"AI" Hollywood Week Episode 1

Hello,

Hey "AI" isn't it about time to change that lame, dated opening to your show. Also the Ryan Seacrest intro "This is... American Idol" has got to go.

147 people made it to Hollywood. Barry Manilow was the "surprise mentor". I guess that means that M.C. Hammer was busy. The 147 contestants came out in line ups of 8. I heard two different numbers of how many advanced to the group round. It was either 104 or 107.

I'm going to complain first. We only saw one brief glance of Megan Corkrey. She was not the only one that was under represented. In future episode's we need a lot more of Alexis Grace, Casey Carlson, Joanna Pacitti, Kendall Beard, Matt Breitzke, Scott MacIntyre and Stephen Fowler.

As always a warning: spoilers ahead. Parenthesis indicate if they made it to the group round (GR) and according to votefortheworst.com the Top 36 (36).

1) Lil Rounds: (GR)(36) Tonight's show started off with someone that is almost sure to make the Top 12. I love Lil Rounds and that big, powerful voice of hers. Her "I Will Always Love You" wasn't without it's problems though.

2) Dennis Brigham: (Hell no!) He begged his way to Hollywood. Judges for future reference don't let them beg their way to Hollywood. Simon commented on Brigham's wierd "facial expressions". Both Brigham and Tatiana Del Toro both begged their way to Hollywood and look how painful both contestants are.

3) Nathanial (Nate) Marshall: (GR)(36)a drama queen of the highest order. He sang a song I have never heard of. I actually think that is better than singing an overused song. The song is "The Anchor Holds", Paula did not like the song. He does have a great voice. The drama has got to stop! Now! He is going to be another polarizing contestant. If this show was "Drama Idol", he would automatically make it to the Top 3.

4) Anoop (Anoop Dog): (GR)(36)In Hollywood he was even better than he was in the audition rounds. I am cheering on the UNC student.

5) Jasmine Murray: (GR) (36) She has a great voice and I think she has a great chance of making the Top 12. She is one of my early favorites.

6) Rose Flack: (GR) (No to 36) One of my favorites even though she doesn't have the best voice. She had a rough time in the "AI" boot camp. She was featured prominently throughout this episode.

7) Stephen Fowler: (GR)(36) We, as "American Idol" viewers don't know much about him. I do know he has a great voice.

8) Jorge Nunez: (GR)(36) Another contestant that I really like. He is also one of my early favorites, but I predict he will be a polarizing contestant as well.

9) Von Smith: (GR)(36) He sucks and he is already one of the most polarizing contestants of this season. Simon Cowell called his song choice "indulgent nonsense". Entertainment Weekly's Michael Slezak calls him "Shouty McShouterson". Dude might be good, but needs to learn how to sing rather than shouting.

10) Nick Mitchell (Norman Gentle) (GR)(36) Another one of my favorite contestants. Apparantally Mitchell is a stand up comedian. He brings levity to the show and he is a surprisingly good singer. He sang "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" in Hollywood just as he did in his audition. I loved his shout out to Seacrest in the middle of his song. He's probably a contestant that does not care about winning, he is just looking for some exposure.

11) Jackie Tohn: (GR)(36)She seems to be a judges favorite, but I don't get it. She's okay and maybe she is a contestant that grows on you as the show goes on. I am just not feeling it for her right now. Was she really wearing a fanny pack in Hollywood?

12) Jamarr Rogers: (GR)(No to 36) Danny Gokey's friend. His "California Dreamin'" was not very good. He does not advance to the Top 36. But according to joesplaceblog.com this morning, he's back in L.A. for something to do with "AI".

13) Danny Gokey: He has some haters in the blogosphere becasue he auditioned for "AI" four weeks after his wife died. I am not going to pass judgement on him, since I have no idea what he was going through. I am glad he tried out though, I really like his voice. His take on Seal's "Kiss From A Rose" was fantastic. Another one of my early favorites.

14) Katrina "The Bikini Girl" Dorrell (GR)(No to 36) Is it a surprise that her "singing" on Faith Hill's "Breathe" was terrible? She moved through to Hollywood seemingly due to Simon Cowell's fandom.

While Dorrell passed through to the group round, we saw Jessica Furney and Sharon Wilbur cut. They couldn't have sung worse than Dorrell.

15) Jeremy Michael Sarver: (GR)(36)He is really good. I am glad we will be seeing more of him.

16) Jesus Valenzuela: When he auditioned the judges had him bring his kids in. He was yet another one of the courtesy golden tickets to Hollywood. He seem surprised he was cut, he should just be glad to even have made it to Hollywood.

17) David Osmond (GR)(No to 36) I ended up really liking him. He seems to be too cool to be an Osmond. I hope he can use this as a launching pad to much success.

18) Emily Wynne-Hughes: (GR)(No to 36) She is the singer who impressed in auditions with "Barracuda".

Next up the horrid, drama inflicted group round.

themusicaddict: Bringing the Regis back since 2009. Go to joesplaceblog.com to see videos of some of the leaked Top 36. Amanda Overmeyer has also released a new CD. That could either be great or a train wreck. You don't need to win "AI", you just need to be on long enough to get exposure. That's the lesson we learned from Bikini Girl.

Hollywood group round review coming soon, themusicaddict