Category: reality tv

Hollywood week began in American Idol 8 Episode 8, which was such a blur that it probably didn’t influence anybody’s opinion about the 104 contestants who remain.

Tonight is group night.

Rose is an outsider in her group. She accuses them (including bikini girl) of thinking this competition is about being cute. It got her this far.

Tatiana has a nervous breakdown and goes looking for another group. Nancy Wilson and Nate Marshall want no part of it and want her to return to the group that made her cry. For some reason, she turns her back on that group and heads back to her original group even though they were apparently willing to work with her. It’s not long before this group self destructs again. Back at Nancy and Nate’s group, Nancy can’t get along with Kristin. Then Nate joins the drama queen act.

Katrina wants to go to bed, where she starts crying, while the rest of team diva wants to stay awake. The divas go to wake up Katrina after a couple hours, but she doesn’t want to wake up. They don’t get how she could give up on such a huge opportunity. As if she wanted to do more than show off her body on TV. Her group says that she quit, but as they’re sitting there at the table, the completely unprepared Katrina arrives. Rose predicts the group will be a trainwreck.

Simon tells the groups that the most important thing is that they’re out if they forget the words. Harsh.

India Morrison, Justin Williams, Kris Allen, and Matt Giraud are first. Their unique take on the song stands out and gets them through to the next round.

Alex Wagner-Trugman, Ryan Pinkston, Anne Marie Boskovich, and Emily Wynne-Hughes (the Action Squad) has worked hard on perfecting their choreography but not quite so much on the singing. Alex and Anne Marie make it through. Ryan says he was manipulated and insulted by an evil-eyed Paula.

Danny Gokey and his buddy Jamar Rogers (who are sure getting a lot of screen time), along with Taylor Vaifanua and apparently some fourth wheel sing Somebody to Love a capella. They do an excellent job and all get through.

Team diva (Lauren Barnes, Katrina Darrell, Rose Flack, and Jasmine Murray) is apparently more confident than they were earlier. Simon guarantees they did not work together last night. Jasmine is the only one who makes it. Katrina takes one last opportunity to pose.

David Osmond has been cut, as has Austin Sisneros.

Muna Hiluf and Tatiana del Toro are up next. Everybody’s going through, including the two people in their group who aren’t shown. Tatiana takes the opportunity to make herself the center of attention with some more crying.

Nathaniel Marshall, Nancy Wilson, and Kristen McNamara are trying to make it work. Simon doesn’t think they like each other and calls their backup performances sabotage. Nate and Kristin go through, but Nancy is at the end of the line.

About 75 people have made it through to the final day of Hollywood.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol Season 8 episode 10, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

The audition phase concluded in American Idol 8 Episode 7. Despite cramming both New York and Puerto Rico into the episode, there still wasn’t much worth talking about.

Now it’s time for Hell week in Hollywood at the Kodak Theater. In total, 147 singers have proceeded to Hollywood.

Lil Rounds gets another good reception from the judges. Dennis Brigham doesn’t impress Simon any more than he did last time.

This year, whoever’s out will go home right away, without being given any second chances. From the first group, Asia, Alexander, and Lil will be going forward.

Nathaniel Marshall, whoever that is, is up for group two. The judges like his voice but not the song choice. Could have done without the outburst. Anoop Desai, Jasmine Murray, and Rose Flack are in this group as well. Anoop and Jasmine sail through, but Rose has been having a rough couple days of rehearsal. The whole group is through to the next round.

Stephen Fowler is first in the next group, and the judges are impressed. Jorge Nunez does a Jon Secada song justice. Then it’s Von Smith’s turn. Simon calls his performance indulgent nonsense. All three of them will be staying in Hollywood.

Norman Gentle (why is he being given more screen time?) is back and wasting more time. Simon calls him a ridiculous joke. Nonetheless, Norman Gentle (aka Nick Mitchell) is staying around, along with Frankie Jordan and Scott Macintyre (two much better singers who we don’t even hear).

Female rocker Jackie Tohn will be going ahead in the first group of day two.

Best friends Danny Gokey and Jamar Rogers are back in the next group. Randy’s a fan of Jamar, and Paula tells Danny he’s ready to record records.

Bikini girl Katrina Darrell made it through on the strength of her assets. Now she’s back but slightly more appropriately dressed. Kara’s unimpressed again, but she makes it through on the strength of Simon’s and Randy’s drooling.

Randy says roughneck Michael Sarver is even better than the first time. Jesus Valenzuela, however, gets cut.

David Osmond and Erika Wesley sound good in the couple seconds we see of them. Punk rocker Emily Hughes has decided to sing a song she hasn’t rehearsed. The judges hate it. David, Emily, and some guy named Alex are through to the next round. Erika’s been cut but asks for a second choice. The judges are confused and arguing but refuse to budge on their decision that they’re not apparently sure how they arrived at.

104 contestants, most of whom we probably haven’t seen, will be proceeding to the next phase, group day.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol Season 8 episode 9, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Last night American Idol 8 Episode 6 delivered… not much again. We saw a lot of somewhat competent singers who probably won’t advance much further. Anyway, David Osmond, Frankie Jordan, Megan Corkrey, Austin Sisneros, Taylor Vaifanua, and Rose Flack all made it to Hollywood.

Tonight is the end of the auditions with the last chances for contestants to get to Hollywood. The first stop is New York.

Adeola Adegoke claims she quit her job to be here. She sings And I Am Telling You by Jennifer Hudson. I think we all know she didn’t really quit her job, but Simon agrees to speak to her boss.

For some reason, the next stop is San Juan, Puerto Rico. The plan is apparently to hop back and forth between the two.

Jorge Nunez sings My Way, and while it leaves question about how he’ll sound singing in English, he sounds pretty good in Spanish. In English, he sings What a Wonderful World… still nice but with a thick accident. The judges let him through to Hollywood.

Jessika Baier is from Michigan. I’m pretty sure they have auditions in the US, but anyway she’s in San Juan. She sings I Surrender by Celine Dion. The judges surrender.

Melinda Camille wants to uplift humanity to be part of the shifting universe, preferably without clothing. She sings Feeling Good. She’s okay and advances despite the creepy story.

Female rocker Jackie Tohn has been playing guitar and singing for years. She sings I’m Yours by Jason Mraz. I don’t get it. Simon asks for a second song, and she obliges. Better but still iffy. Still, enough to get through to the next round.

Joel Contreras is known as the crazy rocker, aka a waste of time. He’s quite excited by being told no.

Nick Mitchell (aka Norman Gentle) continues the wasting of time. The judges let him get a chair so he can hang out for a while and be on the screen for two minutes longer than anybody with actual talent. Paula says yes. Kara says yes. Simon says categorically no. Randy says yes. Isn’t this like a singing competition?

Then we hear about three sentences from people who actually deserve to go to Hollywood. No need for us to learn anything about them apparently.

Monique Garcia Torres brought her kid brother Cristopher with her. She sings You Can’t Hurry Love by the Supremes. Christopher does not approve and asks her to reconsider. After she’s done, Simon asks what the second song is. I Turn to You by Christina Aguilera is next, and it sounds better. Randy and Kara don’t think she’s ready, but Paula and Simon give her another shot. If she didn’t have her brother with her, she probably wouldn’t have made it.

Alexis Cohen was thrown out last year and had to be bleeped a lot. It’s a kinder, gentler Alexis. Let’s wait until she gets rejected. She sings Madonna’s Like a Prayer. The judges say she’s gotten worse, so she gets back to her old self. Please don’t show this chick when she comes back next year.

Patricia Lewis Roman sings I Wanna Dance with Somebody by Whitney Houston. Simon says it’s not good enough and a crazy song choice. They give her 30 seconds to change their minds, so she goes with a slower song. Randy says yes to one more chance. Paula says no, but she’s going to Hollywood.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol Season 8 episode 8, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

The search for lack of talent continued in American Idol 8 Episode 5, but Jacksonville did deliver Jasmine Murray, TK Hash, and Ann Marie Boskovich.

Tonight it’s Salt Lake City, Utah, where they met David Archuleta last year.

David Osmond, part of the family that was famous several decades ago, is up first. David was in a wheelchair a few years ago due to his battle with Multiple Sclerosis. He sings Something within Me by Take 6, and he does not disappoint despite the judges trying to make it suspenseful.

Tara Mathews needs to either get some sun or cover up. She believes that she has ESP, which she probably should have used before coming on this show. She sings One Day I’ll Fly Away from Moulin Rouge. As badly as could have been expected.

Chris Kirkham has brought a 300 pound man dressed up in a pink bunny suit. He attempts to sing Pretty Baby, but Simon is distracted by the bunny. So then he sings Ain’t No Mountain High Enough but only gets out a couple words.

Stay-at-home mom Frankie Jordan sings Amy Winehouse’s You Know I’m No Good. She gets through to Hollywood.

Megan Corkrey is also a young mom, but she is recently divorced. She sings Can’t Help Loving That Man of Mine and has a unique voice.

Austin Sisneros is class president. He sings When I Look to the Sky by Train, but the mixed reactions he gets convince him to sing It Takes a Village by Raffi. Despite not getting the song choices, the judges agree to give him another chance.

Taylor Vaifanua says her parents moved her back from Samoa because of her music. Anyway… she sings Joyful Joyful. Randy calls it one of the best vocals of the season.

Rose Flack lives with her best friend and her family after having lost her father and mother within the past couple years. She sings I Feel the Earth Move by Carol King. Paula wants her to work on the vocals, and Simon didn’t like the song choice. But the judges all love her.

Tomorrow night concludes the audition phase and the road to Hollywood, and hopefully there’s something more to offer than there was tonight.

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

Louisville, KY wasn’t much more successful than San Francisco, but American Idol 8 Episode 4 did produce a bit of talent. Joanna Pacitti (who toured as Annie at age 11, sang Watch Me Shine on the Legally Blonde soundtrack, and has had a few minor TV roles), Alexis Grace, and Leneshe Young were the bright spots for the night.

Tonight they’re going to Jacksonville, Florida. On the way, Ryan and Simon get some practice speaking in their normal speaking voices. Then they pretend Randy is famous for something other than Idol.

Joshua Ulloa believes he’s Justin Guarini, the guy from season one who we never heard of again. He wants to get it on, and it appears he’s trying to sing I guess. Mostly, he just drowns in bad sound effects. The judges all say yes. I don’t get it.

Sharon Wilbur brings her dog Sasha with her, with a fresh haircut (the dog, not the girl). She sings Superstar by Karen Carpenter. Although Sasha is yawning, the judges let both of them through to Hollywood.

Kaneswa Finnie has been led to believe by her mother that she can sing. She has been led wrong. Simon drags her mom on to tell her to stop lying to her.

Julissa Veloz is wearing a tiara. She sings Whitney Houston’s I Have Nothing. Like Simon, I thought it was better than I was expecting. It’s good enough to get through to Hollywood.

Darin Darnell is full of spirit and energy. Then his friend gets cut. Now he’s sad. At least he has an excuse for why he sings so bad now. He sings It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye by Boyz II Men.

Naomi Sykes believes she can sing high notes like Mariah Carey used to be able to. But first her friend wants to pretend she’s a fan of Randy’s. She sings Loving You by Minnie Riperton. A waste of time no matter how many judges are getting lap dances during the performance.

At the end of the first day of auditions, we’ve seen… not much.

Jasmine Murray sings Big Girls Don’t Cry by Fergie. One of the best voices we’ve heard yet.

From there, we go to George Ramirez, who clearly is there to fill space. In his wildest dreams, he expects to have a simple house with nice marble floors in 11 years. What he sings is really irrelevant, but it’s supposed to be Walking on Sunshine apparently. He’ll see Ryan around, whatever that means.

Ann Marie Boskovich calls Kara her hero. Yeah, Kara doesn’t believe it either. She sings a little bit of one of Kara’s songs, making it clear she’s good, but before she can actually audition, Simon tells her to come back as a different person, literally.

Terrence TK Hash was rejected last year but is back again. He sings John Lennon’s Imagine. How’d they let this guy go before?

Michael Perrelli plays guitar wherever he goes. Too bad he can’t play his guitar in the audition (has he seen this show before?). The panic attack sets in, as he has no back up plan. He sings Third Eye Blind’s Jumper. Simon doesn’t like his voice. Kara thinks he may be better with his guitar. Simon gets on his case because he’s begging, something I don’t recall them jumping on anyone about before.

Ann Marie found a makeup artist on the street. Why she needed the makeover I’m not sure, but it works. She sings Bubbly, and as we already knew, she’s got a great voice.

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