AI:7 - Hollywood 1

February 12, 2008 · Filed Under popmedia

Let’s begin phase two of this shindig, paring the 164 down to 24, shall we?

I’m not really too sure how I’ll be writing these next two installments, because they don’t have all that much structure to them. Largely, they’ll be written as a ‘live blog’ with most of my observations getting written while I watch the show (a luxury afforded by the Territorial MacBook Pro…), with a slight bit of editing afterwords.

I do know this much: the train-wreck portion of our program — where the bad, the weird, & the publicity-whores garner most of the spotlight — is over. Now, we may still get a truckload of drama, but it will at least be centered on folks who have a modicum of talent.

And that, dear readers, is progress…

But, with every silver lining, there must be a cloud. To wit: In an early happy birthday to bigsis (gee, I just turned 40, so what does that mean for you, hmmmmm? Heheheheheh!), FOX announced that, beginning with the March 13 installment, all results shows will be one hour in length.

Anyway, back to Hollywood week…

Days 1 & 2: The 1st cut

Either make it through to the final day, or try and fight out of the loser’s bracket. Rough.
While self-accompaniment worked for a few, and certainly sounds like a good idea, it really seems to have hurt a lot of folks. Hint: don’t sing Blue Swede (Hooked on a Feeling) while playing the drums.
Some good, lots of bad, and the inexplicable forgetting of lyrics. I just don’t get it. How can you forget your lyrics, especially for your first song? I agree with the Territorial Wife on this: for the first cut, if you forget the words, you should be gone. Period.
It’s amazing how bad some folks can sound, especially after they sounded so good during the initial audition round. The judges have got to wonder what they were thinking.
Homeless Boy Josiah - dude has skills. I really like him. This contest, however, will eat him up & spit him out.
Day 2 seemed to have better talent and/or performances than Day 1.
If they’re going to sing Bryan Adams, why couldn’t they have chosen something he did, you know, back when he didn’t suck?

Day 3: The Loser’s Bracket - Population 116

A cappella, in groups of 10? Brutal.
The two single-parent sob-stories didn’t make it. Not surprising, but still too bad, ’cause they seemed like nice folks.
And being a high school dance captain, shockingly, wasn’t enough to avoid the ziggy.
The backstory focal points of the initial auditions have been dropping like flies…
Lots of tears, and even some bitterness, not surprisingly.
Angela Martin - wow, what a lot of adversity, and to then still get cut? Whew, what a bummer!

Day 4: The Final Day

Another little, mini-cut and/or getting through to the final 50. Rough. But I’d rather have this type of drama & tension than the manufactured kind pushed at us during the phase 1 auditions.
Sucks to get a migraine, lose your voice, or have any other kind of physical breakdown. But the adversity does give one a chance to shine & overcome, doesn’t it? Syesha Mercado could be a player well into the top 12.
Bohemian Rhapsody, as channeled by Michael Bolton? Technically OK, but I wasn’t that impressed, even if the judges were. Michael Johns is going to make it through to the top 24, as it looks like the judges have got a big old crush on him.
Carly Smithson is also on the fast track to the top 24. Controversially so, as she has done an album in the past (as Carly Hennessey).
Paula put the hammer down! The pageant Gator Girl got cut! Paula earned some serious cred points with this display of backbone. And to think that it only took 7 seasons…
Homeless Boy Josiah was crumbling under the pressure & went on unrehearsed, kicking the band off of the stage. This dude is seriously eccentric & talented, almost to the point of being a ‘tortured genius’. It’s why I don’t think he can survive the competition. His social skills seem to be stunted, and/or held captive by his artistic skills, and that doesn’t bode well for being able to succeed in the AI pressure cooker.

Surprisingly, no one has jumped out at me yet, in terms of thinking that, “Oh yeah, they’re gonna go far, if not win it all…” Usually, I’ve ID’d someone by this point. 16 y/o David Archuleta is close, but I just don’t know if a 16 y/o can’t not get abused by the rigors of this contest.

Tomorrow, we get (after a long, drawn-out, and overly dramatic & angsty process) our Top 24 semifinalists.

-ghp

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Tags: ai7, american idol, music, realitytv