STAGE TUBE: Recap - The Grueling Group Round Competition on AMERICAN IDOL

In the most grueling event of the season, the group round competition began last night on Fox's AMERICAN IDOL. Before the judges arrived at 9 a.m., the completely exhausted contestants - some of whom only had two hours of sleep - held last-minute practice sessions with their groups.

The Betties, who'd had a particularly rough night, were the first ones up, and only two of the five girls made it through after a "really bleak" performance. Groove Sauce set the bar high, but other performers suffered from verbal amnesia. Police officer Alisha Bernhardt was sent home, and just before Area 451 was set to take the stage, member Imani Handy passed out! She rallied to join her group, but the judges decided that she couldn't handle the "rigor" of the competition.

The final lineup, M.I.T., made it through, forcing Heejun Han to apologize to cowboy Richie Law for saying "bad stuff" about him on TV. Finally, each contestant performed one more solo. Bad weather put a damper on a few performances, leading to the most brutal cuts yet. As the curtain closed on solo day, 99 contestants were sent to four different rooms. Everyone in Room 3 - which included single mom Rachelle Lamb and NBA dancer Brittany Kerr - was sent home, but contestants in Rooms 1, 2, and 4 made it through. Tomorrow night the contestants are off to Las Vegas for more grueling auditions. 

To view a recap of last night's group competitions, click below!