Wednesday, February 10, 2010

American Idol Season 9 Hollywood Week #1, 02-10-10


So, it's Group Night, the most brutal episode of the season. 96 of the original 181 Hollywoodites remain, and watching them divide into clumps and decide on a song (it's not clear if they are given free reign, or have to choose from a pre-ordained list) is guaranteed to provide the drama which is the air this show breathes.

Mary Powers, rocker who tries too hard, was marginally annoying last night. I will soon learn just how annoying she can be. My first clue is her new, purely stupid hairdo. Next clue is how she runs roughshod over the rest of her group- adding and subtracting members, condescending all over them, being more and more stupid with her hair, and ignoring Michael Orland (never a good idea).

She's not the only one, of course. Everyone is forming tribes, peeing on chairs and posts to mark territory, and glaring meaningfully at rival groups.

In amongst the teapot tempests, Big Mike Personal Trainer is waiting for the birth of his first child. I don't have an opinion on whether he should leave the show in order to attend his wife and soon-to-be progeny. If they (meaning the couple) are okay with it, so am I.

We check back in with Mary Powers, who is really starting to grate.

And now we have some teary eyes (mine) as Mike welcomes his new daughter via long distance.

And finally, we get to the actual singing.

First group, Fate (or maybe Faith), is a trio doing Beyonce, consisting of Charity Vance, Ashley Rodriguez, and Michelle Delamor (a new face, methinks). All of them get the nod.

Team Awsome, consists of new daddy Michael Lynche, Seth Rollins (with the autistic son), Tim Urban (who we met last night), and Michael Castro (whose brother is not mentioned at all). Michael and Tim make the cut.

Neapolitan is feuding with Destiny Wild- they're rehearsing close to each other, and both are singing the same really dumb song in pretty much the same awful way. One of the groups stole the other's group's idea, but it's not really clear to me which one is at fault (or if there is any fault to assign). For some reason, all of Neapolitan makes it through. Destiny Wild (complete with a Rhianna-bee) sings marginally better, but are still annoying. They all make it through too.

We see a few more of the kids who get the nod, without hearing them sing. Crystal and her dreds, from last night, is in that montage (wahoo!)

Ahhhh- here's what we wait for on Group Night: forgetting words, pitiful begging, hugs from Ryan, young people thinking that their lives are over because they were cut from a game show. You know, the usual.

Struggling group, Phoenix lost a member at the last moment, when one girl bailed rather than fail. The last minute change threw the already shaky group for a loop, and they performed badly. Morea whined about having to do what every other group was asked to do (namely: perform), and paid the price.

A bunch of kids choose to sing that oooo-ooooh wheee-whooo song that my granddaughters loved a couple of summers ago from the Kidz Bop album, and only one girl gets the tongue twisting lyrics (which are very modern major general) right.

Middle C (Sea?), with Janell Wheeler, Jermaine Purifoy and Casey James, sounds wonderful, and I would be very surprised not to see all three in the Top 24.

Ditto Three Men and a Babe's Andrew Garcia, Katie Stevens and J.B. Ahfua (who is new to me).

And true to form, the show saved the Drama for the last- The Dreamers, consisting of Mary Powers and some others she bossed and pushed around, make an absolute mess of their song. and of course, Mary, who could not squash a smug smile, made it through.

So 71 of the 96 survived to sing another day. Or in our case, Hollywood Week #2, which promises even more drama. We still have not seen either of the South Dakota girls, and there's been no word on our local news about them, so I have no idea if they're still in the running or not. I guess I'll find out next week. Or the week after.

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