ABC/Eric McCandlessThings are moving quickly on the new season of American Idol. On Monday night’s episode, 169 hopefuls arrived at the Dolby Theatre for Hollywood Week, but only 24 will survive. By the time the show ended, both the initial “Lines of 10” round and the dreaded group round were over and done with.
Lines of 10
The first hour saw the contestants take the stage in groups of ten, with each performing a brief solo. A huge number of the contestants who made the biggest impressions in the audition rounds made it through the first cut, as judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie applied the tried-and-true “When I call your name, step forward” trick. Among the standouts who survived the first round:
Layla Spring, Kentucky girl whose adorable little sister Dixie accompanied her to Hollywood
Alyssa Raghu, 15-year-old daddy’s girl with an effortless voice
Trevor McBane, soulful, hat-wearing 21-year-old goat farmer
Caleb Lee Hutchinson, deep-voiced country singer
Catie Turner, awkward guitar-playing girl with glasses who was the very first to audition this season
Noah Davis, red-cheeked alpaca-loving Arkansas boy who loves saying “wig”
Jonny Brenns, who lied to his parents about auditioning, and had Lionel sing to his mom when he made it
Trevor Holmes, “dreamboat” who flirted like crazy with Katy while his girlfriend watched
Ada Vox, drag queen from season 12
Lee Vasi, girl with cornrows who sang the Commodores’ song “Zoom” with Lionel Richie
Maddie Zahm, girl who teaches music to disabled kids; brought student Marcus with her to the audition
Jurnee, petite powerhouse vocalist whose wife is in the military
The biggest dramatic moment during the Lines of 10 came with 17-year-old twins Julian and Milo Sposato. After each sang separately, the judges put Milo through, leaving Julian behind. Other memorable singers who were cut: partially paralyzed engaged singer David Francisco, and deep-voiced Sinatra-style crooner Zach D’Onofrio, who danced with Katy during his audition.
Group Round
The second hour of the show was dedicated to Group Round, but unlike past years, we saw very little drama and infighting — probably because the entire thing was compressed into 60 minutes. A few forgot the lyrics, while others were hoarse, but the only real problematic moments came from Milo Sposato and Laine Hardy.
Egged on by his bossy mom, Mileo appeared to be pulling a diva move by insisting on singing his verse of Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself” a cappella. But it all worked out and he and all the members of his group, Superdope Hotness, made it through. Laine, the only boy in a group called The Soul 4’s, wasn’t happy about singing “Love Yourself” and didn’t seem to be pulling his weight. But he was one of only two who made it through from his group.
A standout group performance was the first one, by God’s Diversity, who sang Clean Bandit’s “Rather Be” and were flawless. Four of the five got through, including Thaddeus Johnson, Shannon O’Hara and Michael J. Woodard.
The Gurope, which included Maddie Zahm, couldn’t remember the lyrics to the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” to save their lives, but Maddie made up lyrics on the spot, and managed to make it through, along with two of her group mates.
TACO — so named because after their performance they predicted the judges would “TACO ’bout us” — sounded great on “La La La” by Naughty Boy. That group included Catie Turner and Alyssa Raghu, who both made it through, along with another contestant.
The one truly cruel moment of Group Round came when the final group, four girls called Don’t Touch, performed “Me & My Broken Heart” by Rixton. When they were done, Katy told them they only had room for three, and asked one of them to volunteer to go home. Unbelievably, Crystal Alicea, the most insecure member, said she’d leave, and started to cry. “Oh, sweetie, don’t cry,” said Katy. “You’re ALL going through!” Ha, ha, funny. Not.
Tune in Sunday night, April 1, for the Solo Rounds, as the remaining contestants are whittle down to 24.
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