American Idol 6, February 13: Cuts Like a Knife

Welcome to Hollywood week! I absolutely love this part of American Idol. The audition shows feature too many uncomfortably bad performers, and the top 24 feels like it’s killing time until the main event. But in Hollywood, we start to see who the real stars are. People who seemed good in the auditions are less impressive than we remembered. And there’s always drama when it comes to the group performances, and I’ve got to say, I just eat that up. Let’s get right to it!

It’s Day 1, and the contestants – all 172 of them—are having breakfast and checking each other out. The girls are performing first, and there are nearly twice as many of them than there are boys. The boys, apparently, have been feeling pretty good about those odds Gina Glocksen and another girl talk about the fact that they are not, in fact, all winners, and that most of them are going home. Gina, of course, knows just how true that is.

The contestants arrive at the theater, and the women realize that a lot of them are going to get cut. The judges arrive and Simon wishes them luck. Ryan explains that they’ll be put into groups of six, and they’ll each perform individually for about 30 seconds. Some of them will be cut right away.

Jori Steinberg says she wants to dress like Paula every day – her outfit and Paula’s are awfully similar. She sings a song by Anastasia, and she sounds good. When it’s over, she’s all smiles. We see more quick clips of other women, with mixed results. The six women line up to learn their fates. Simon tells them that all of them are going home. They weren’t good enough, and there was no originality. Ryan says the first round is going to be brutal. The girls are shocked, and Simon tells the others that this should be a warning to them. Jori shrugs and says she thought she was good. The other women in the auditorium look very nervous.

Perla, who we saw in Minneapolis, says she’s ready to go and will stay calm. She feels like a superstar and mugs for people she walks past in the airport. She and Ryan chat, and he tells her that she needs to really stand out from the group. She tells the group that she’s a sexy Columbian woman. She sings Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie” and turns on the charm. Cute Rachel Jenkins, the Army reservist, sings “Unbreak My Heart,” and has her husband’s picture around her neck again. I liked Rachel in the auditions, but she doesn’t sound good tonight. Perla (and another girl we didn’t meet) are through, but Rachel is out. “This is hardcore,” Paula says. Simon tells Perla that she is personality over talent right now. She needs to be more than just Columbian, because they’ve seen that already. Out in the hallway, Rachel cries and says she wanted to get as far as she could. She clutches her husband’s picture and tries to stay positive. Perla says that she is naturally bubbly, and she can’t help but be herself.

Baylie Brown, the country girl who wants to be a city girl we met in Houston sings again and sounds good. Simon is pleased, which should come as no surprise given his love of Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler. Baylie makes it to the next round. But, Ryan tells us, most of the girls don’t make it, including Ashley, the woman who made the weird faces in San Antonio. Porcelana, the one who worked out like a fiend, is called “just below average.” Sarah, who lied to her dad about her audition, is cut. She says she made her parents proud, so “I already won.”

Nicole Turner is the last singer of the day, and she’s worried about choosing the wrong song. Her mother and aunt want her to sing “Aint No Way,” and she resists. But when she’s on stage, that’s the song she picks. She sounds very Aretha Franklin. She confesses that she didn’t want to sing that song, but she thought it would make her family happy. In the end, she doesn’t make it. She looks absolutely heartbroken. She tells her mom that she couldn’t put her heart into a song she wasn’t feeling. Way to blame your mom, honey. Nicole’s mom talks to the judges and tells them that she sang the song to please her. Nicole says that she picked a bad song. Simon says it wasn’t the song. Nicole says it her personality was lacking because she didn’t connect with the song. “It wasn’t the darned song!” Simon says. Nicole protests that he shouldn’t shout at her. Paula calls Simon obnoxious and tells Nicole to “punch him eight million times.” Whatever, Paula, because you’ll notice that she doesn’t disagree with Simon or offer anything more helpful than Simon as a punching bag.

Background singer Melinda makes it through, as do Gina, Jamie-Lynn-Kellie-Pickler and a host of others we only see a glimpse of.

It’s day two, and time for the guys. Sundance Head likes his odds since there aren’t as many guys to cut. Brian Miller, who has been to Hollywood before, tells Ryan that it’s an emotional roller coaster, but that at 19, it’s a great opportunity. He sings “A Change Is Gonna Come” again, and he sounds good. He also has teen idol appeal, so I think we’ll probably see more of Brian. Randy says the guys started better than the girls.

Navy guy and “Reagan Idol” winner Jarrod Fowler dedicates his performance to his shipmates. He sings “You Raise Me Up” and doesn’t sound as good as I remembered. Next we see Matt Sato, whose parents stopped supporting his singing career. But, he says, when he got home from the auditions, his mom was waiting to give him a hug, something she doesn’t do very often. “I felt loved,” he says. He sounds good, but he doesn’t really have a powerhouse voice. It could go either way with him. Matt makes it, as does Chris Sligh. Jarrod, Simon says, wasn’t as good as the first time around. He’s going home. Matt celebrates and gives Jarrod a hug. Jarrod says his nerves caught up with him, and he’s proud to have gotten as far as he did. Matt calls his mom again, and it’s pretty much a replay of the last time we saw the guy. Matt emotionally tells us that she never says I love you. Are we going to get the weepy phone call to his mom at every stage of this?

34 guys make it through, including Blake, the beat box guy from Seattle, Nick who dropped out last year, Phil Stacy with the new baby, and Sean the Castro looking guy. I also see Sundance Head celebrating.

Now it’s time for the group rounds. Contestants will take the stage in groups, and can team up with anyone they want. They can pick a song from a list of nine. A cute girl with braids can’t find a group. Matt can’t find anybody either. Braids girl finds somebody, but Matt is still looking. We meet Matthew Buckstein, one of last year’s singing cowboys, again. He and his group try to harmonize, and let’s just say they need work!

Chris Sligh’s group works on some cheesy choreography and crack each other up. They slide across the floor like they’re figure skating and trying to give each other high fives. The guys seem to be having a great time together.

Baylie, who is working with BFF Amanda and Antonella, is having less luck with her group. Amanda and Antonella start to fight over their song choice, and Bailie is stuck in the middle. As the two bicker and one threatens to give back her half of their “BEST FRIENDS” necklace, Baylie stares off longingly at another, happier group. At midnight, everyone goes back to the hotel. Gina, Jessica, Marissa, and Perla all practice. Gina is frustrated and says that Perla isn’t as good in harmonies as the others. The other girls are losing patience with Perla. They decide to stay up late practicing.