Category: american idol season 11

They started to narrow down the contestants in American Idol Season 11 Episode 10. Very little, very slowly. Tonight, more of the same, in Vegas.

I thought group week was over. Now enter group week, part 2. They are instructed to form groups of 3 or 4 and perform songs that were written 40 or 50 years before most of them were born.

Cari Quoyeser, Chase Likens, Skylar Laine, and Colton Dixon kick off the doo-wop music. In spite of the fact that it sounds good enough, I’m not sure what tonight’s theme is supposed to demonstrate if it continues like this. Colton, Skylar, and Chase are through to the next round.

David Leathers Jr., Jeremy Rosado, Ariel Sprague, and Gabi Carrubba sound better, perhaps because they got a better song, Rockin Robin. Gabi talks about wanting a standing ovation, but she knows it’s not happening tonight. They’re all through to the next round.

Adam Brock on piano, Erika van Pelt, Angie Zeiderman, and Shelby Tweten perform Great Balls of Fire. After a lame dragged out fake out that nobody’s buying, they are all through to the next round.

Schyler Dixon (Colton’s sister), Brielle von Hugel, and someone named Molly who’s about to be eliminated are up next.

Wayne Wilson, Ashley Robles, and Stephanie Renae join the list of the eliminated.

Reed Grimm, Elise Testone, Haley Johnson, and Eben Franckewitz decide to modernize their song, some. This earns the first standing ovation of the night, and they are all safe.

Jermaine Jones and Richie Law are the only duet of the night, as Richie’s old group decided to drop the cowboy. The deep voices and slow pace of the song aren’t going to wake anybody up, but they are both through to the next round.

Hallie Day, Baylie Brown, and Chelsea Sorrell join the list of those who make it.

Jessica Sanchez, Deandre Brackensick, and Candice Glover tell us they have updated their song. I’m going to take their word for it. This is the first arrangement where the voices are given a chance to shine, rather than the background music drowning them out.

Randy congratulates those who made it through, telling them that they may be cut tomorrow after the remaining groups perform.

Clayton Farhat, Scott Dangerfield, Adam Lee Decker, and Curtis Gray do some Jailhouse Rock to mixed reviews. Clayton, Scott, and Adam are safe.

Caleb Johnson, Joshua Sanders, and Joshua Ledet continue the Elvis theme with success.

Britnee Kellogg, Courtney williams, and Jessica Phillips were the only group that did not rehearse with the band. Dumb. They’re there for a reason. Their voices sound good enough, but the judges are not impressed with their arrangement. Britnee and Courtney advance. Jessica leaves with her head held low, telling the judges she’s a real artist, which they are not looking for.

Lauren Gray (who tells us she’s not on ritalin) and Wendy Taylor are through to the next round, but Mathenee Treco has been eliminated.

Heejun Han looked up vocal coach Peggy Blu on Youtube. He’s afraid. But then he keeps getting hugs. He is joined by Neco Starr, Jairon Jackson, and Phil Phillips. They are all through to the next round.

The final group of the night is Groovesauce, minus Reed Grimm: Jen Hirsh, Aaron Marcellus, Creighton Fraker, and Nick Boddington. Great harmonies, great individually. Except for Nick, who is told he was good, but not good enough.

Day 1 contestants are called back to the stage for more cuts (for some reason, none of the day 2s can be cut). Gabi Carrubba, Schyler Dixon, Angie Ziederman, Candice Glover, Johnny Keyser, Jairon Jackson, and Britnee Kellogg have been eliminated. That brings us down to a top 402.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 11 Episode 12, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Hollywood week began in American Idol Season 11 Episode 9, complete without any actual singing. Preparations complete, they are ready to perform during a 2 hour episode. I’d be fine with 1 hour.

Jennifer Malsch, Cherie Tucker, Cari Quoyeser, Gabrielle Cavassa, and Brianna Bell take the stage first. Their performance is about as rough as their rehearsal was. Jennifer and Cari survive the cuts, as Cherie blames the Idol bug.

Reed Grimm, Nick Boddington, Creighton Fraker, Aaron Marcellus, and Jen Hirsh escaped both the drama and the sickness of the night before. Their reward is that they all advance, following a standing ovation.

Kyle Crews, Brielle von Hugel, Joshua Ledet, Shannon Magrane, and some fifth person named Amber get on stage in their group that Brielle and her mother think is all about them. Kyle is the only one of the lot to get cut.

Before they get on stage, Jacquie Cera faints, but she’ll be singing anyway, along with Dustin Cundiff, patient zero Amy Brumfield, and Mathenee Treco. They struggle in general, including some lyric forgetting. Mathenee is the sole survivor.

Crystal Duffield, Jasmine Antoine, and the rest of their group continue the trainwreck. They are not alone in being completely unable to remember the words.

Christian Lopez, Alisha Bernhardt, Samantha Novacek, and the other girls and that guy have the audience yawning. They are all eliminated. Perhaps they should have sung Joy to the World like the angry cop wanted.

Ariel Sprague, Eben Franckewitz, Gabi Carrubba, David Leathers Jr., and Jeremy Rosado deliver a solid performance, and they are all safe.

Imani Handy joins the growing chorus of fainters, but she crawls her way on stage to perform with Bryce Garcia, Johnny Keyser, and Kristi Krause. This rough performance concludes with an unsurprising collapse by somebody who’s already fallen twice. Johnny survives the carnage.

We now head to the not OK Corral with a battle of cowboy against everybody. Heejun Han, Jairon Jackson, Richie Law, and Phillip Phillips pull together in spite of their differences, and they live to fight another day, though it’s primarily based on their previous performances.

With group night over, those who survived will sing one last time before the results are revealed.

Joshua Ledet had to be badgered into sticking around. His oversinging of Christina Perri’s Jar of Hearts receives a good reaction. Colton Dixon, who also had to be badgered into auditioning let alone sticking around, and he sings Daughtry’s What about Now while playing keyboard. Phil Phillips continues the positive momentum.

Jen Hirsh follows with a standing ovation for her performance of Georgia on my Mind, her second of the episode. Creighton Fraker continues this with What a Wonderful World. Having been in Jen’s group earlier, he, too, sees his second standing ovation. Shannon Magrane also thinks it’s a wonderful world, receiving the same reaction.

Reed Grimm is informed 30 minutes before going on stage that he cannot sing a cappella as planned. This is stupid that they could not have told him this earlier. Thanks for the fake drama, Nigel. He spends most of his time dancing around his troubles rather than preparing, but he decides at the last minute to play the drums. Seemingly out of nowhere, he pulls together a strong performance.

Skylar Laine is out of the hospital. Wouldn’t know based on that she’s been sick. Steven says that’s one of the best performances of the day, and Jennifer is reminded of Reba. Fellow country singer Rachelle Lamb messes up, so she starts over, delivering a convincing performance on her second attempt.

New father Adam Brock says he brings white chocolate to the stage.

Performances done, they are divided into four rooms.

Room 1 gets their results first. They are through to the next round. This room includes Jermaine Jones, Lauren Gray, Adam Brock, Joshua Ledet, Creighton Fraker, Jen Hirsh, Erika van Pelt, Hallie Day, and Johnny Keyser.

Room 2 also makes it. In that room are Reed Grimm, Phil Phillips, Skylar Laine, Shannon Magrane, Eben Franckewitz, and Jessica Phillips.

A tense and fighting room 3 is up next. They have been eliminated, with casualties including Brittany Kerr, Jennifer Malsch, and Rachelle Lamb.

Lastly, room 4 is also advancing. Bailey Brown, Gabi Carrubba, Heejun Han, Angie Zeiderman, and Britnee Kellogg are among those heading to Vegas.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 11 Episode 11, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on Fox.

The first night of Hollywood in American Idol Season 11 Episode 8 had some good singing, some bad singing, and finally concluded with someone falling off the stage. So I’ve heard.

Wanting to preserve the drama for tonight, they opted to make last night’s fall a to be continued. We pick up with Symone Black regaining consciousness and receiving medical attention. After getting a bit of sugar, she stands up and heads off to the hospital.

From there, we pick up with the results. Jeremy Rosado advances to the next round, but Lauren Mink and Ethan Jones have been cut.

That brings us to group night with the 185 contestants who remain. They must combine into groups of 4 or 5 with a mixture from day 1 and day 2. People are shocked by this stunning turn of events (the one that happens every year).

Crying and ready to pass out, Amy Brumfield wonders why she is struggling to find a group. She finds a cop telling people to get their asses over there and form a group with her. Refusing to change songs, policewoman Alicia loses her group. She just wants to sing a damn song. Joy to the World. Eventually, she finds a girl whose father is a cop and forms a group with her and some guy who’s afraid of her.

Brielle von Hugel’s mom says she’s bossy. This could be bad. Not one to let her daughter steal the spotlight, her mom picks apart the others.

Returning from the hospital, Symone needs to find a group. Most groups have formed already, but she manages to find a foursome to join.

Heejun has decided that the cowboy he’s working with, whose name (Richie Law) he doesn’t know, is crazy. Well, it’s war then. Now he hates all cowboys, even Dallas Cowboys.

Meanwhile, people continue to drop like flies. Somebody arrived sick and has been spreading it to everybody else, in addition to the girl who fainted and the kid with kidney stones.

Following a night of practice and drama, they’re ready for the performances.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 11 Episode 10, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Rounding out the auditions in American Idol Season 11 Episode 7 were Johnny Keyser and Lauren Gray. Now it’s time for the 309 contestants who survived to head to Hollywood.

They will all perform one more time, this time in front of an audience of their peers. In each group of 10, half of them will be cut today.

Johnny Keeser is full of confidence and not at all nervous. Heejun Han, however, is exactly the opposite, telling his mother to not bother packing much for the trip, and trying to figure out how he can stick around with these guys all being so pretty. They both survive.

Elise Testone, Baylie Brown, and Hallie Day make the cut.

Jen Hirsh overcomes her nerves with an excellent performance of Up to the Mountain. Lauren Gray follows with another good performance.

Heather Youmans, Sascha Julian, and Candice Russell, whoever they are, fail to impress.

Phil Phillips has never flown before, at least not on a real plane. This time he’ll have to perform without his guitar. Reed Grimm has been on stage since he was 2, so this is home to him. Travis Orlando was sent home in Hollywood last year after round 1. Phil and Reed make it, but Travis is cut again.

Travis is joined by Ramiro Garcia, Wolf Hamlin, and Jenni Schick. At the end of day 1, 68 people are gone.

Adam Brock has been told there is a large black woman trapped inside him. Jane Carrey lives in shadow of famous father Jim Carrey. Adam makes it, but Jane does not.

Shannon Magrane is the one who Steven commented, to her father, is hot, humid, and happening. David is the obnoxious guy who thinks he’s a player. Jessica Phillips has come to LA with her boyfriend, who recovers from a stroke he had last Easter. They all make it to the next round.

Angie Zeiderman and Brittany Kerr also advance, as do Erika Van Pelt, Creighton Fraker, and Aaron Marcellus.

Lauren Mink has a rough go at it, but Jennifer loves Jeremy Rosado. Jumping ahead from them, though, we head into the conclusion for the night, with a performance by Symone Black. From what I gather, she fell off the stage. Too bad Fox can’t properly program this show any more than they could before, as I for one did not see what happened. 1 hour means 1 hour, Fox. Not 68 minutes.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 11 Episode 9, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on Fox.

A pair of Britneys, Brittany Zika and Britnee Kellogg made their appearance in American Idol Season 11 Episode 6. Tonight the auditions go to St. Louis, the city where Carrie Underwood, perhaps the most successful American Idol alum, got her start.

Johnny Keyser looks like a star, and his performance of A Change Is Gonna Come backs it up.

Now that she’s getting a divorce, Rachelle Lamb has decided to sing. Her appropropriate song choice is Find Somebody New. She’s going to Hollywood.

Reis Kloeckener thought about dropping out of school after being bullied, but he accidentally stumbled his way into choir, which turned it around for him. Steven says that was so beautiful it made him cry.

Ethan Jones dropped out of school to be in a band with his dad, who has since departed from the band to go to rehab. He’s headed to Hollywood.

Mark Ingram works there. Right there. He’s a hotel auditor, and probably just there on his lunch break. The hotel staff says he sings every day, and he probably does. Badly.

Lauren Gray is in the family business, a one stop wedding shop, complete with wedding band. Her powerful voice has the judges saying wow.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 11 Episode 8, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on Fox.

A more mature Baylie Brown returned in American Idol Season 11 Episode 5. Next stop: Portland, Oregon. Where all the best singers are from.

Brittany Zika tells us of her dream of singing a duet with Sara Bareilles. Jennifer says she has one of the prettiest voices they have heard.

Ben Purdom tells us he’s not feeling that great today, and he’s been sick since Tuesday. At least he has his excuses ready for when they say no. Nothing at all to do with his bad singing of a Lady GaGa song.

6’8.5″ Jermaine Jones is a church singer and has been pretty much since he was a zygote. Good enough voice to go to Hollywood.

Britnee Kellogg (seriously, parents of America, how many different ways can you spell Britney?) arrives with a dozen people all in matching T-shirts. She pursued her ex-husband’s basketball dreams with him instead of singing, then he decided to go pursue other women instead. The judges love her voice and her story.

Sam Gershman sings I’m a Woman, about which Steven had no doubt. If she hadn’t identified the song, nobody would have known. Steven thinks it’s a little too Broadway, in spite of the perkiness of her… personality.

David Weed fails at singing. He then fails at his second dream, stand up comedy.

Romeo Diahn went from war torn Liberia to a refugee camp in Ghana before making his way to the US. Jennifer loves his vibe and flavor, but she’s worried where he’ll fit in. She gives him a little tiny yes because he’s different. He won’t be getting Seacrest’s vote, though, as his family doesn’t know who Ryan is. They stand there wondering why he’s talking to them.

Naomi Gillies sings Aerosmith’s Cryin’. Not a fan of her high notes, but she’s going to Hollywood.

Ben Harrison fancies himself adorable. He’s just happy that no bodily fluids exited him during this confusing audition.

Jessica Phillips’ boyfriend had a stroke last year, ending up struggling to even communicate any more. Her performance of Again by Faith Evans impresses the judges.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 11 Episode 7, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on Fox.

Aspen brought us Shelby Tweten in American Idol Season 11 Episode 4. Tonight we head to Galveston, the 64th most populous city in Texas.

Fong Vu loves to sing diva songs. This will not end well.

Skyler Laine likes mud riding and shooting animals and all the great pastimes girls her age love. This country girl will be heading to Hollywood.

Baylie Brown made it to Hollywood way back in season 6. She was paired with two best friends from Jersey, and it went to hell. She’s got the talent to go far. Now it’s a question of whether she’s matured enough to get past group week.

At 28, this marks Kristine Osorio’s first and last year to audition. She took out a loan to pay for her divorce lawyer, but she opted instead to use that money to buy a plane ticket. She’s going to Hollywood.

Jennifer likes Rachael Turner, Reagan Wilson, and Cheyenne James, but the boys disagree. They follow this by putting through bad singers like Linda Williams instead.

Alejandro Cazares has started a revolution. He wants a world where inexplicable things happen that shouldn’t, like Lady GaGa becoming a platinum seller or Barack Obama being President. Whatever his brave new world entails, it will not involve him getting any further.

Cortez Shaw sings an Adele song, and Jennifer doesn’t want Randy to stop him.

Ramiro Garcia was born earless. After surgeries, he proved doctors wrong and is able to both hear and speak. And he can sing, too.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 11 Episode 6, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

So apparently American Idol was on Sunday at 10 (does Fox even have programming at 10?). Hopefully that’s the last of the creative scheduling. Tonight we head to Aspen.

Jenni Schick is on something. Parents of Virginia, this is the person teaching your children. Annoyingly perky personality aside, she does a decent rendition of a Pat Benatar song.

Curtis Gray is in a 5 person band and has been singing in church from an early age. His performance of Yesterday impresses the judges.

Richie Law, Devan Jones, and Mathenee Treco join him in Hollywood.

Tealana Hedgespeth’s twin is no longer part of their sister act, going to school for performing instead. She tells us her sister is the better singer of the two. I doubt she’s worse. That and she has no distracting piercings.

Haley Smith seems like she’s lost and looking for the nearest 1970s. Steven says he’s honored to be listening to her voice.

Alanna Snare waitresses at a bar famous for selling rocky mountain oysters, which aren’t what they sound like at all. After an anatomy lesson about the reproductive organs about various animals, her singing falls flat.

Shelby Tweten is from Minnesota, don’t ya know? She was recently diagnosed as bipolar and has been suffering with depression for years. Carrie Underwood’s Temporary Home is the perfect sad song for her voice.

Jairon Jackson (no relation) opts to sing an original song. Not crazy about the song, but his voice at least sounds good, mostly.

Angie Zeiderman wants to be Lady GaGa. One’s enough, thanks. Once she’s done singing in a Swedish accent, I half expect her to start stripping. Her second song manages to win over the last hold out, Randy.

Magic Cyclops is the last performer of the night. This should be a complete waste of time. After one terrible song, the judges of course ask him to sing another. At least he proves to have some decent jokes to tell, unlike most of the idiots.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 11 Episode 5, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on Fox.