'IDOL' WATCH: Hollywood Group Auditions

Tonight episode of "American Idol" brought the always-entertaining group auditions. The remaining contestants form groups of three to five people, choose from a select list of songs, and choreograph the number to perform in front of the judges. Group auditions always provide for an excellent episode, as it is the only time in the show when contestants are forced to depend on others in their performance.

Season nine's group auditions did not disappoint.

Once groups were formed, several of the groups were featured, following them through the rehearsal process up to and following their performance. The most drama-filled of these groups was The Dreamers. The group consisted originally of Mary Powers, Alex Lambert, and Margo May, and were later joined by Hope Johnson and Erin Hundley. The group got a slow start with the late additions and wasted several hours trying to decide whether or not they should work together.

From the get-go, Mary was overbearing and rude to her group members, causing much tension between them. Even accompanist Michael Orland called Mary out for being pushy. This display will likely not bode well for her if she makes it to the audience votes. During their performance of Dreams by The Corrs, harmonies clashed, choreography was missed, and Margo May barely hit any correct notes. This was our first look at Lambert, a standout and clearly the best singer of the bunch. In the end, Margo and Erin were cut, with Hope, Alex, and Mary moving on.

Several groups chose to sing Gwen Stefani's Sweet Escape, a choice that seems rather incomprehensible due to its difficult lyrics, even for those familiar with the song. Ellen was clearly aware of this, telling one group, "It's like how I sing it...I get to ‘re-frig-er-a-tor' and that's all I know." You would expect the "Idol" contestants to be able to perform better than Ellen (not typically known for her singing prowess). Sadly, most did not. Each group who sang the song did so rather poorly.

Two groups sang the Lady Gaga hit, Bad Romance, and Destiny's Wild, made up of Todrick D. Hall, Theri, Jareb Leiwer, and Siobhan Magnus, seemed like the clear favorites during rehearsal. However, when it became time to perform for the judges, their counterpart, Neapolitan, featuring Paige Myles, Thaddeus Johnson, Jessica Cunningham, and Liz Rooney, tightened up and impressed the judges. Uncharacteristically, Simon said Neapolitan's performance was "very good" and that it was clear they "made an effort." Destiny's Wild, however, were told their act was "weird" and that they wore costumes that looked like Cirque du Soleil. Luckily, every member of both groups was passed through to the next round.

Big Mike's saga continued tonight, as he received constant updates from his wife about the status of their soon-to-be-born child. His group, Team Awesome, included Mike, Seth Rollins, Mike Castro and Tim Urban, gave a solid performance of Get Ready by The Temptations. Mike learned his first child had been born directly before the group went onstage, and again this news seemed to fuel him to a spot on performance. Big Mike and Urban were given "Yes's," while Castro and Rollins reached the end of the line.

Other notable performances: Jermaine Sellers high notes during Carry on Wayward Son by Kansas. These alone could propel him to the top 24. As always, Andrew Garcia, made the song his own, singing No One by Alicia Keys; he's still my favorite performer thus far. Katie Stevens joined Garcia on No One, and really stood out for the first time. She clearly felt the song and was told by Kara, "You could win this thing." Casey James provided solid harmonies during Chris Brown's Closer.

Still in the game (but not heavily featured on tonight's episode): John Park, Haeley Vaughn, Tyler Grady, Katelyn Epperly, Kia Johnson, Angela Martin (Why haven't we seen more of her?), Tasha Leighton, Lloyd Thomas, Janell Wheeler, Crystal Bowersox, Ashley Rodriguez and Christian Spear.

Final Performances on "Idol": Leah Lorenti, Carmen Turner, Kimberly Carver, Dave Pittman, Ben Honeycutt, and Moorea Masa.

A total of 25 contestants were cut on the second day in Hollywood, leaving a total of 71 contestants still in the running to become the next "American Idol." Next week features the last of the Hollywood rounds, until the contestants are whittled down to 12 males and 12 females for the first round of audience votes.

The next episode of "American Idol" airs Tuesday, February 16th, at 8PM EST on Fox.

"American Idol" is a reality competition to find new solo musical talent, created by Simon Fuller. It debuted June 11, 2002 on the Fox network and has since become one of the most popular shows on American television. It is currently the #1 TV show in the Nielsen Ratings and is one of only three that have been #1 for five consecutive seasons. The cast of "Idol" includes judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, and Ellen Degeneres, and host Ryan Seacrest.

The program aims to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nation-wide auditions, and subsequent viewer voting. Through telephone voting, America has chosen past winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, and Kris Allen.

Several "Idol" contestants have been seen on the Broadway stage, including Barrino (The Color Purple), Hicks (Grease), Clay Aiken (Spamalot), Diana DeGarmo(Hairspray), Josh Strickland (Tarzan), Tamyra Gray (Rent, Bombay Dreams), and Constantine Maroulis (The Wedding Singer, Rock of Ages).

"American Idol" airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights on Fox at 8PM EST.

 

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