Hooray for Hollywood
That screwy, ballyhooey Hollywood!
Where any office boy
Or young mechanic
can be a panic
With just a good-looking pan

It is Hollywood week and you know what that means? The auditions are over!

Please keep all text only graphics free discussion of the singing, the crying, the drama, and new judge tension on this thread until after the show has aired on the West Coast.

• RE: AI9 2/9 Hollywood Week ECST,whimsey, 07:49 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: AI9 2/9 Hollywood Week ECST,cahaya, 07:57 PM, 02-09-10
    • RE: AI9 2/9 Hollywood Week ECST,whimsey, 08:09 PM, 02-09-10
      • RE: AI9 2/9 Hollywood Week ECST,cahaya, 08:10 PM, 02-09-10
• Intro,Snidget, 08:01 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: Intro,whimsey, 08:10 PM, 02-09-10
    • RE: Intro,cahaya, 08:16 PM, 02-09-10
• At the Kodak Theater,Snidget, 08:04 PM, 02-09-10
• First Eight,Snidget, 08:08 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: First Eight,cahaya, 08:10 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: First Eight,whimsey, 08:12 PM, 02-09-10
• Simon on Warpath montage,Snidget, 08:12 PM, 02-09-10
• More First Round,Snidget, 08:17 PM, 02-09-10
  • What Hurt's The Most Montage,Snidget, 08:18 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: More First Round,cahaya, 08:18 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: More First Round,whimsey, 08:20 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: More First Round,jbug, 09:47 AM, 02-10-10
    • RE: More First Round,Tummy, 10:25 AM, 02-10-10
• Memorable Faces not doing well montage,Snidget, 08:25 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: Memorable Faces not doing well montage,cahaya, 08:30 PM, 02-09-10
• Failed Playing Instrument Montage,Snidget, 08:25 PM, 02-09-10
• More Auditions,Snidget, 08:28 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: More Auditions,cahaya, 08:35 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: More Auditions,whimsey, 08:35 PM, 02-09-10
• Final Results of the Day,Snidget, 08:30 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: Final Results of the Day,cahaya, 08:32 PM, 02-09-10
    • RE: Final Results of the Day,whimsey, 08:46 PM, 02-09-10
• Day Two,Snidget, 08:37 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: Day Two,cahaya, 08:39 PM, 02-09-10
    • RE: Day Two,whimsey, 08:57 PM, 02-09-10
• Big Mike's wife's water just broke.,Snidget, 08:39 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: Big Mike's wife's water just broke.,cahaya, 08:42 PM, 02-09-10
• Warning more sob stories.,Snidget, 08:47 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: Warning more sob stories.,whimsey, 09:06 PM, 02-09-10
• Say Goodbye to people we met ,Snidget, 08:47 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: Say Goodbye to people we met ,cahaya, 08:54 PM, 02-09-10
• More Auditions,Snidget, 08:50 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: More Auditions,cahaya, 08:52 PM, 02-09-10
• 7:30 pm,Snidget, 09:00 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: 7:30 pm,cahaya, 09:02 PM, 02-09-10
• Tomorrow....is.....GROUP ROUND,Snidget, 09:01 PM, 02-09-10
  • RE: Tomorrow....is.....GROUP ROUND,cahaya, 09:04 PM, 02-09-10
• RE: AI9 2/9 Hollywood Week ECST,DrKegel, 10:00 AM, 02-10-10
• RE: AI9 2/9 Hollywood Week ECST,Tahj, 11:45 AM, 02-10-10
  • RE: AI9 2/9 Hollywood Week ECST,kingfish, 12:26 PM, 02-10-10
• RE: AI9 2/9 Hollywood Week ECST,Belle Book, 05:05 PM, 02-10-10

Snowed in, day four. Happy to join friends.

* opens a bottle of Drambuie and pours the first two shots *

Excellent, but what will you be having?

*sip*

Ellen's first show.

100,000 came 181 in Hollywood we will get down to 12 guys and 12 girls.

This is Hollywood Week and This is American Idol.

Still not on the "Ellen" train, but willing to hear her out.

A lot of poignant, yet irrelevant comments so far.

When people asked what she knows about music, she does know what it is like to stand on stage and try to please people.

First Round. Groups of 8. Sing with our without their own instrument. Next Round or Straight Home.

SkiiBoSki and Katie Stevens in this group (Granny has Alzheimers).

Katie. For Once in My Life
simon. Quite good
Randy. Natural Talent.

SkiiBoSki. Ain't Too Proud To Beg.
Ellen. You frighten me. Like a Leopard. Like you were going to get us. Don't get so intense. Sexy and scary is a fine line.

After they Sing they are divided into two lines. One line going through.

Marcus Christy step forward Antonio (SBS). Didn't make it.

He asks why he didn't make it.

Katie's ok for this time around... don't recall her during the auditions (where was that?). Skiibo dude is a new take and an outtake. Seeya dude.

Sad part is, SBS has some talent. Wrong approach.

If you missed it 181 showed up for Hollywood

Ellen sugar coats and comic relief.

Paula's Straight Up by Andrew Garcia.

Kara. That was Genius. Paula would be screamming. Ellen demos the seal clap. Interpreted it like Adam did last season.

Vanessa Wolfe from Tennessee. Blind Melon. No Rain.
Ellen. Scared and hiding, gotta let go of that.

Tasha Layton Worship Pastor also in this group.

Andrew, He and two others in, back row, end of the line.

Garcia scores again. I like this guy. He's good, definitely top 24.

Oh my, Kara. See you next year.

I wasn't impressed with the TN girl at her initial audition - don't know how she made it to HW.
Didn't expect her to go an farther

I loved the little crack baby, would have liked to see her make it thru one more round to let her settle down and give her a little more confidence. I hope she comes back next year.

Cornelius of the split pants has split his vocal cords this imte.
Little Brother Girl doesn't make it
Amadeo the Italian. Begs for another chance but not going to get it.

Janelle Wheeler. American Boy Estelle turns around the bad auditions, she is in.

I liked that Amadeo guy, but he picked the wrong song and key and joins the fodder.

Hailey Vaughn we'll sing hallelujah taylor swift is in.

Mary Powers. Had the kid that liked Simon
Pink's Sober.

Ellen. Amazing voice and in that song.

Stephanie step forward, Kira step forward, it is the end of the line.

Both Hailey and Mary are through.

Mary's pretty good, but hardly extraordinary with this comp.

Hailey could have done without the instrument entirely. She's the kind of singer who'd go with a band.

Missed Haley Vaughn on the first round - has one of my favorite soap characters names - glad all are through.

Ellen messes up or starts playing with them...as they are all going through.

Simon calls Ellen a Sadist.

Toddrick, Charity Vance, Ashley Rodgriguez get mentions of going forward.

46 made it through from the first half.

Sadist? "Step forward, step backward, step forward, step backward, step sideways."

Ellen does a poor imitation of choreographing chess pieces on the board.

Stepping on my sensibilities.

Thanks for the Drambuie, cahaya, and the "Ellen" advise. The snow has picked up, *again* and looks as though tomorrow will be day five to think about my choices tonight.

Day one was brutal, fresh start.

First line. Jay Stone. Beatbox boy.

Lily Scott in Denver Auditions. Lullaby of Birdland by Ella Fitzgerald.

Kara. Everything about you is refreshing.

Sam step forward. Lilly they are the ones who made it.

Nice rythmic, acoustic bebop Birdland song by Lily. Best female acoustic so far tonight.

ditto

Michael Lynch. JOHN MAYER - Waiting On The World To Change

Simon. That was good, good arrangement, different.

Big Mike onto group day.

Pretty good for a Mayer song, yup. Dunno if he'll make it much further given his apparent vocal range limitations, but he hit it here.

Cancer Boy and Shaky but sent on Boy.

Tim (shaky boy). Come Back to Me by David Cook.

Kara chorus was a little shaky.

Justin (cancer boy) Williams Fly? I Love You?

Randy. Interesting, that is all I'll say.

Decision time

Justin step forward. Back Row, Welcome to the next round.

Dayum, Justin, shot down again?!?! Alone?!?!?

LAST EDITED ON 02-09-10 AT 08:55 PM (EST)

This editing is brutal. Just clips of songs, more than seven out of eight eventually have to go as fodder in determining the top 24.

I kind of wish we'd see a few more longer performances of the ones who make it rather than the shorts we're getting.

Maddy Curtis. Down Syndrome Brother Girl.

The Nearness of You - Norah Jones?

Simon. Wrong song.

Casey James. Shirt off Boy.

plays blues guitar. I don't need no doctor?

Casey step forward and three others. End of the road for Maddy.

Kinda liked Maddy, singing in an Irish key and melody, though she didn't make it through.

Blues guitar? Yup, Casey's through with a nice acoustic performance.

Stage riddled with drama, but now the last line of the day.

Didi Benami. Heart beating out of chest girl.
Terrified by Kara.

Simon, I hate to admit it I really like that song. I like the idea of someone like you doing well. That was terrific.

Crystal Bowersox. Got a tattoo for luck girl.

You make me feel like a Natural Woman.
Those watching doing the back up singer parts for her.

Simon. You are infectious you have a head start you are real.

Crystal step forward. Didi step forward. Front row you are going through (few other in their row).

95 through to the next round.

And boom, 95 of 181, about half of them culled from the fodder herd and we've hardly heard those (who dat?) made it through so far.

RUN!!!

(*grabs a front row seat as people flee the theatre*)

Snidget -

Great job.

I had this on, but was talking on the phone and missed half the singers.

One of my favorite auditions was that guy that sang the Beatles song. I saw him with a guitar during the round that they categorized as disastrous or said everybody had done badly and was getting the boot. Did he get the boot? Did they ever show him singing? Anything? I know sometimes people sound differently on that big ole stage, but it seemed he had a really nice voice and I would have like to heard why they let him go.

Anybody know?

I loved Ellen 100%. She is miles better than Paula. She fit right in and will bring some much needed humor to the whole process.

It's a Tribe!

Me too. She is certainly more entertaining than Paula. Funny lady. The stepping back and forth thing was pretty funny and (for me anyway) unexpected.

Here's my comments:

Ellen is much better than Paula. She may not know as much about music as Simon, Kara & Randy do, or as much as Paula did, but she's great at delivering bad news with a funny touch.

Wish I could've seen Ashley's performance. Maybe I will in the Group Round.

Belle Book