Hi gang. Well, the event we have all been waiting for is upon us. (yep I stole Ryan's line) Along with the 181 contestants we know auditioned in the past few weeks, we are also welcoming our newest and permanent judge Ellen DeGeneras. Have to add one tidbit here as actually only 180 contestants made it to Hollywood. For some reason not mentioned, Dannelle Hayes (karaoke woman) did not get there. Before Ryan welcomes us to American Idol, we get to see several contestants crying and see some of the tension they will experience during this process. As you know only 12 guys and 12 girls will remain once the Hollywood rounds are over.
It is Day 1 and all the hopefuls from the first group are at the Kodak Theatre and seated. Now we finally get to welcome Ellen as our new judge. She says that she may not know alot about music but she does know what it takes to please a room full of people. She hopes to be kind, honest and direct.
The Contestants:
All the contestants will go before the judges in groups of eight. First up is Antonio "skiboski" Wheeler who is pleasant and says "how ya doing" to each judge. He sings "Ain't To Proud To Beg" but it does not go over very well. Ellen says that sexy and scary are a fine line and feels he appeared like a stalking leopard and was frightening.
Katie Stevens on the other hand does a great job of singing "For Once In My Life". Simon likes it, Randy feels she has a natural talent and I personally thought this girl was quite good.
First to be gone are Marcus, Kristy and Skiboski who wants to know why he is cut. Simon flat out says he is not a very good singer. Skiboski sings his way off the stage just in time for our first round of commercials. We once again see Kris Allen in a Ford commercial.
It is now 11:30 am Ryan tells us and the tension is mounting as Simon has been on the warpath. Ellen tries to sugar-coat some of the rejections as we see short clips of those who obviously did not make it further.
Next we see Vanessa Wolfe (the bridge jumper) and a short clip of her previous storyline. Her nerves get the better of her as she tries to perform "No Rain" by Blind Melon. It is not good but Ellen tries to be nice by saying she does have a unique talent and keep it soaring.
Andrew Garcia (once a gang member) shows how truly talented he is by playing the guitar and singing Paula Abdul's "Straight Up". Kara calls him a genius and it is also apparent the rest of the judges agree. I truly like this guy and so enjoyed his performance. Andrew will be going on as does Tasha Leighton (a worship pastor). Sadly for Vanessa Wolfe she is rejected. Clips of more crying people as we go to the next break.
Now 3:30 pm, we see the next group of eight which contain pants splitter Cornelius Edwards, Meagan Wright who had brought her little brother to the auditions and Amedeo DiRicco. Briefly we see Meagan sing "Who's Lovin You" and also Amedeo singing something I do not recognize. However none of them make it through with Amedeo asking for another chance but the no is final.
Next up is Janell Wheeler with guitar in hand singing a stripped down version of "American Boy". Ellen thinks she is amazing and she makes it through. I thought this girl was good also. Seems several are using instruments and we see many who are not doing that well with them.
One who does impress is 16 year old Haeley Vaughn who hopes to be the next successful black pop/country singer. Randy finds her version of Taylor Swift's song "Change" interesting. Our 28 year old rocker mom Mary Powers also impresses the judges and both girls make it to the next round. For Stepanie and Kira we see they get a no. Personally I did not care for either Haeley or Mary that much.
Ellen has some fun with the next group who contain Claire, Danny, Tori, Todrick Hall, Charity Vance and Ashley Rodriquez by having them step forward, then back, etc. before she lets them know they all made it through. On this first day 46 have advanced.
Day 2 dawns with Simon giving the group a pep talk on what they need to do to go further which includes "don't forget the words". Jay Stone is the first casuality as he tries to incorporate his beat-boxing with a song I do not recognize. Simon calls it ridiculous and I must also agree.
Lily Scott does a great version of the song "Lullaby of Birdland" by Ella Fitzgerald. Kara finds her unique and frankly I liked this girl also. Lily along with someone named Stan advance.
Big Mike Lynche gets a phone call from his wife before he performs. She lets him know she has gone into labor with their first child. He would like to be with her but realizes that he has a chance to claim victory with this opportunity he has and knows his wife would like that. Showing a sense of humor as he goes before the judges, he lets them know the situation and adds "he will pummel anyone who does not agree". No worries as he does a great job with his guitar and singing the song "Waiting For The World To Change" by John Mayer. I like this guy!
Now 4:00 pm, we next see Justin Williams on piano and singing (sorry again I do not recognize the song). Tim Urban is shown singing David Cook's song "Come Back To Me". The chorus is shakey Kara says but Tim makes it to the next round. Justin along with Paige Dechausse, Erica Rhodes and the sisters Amanda and Bernadette are not so lucky as they are cut from the competition.
I was disappointed that this next young lady did not make it. She is 16 year old Maddy Curtis who impressed with her first audition. This time she chooses the wrong song. We also see Casey James during this segment. I simply adored this guy as he does a great blues version on the guitar as he sings John Mayer's "I Don't Need No Doctor". I was so glad he gets put through.
7:30 pm and we are down to the last line of the day. Waitress Didi Benami sings one of Kara's songs called "Terrified". The judges are impressed. Another plus as Crystal Bowersox plays the guitar and sings "Natural Woman". The audience participates with Crystal by singing back-up to her performance. Both girls make it and I'm glad.
Congrats to the 97 who have made it to the next part of this process which will be the group rounds. We see some up-coming previews as we sign off from this first part of Hollywood week. I will be back later with my re-cap of the next segment. In the meantime:
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Subject: Hollywood Rounds - 2/9/10 
Wed Feb 10, 2010 11:00 am
Congradulations to all 95 contestants on making the first round of Hollywood week.
