It’s time for “Hell Week”, Idol-style.
Last season they mixed things up a bit by offering a “free pass” to the final round based on first round singing. No such luck this year as you have to survive each and every round to make it to selection day. Since Idol=ratings, they’ve expanded the week into one round per episode, which is both good and bad, because it theoretically allows the editors to focus on people more but it ends up giving more face time to people bringing the “drama”. Thankfully nothing as bad as Junie Brown (The Ultimate Fighter) here.
Round 1 is singing acapella. Basically an advanced version of the city auditions, you’re in a line, you get 15-30 seconds to sing, and the judges make a decision whether you stay or go. Here, the singers got some advice from vocal coach Debra Byrd, who I hope gets more face time this season as she’s one of the unsung heroes of the show. Anyway, with about 150 people here, you can expect about 25-35% to go each of the first two rounds. I’m pretty sure it’s nerve wracking, but I think things break down thusly:
– If you were an absolute favourite with the judges, you’re probably making it through this round regardless of performance here.
– If you were borderline coming into Hell Week, only a showstopping performance keeps you here.
– If you wore a bikini during your initial audition, or you go by “Norman Gentle”, the producers will fight to keep you around as long as possible.
And so it went. Jesus Venezuela went home early and after just wanted to go home. I hope he comes back next year so I can say “Jesus didn’t tap”. The guy who looks like Ron “The Truth” Killings got cut because he sucked anyway. Danny Gokey (who probably did more free promotion for Affliction than Affliction did promoting their last MMA event) is probably making it to the Top 36. The Osmond makes it. And lo and behold, Norman and Bikini Girl make it through. Bikini Girl = Ratings, I guess. Anyway, they started with about 150 and now they’re down to roughly 100. But hey, be happy you made it this far!
So we go to the next episode and Round 2, which is the group number. The key here is for contestants to check their egos at the door, and work as a team to get through. Of course, when you’re talking about a SOLO singing competition, egos will of course get in the way and in those groups only those that shine will make it through. As for choreography, it’s nice, but I think that you worry about the singing first and if the choreography sucks, so be it.
I think this episode managed to focus on two stories. The first was Tatiana and her two groups, and the second was Bikini Girl’s group. In between those we saw people like Danny and Norman make it through. Tatiana’s group manages to all make it through. Her almost-group, “Team Compromise”, don’t all make it. The gay guy and the blonde chick advance, while Nancy Wilson goes home, alone. But not before cussing out the blonde chick. We never got a full explanation from that feud, so, whatever.
Bikini Girl’s group was not the full-on disaster I’d thought it would be, but the expected cuts happened here. Bikini Girl got cut and really didn’t seem to care. I suspect because she’s anticipating the benefits of getting “featured performer” status at strip clubs throughout North America. The blonde chick with the Brea Grant hair also gets cut, but I suspect that she really wasn’t that strong a singer to begin with.
At the end of the day, there are 75 singers left. They’re cutting down to 18 guys and 18 girls this season as they revert back to a variation of the “top vote getters + wild card” format this season. Next week will be the final rounds before the voting process begins. Hopefully this round Norman Gentle does not make the cut.
Kevin Wong writes for Reality Dish, Prime Time Pulse and Inside Fights. He hopes that this format change works out for the best.
