Air Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 [8-10pm]
Round 2: Group Performances
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| Source: PremiumHollywood.com |
Right from the start, the drama that is Tiffany Rios erupted immediately when she tried to find a group to join, only to find no one wanted her. I mean, could anyone blame them (especially after what eventually happened with her performance)? At one point, Tiffany stole Jessica Yantz from a group she was already in. And she wasn't the only one: multiple groups were stealing other singers from each other, some abandoning their own groups, some having to audition to join a group. But back to Tiffany for a moment. She and Jessica could not for the life of them convince anybody else to join their group, so one of the producers allowed them to be a duo group. I don't think that producer should have allowed that; if they couldn't find a group, then they should be disqualified, because they weren't able to conform to the rules.
Another annoyance in this episode was the prevalence of the stage moms. For the singers who are underage, they have to have a parent accompany them on this journey. And with the age requirement lowered to fifteen, there seemed to be more of an abundance of parents, and as a result, stage moms. They were helping out their children. Not so much giving advice as telling them how to perform and what to do. (As an aside, do you remember season 7's behind-the-scenes stage dad, Jeff Archuleta, father of David Archuleta?)
The contestants were up pretty much all night rehearsing.
At one point, Ashley Sullivan has a sort of nervous breakdown and wants to quit. A producer talks to her and tells her to really think about this decision she wants to make. She talks to her boyfriend and eventually decides to stay. Darn! I was hoping we would have a quitter. (Maybe the high-drama was getting to me there).
Fifteen-year-old Jacee Badeaux is forced out of his group and attempts to find another group to join. Brett Loewenstern goes in search of another member because they need a Day 2 singer, and comes across Jacee, who joins their group.
I can understand now why they needed two hours for this episode. The change in the rules (needing a mix of Day 1 and Day 2 singers) caused so much drama that the show wouldn't have done it justice trying to fit both that and the singing into an hour. In fact, the actual performances didn't begin until 8:39pm.
At first, I tried to write down everybody's names and grade each group, but I found I wasn't able to enjoy the performances, so I'm just posting a select amount that I want to showcase (as I did with the auditions).
Best of the Night:
Jordan Dorsey, Robbie Rosen - Jackson 5's "I Want You Back": Robbie was the best of the group and one of my favorites of the night.
Terrible/Eliminated:
Tiffany Rios, Jessica Yantz - Beyonce's "Irreplaceable": It's a good think no one else joined their group, because they would have been toast. Jessica doomed herself by teaming with Tiffany. And Tiffany just wailed through the entire song, which hurt my ears.
One singer overslept; a producer and/or cameraman goes to his room and tells him his group is up. His group is searching all over trying to find him. In the meantime, Steven Tyler goes up on stage and plays the drums to entertain everyone until the group can get their act together.
Jovanny Barreto, Kevin Campos, Jorge Gabriele, Karen Rodriguez - "Just the Way You Are": Jovanny and Karen are still in; Karen is the best of the group.
Good:
Lauren Alaina's Group - "Some Kind of Wonderful": They bring Steven up on stage and sing to him as he sits on a chair in front of them; seeing his expressions as he's checking out the girls was hilarious.
It's a good thing Ashley Sullivan decided not to quit, because she made it to the next round. But she wasn't all that good, so I don't think she'll be around much longer.
James Durbin's Group - Queen's "Somebody to Love": James (the Adam Lambert-wannabe) is the main feature of the group. At the end, he does the signature Adam Lambert/Siobhan Magnus note, which lasts quite a long time and keeps getting higher and higher. I would be all for him doing that, except that it was terrible. He was good during his audition, but with each round, his voice is not getting any better; in fact, it's getting worse.
Best of the Night:
Stage Mom Group: Deandre Brackensick brought out a beautiful falsetto. When I say "Best of the Night," I don't mean the entire group; some were not as good as the judges made them out to be. Overall they were pretty much good, but Deandre stood out to me.
Hollie Cavanaugh's Group: Hollie was the only somewhat decent one of the group.
Best of the Night:
Da'Quela Payne, Matthew Nuss, Naima Adedapo, Jacob Lusk: I loved this group! Naima, to me, was the best, but this was such a solid group; each singer provided something great to the song.
We see a montage of Steven's one-liners.
Best of the Night:
Denise Jackson, Stevie Cain, Natalie Hanson, Brett Loewenstern, Jacee Badeaux - "Mercy": Brett was the best of the group, and continues to be one of my favorites this year. Jacee, unfortunately, was not that good this time; he got the sympathy card from the judges, who caved in and let him stay after all that he's been through with getting kicked out of a group and all that.
Best of the Night:
Monique De Los Santos, Clint Jun Gamboa: Even though Clint is the villain for kicking Jacee out of the group, he still was, along with Monique, one of the best singers.
Should Have Been Eliminated:
Chelsee Oaks, Jacqueline Dunford, Rob Bolin - "Forget You": Rob didn't know any of the words, so he sang about how he didn't know the words. Jacqueline used the explicit version of the lyrics. The judges eliminated Rob, but they should have dropped every one in the group. These girls will not last long. One by one, the exes and the couple are going.
Tonight, we're back to one hour (8-9pm) when the 100 remaining contestants will return to individual performances in the final Hollywood Week episode. See ya then...
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