All eyes will be on the Orpheum Theatre as “American Idol XIV” kicks off Hollywood Week. (Photo property of FOX, 19 Entertainment & FremantleMedia North America)
By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
So far this season, Idol viewers have seen the judges give out hundreds of Golden Tickets to aspiring superstars…who want their shot to sing on the same stage that made Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry and Adam Lambert stars!
Now, the competition really begins as over 200 singers made their way to Los Angeles to face off in one of the most grueling rounds in Reality TV history: Hollywood Week.
Also known as Hell Week, the contestants must go through vigorous vocal tests to impress Harry Connick, Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban! If they sing one bad note…they might be heading home!
Which favorites rose to the occasion? Who fell flat? Read on to find out…
Before the episode, Ryan revealed that over 200 contestants made it to Hollywood Week! That’s the good news…the bad news? 182 will be done with their Idol journey in the next coming weeks!
Harry revealed that they would be calling contestants up to perform for them. Little did they know that the judges’ favorites would be performing in front of the group! Brooklyn’s Jax kicked off the auditions with a sexy cover of Britney Spears’ “Toxic,” which was a 1,000,000 times better than Melanie Martinez’s cover. After Mark Andrew and Emily Brooke sang their hearts out, Adam Ezegelian gave an emotional cover of Imagine Dragons’ “Demons” that was spectacular but as J. Lo pointed out…filled with nerves.
Other contestants that brought their A-games were Tyanna Jones…who brought soul to Olly Murs’s “Dance With Me Again” and comeback kid Savion Wright’s acoustic cover of “Get Lucky” that would make Pharrell proud! Unfortunately, not everyone experienced smooth sailing as Hollywood Anderson butchered the arrangement to Adele’s “Someone Like You” and Shannon Berthiaume forgot the words to “Sir Duke.”
While Garrett Miles gave a moving performance of “Make You Feel My Love,” many contestants failed to tune their guitars. Trevor Douglas was one of the lucky ones who did not have instrument issues and delivered a soothing cover of Ed Sheeran’s “I See Fire” that impressed the judges.
After all 38 performers finished performing, Harry called all of them up and the judges revealed that they were the most memorable auditionees from each stop and gave them a free pass to the next round.
As for the rest of the 175 contestants, they performed on Day Two! This meant the return of the Lines of 10. Before the first performers hit the stage. J.Lo advised them: “Don’t let the nerves get the best of them,” but Harry warned them “that half of them would be heading home.”
Meanwhile, Erica Washington stunned the crowd with her cover of “Girl on Fire,” multiple contestants were vying for J.Lo’s affections. Michael Simeon stunned the audience with his cover of Demi Lovato’s “Warrior” and “Big Ron” brought the house down and almost made Jennifer cry with “A Song for You.”
Tomorrow night, the “Idol” Hollywood Week continues!
