of Doom that determines who makes the semis.
There was also Anoop Desai and Jasmine Murray (pictured, right), who won the most improved Male and Female Awards. Anoop’s voice sounded stronger on the big stage (if a little too generic), while fresh-looking Jasmine improved greatly on her underwhelming audition round performance.
Unfortunately, the second biggest disappointment last night was that, with the show focusing on and advancing people we’d already seen, we didn’t have any outta-nowhere breakout stars. (David Hernandez was that guy last year). The closest we got was Stephen Fowler who delivered a soulful take of “Superwoman” (keep an eye on this guy) and Nathaniel Marshall, who, um, is weepy and feels that music is in his skin. Ok, moving on.
So what’d you think of this episode? What was the point of “Idol Bootcam” if all the contestants still picked the wrong songs? Could Ryan Seacrest look more disgusted when Bikini Girl tries to kiss him? Who were your favorites and least favorites last night? Finally, is there any chance in hell Bikini Girl makes it to the semifinals?
I was particularly looking forward to this year’s Hollywood Week because the show finally decided to expand Hollywood Week to two weeks’ worth of episodes, instead of the customary rush job we get in two episodes.
The drama in Hollywood Week is unique because of when it takes place in the competition. Since we’re not in the audition round anymore, these are people we’re supposed to potentially grow to care about and attach ourselves to (and vote for) because they’re the ones who (are supposed to) have a real chance of winning this thing. It’s also the last time we see the contestants before they get all shiny, and cleaned up for their semifinal and top 12 performances.
This is really the last time we get a chance to see these young people under enormous pressure struggle to learn their lyrics or cheesy dance routines and have meltdowns. I mean, how endearing was it to see Rose Flack wonder out loud if her voice was strong enough to compete with the other contestants, and how hard were you shaking your head at the TV when Emily Hughes inexplicably decided to change her song selection to an unflattering No Doubt number at the last moment?
Unfortunately, other than the two moments I just mentioned, last night’s first Hollywood Week episode — which had the singers performing solo acappella songs in lines of eight — fell somewhere between snoozeville and “huh?!”
The main lesson we learned last night was that (unless you’re likable Jessica Furney) if the judges (and producers) liked you and featured you during the audition episodes, you were pretty much advancing. It didn’t matter if were too screamy (Lil Rounds), WAY too screamy (Von Smith), a marginally-talented vocalist (Bikini Girl), an obnoxious guy who won’t stop being obnoxious (Norman Gentle) or totally picked the wrong song (almost everybody).
Sadly, the most puzzling audition last night was the first and involved one of the more talented vocalists. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not puzzled by the fact that Lil Rounds took on Whitney (WAY too many people make this mistake to be surprised). What I didn’t get was the judges’ euphoric reaction to her “song”. I say “song” because the audition consisted of the “I Will Always Love You” chorus which basically meant she was screaming at the judges the entire time. And where was Simon during the audition? Was he taking a nap or did they edit out the part where he tore her down for her third-rate (that’s right, not even second-rate) Whitney impersonation.
Then again, Lil Rounds seemed like a master of subtlety compared to Von Smith (pictured, left). I don’t know what America did to this guy that made him want to yell at us whenever he’s on TV, but I wish he’d just stopped. The judges (especially Simon) trashed his performance, but let him through anyway.
Simon was even less kind to Norman Gentle, who everyone agrees is just a clown. He sang the exact same song he did in his audition “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” and he did it in the same obnoxious way, wearing the same obnoxious outfit. So why am I so surprised that the judges allowed him to advance, just like they did during his New York audition. He wasn’t even as funny last night as he was then.
Then there’s the ongoing Bikini Girl (sorry, but I don’t care what her real name is) saga. As I mentioned before, I’m not so much mad at Bikini Girl for courting attention, as I am at Simon, his lapdog Randy and the rest of the show for giving it to her. She’s obviously shrewd, but even she seems oblivious to Simon’s backhanded praise of “I agree that would’ve sounded a lot better with music” and “it WAS a lot better than last time.” (Last time she sucked. Last night she, um, sucked less.) Unfortunately, the worst part is that Kara has decided to stoop to Bikini Girl’s level and has actually ended up coming off looking worse, in my opinion. Yes, Bikini Girl is a twit, but Kara is supposed to know better, isn’t she?
Of course, there’s no doubt Normal Gentle and Bikini Girl are being kept around to keep the newly-expanded Hollywood Week interesting. Dennis Bingham, the Chris Tucker soundalike who was also put through for dubious reasons had no such luck. He threw a fit, insulting Simon’s cheap fashion sense and ending with “You all suck as judges.” Watching Kara become more irrelevant with each passing episode, I’m tempted to agree with him. It’s more than a little annoying that these two fools are still around instead of more talented singers, but I totally understand the business of putting on an entertaining TV show.
Last night wasn’t all bad though. It’s true that we didn’t get to hear much from a lot of this season’s supposed front-runners from the audition rounds, but we did get Danny Gokey, who let his voice (and not his sob story about his recently deceased wife) do the talking for him with a lovely rendition of “Kiss From a Rose.” After it was revealed he was in the same group with his (screechy) buddy Jamar Rogers, I was sure they’d be split up and Danny would advance. After they both advanced, I realized that these two won’t be split up until the Elevator Ride of Doom that determines who makes the semis.
There was also Anoop Desai and Jasmine Murray (pictured, right), who won the most improved Male and Female Awards. Anoop’s voice sounded stronger on the big stage (if a little too generic), while fresh-looking Jasmine improved greatly on her underwhelming audition round performance.
Unfortunately, the second biggest disappointment last night was that, with the show focusing on and advancing people we’d already seen, we didn’t have any outta-nowhere breakout stars. (David Hernandez was that guy last year). The closest we got was Stephen Fowler who delivered a soulful take of “Superwoman” (keep an eye on this guy) and Nathaniel Marshall, who, um, is weepy and feels that music is in his skin. Ok, moving on.
So what’d you think of this episode? What was the point of “Idol Bootcam” if all the contestants still picked the wrong songs? Could Ryan Seacrest look more disgusted when Bikini Girl tries to kiss him? Who were your favorites and least favorites last night? Finally, is there any chance in hell Bikini Girl makes it to the semifinals?
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