American Idol 9: Hollywood Solo Performances

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip, Video,

Hollywood’s final solo performances are the last chance for the remaining American Idol 9 contestants, a huge field which was narrowed down to the seventy-one at the start of Tuesday’s episode. The show began with the final deliberations, beginning near the end of the process which will give us 24 Top singers who will compete to be our Idol.

Per formula, the contestants were put into three different rooms. Angela Martin was in Room 3 with Hollywood standout Jessica Furney. Martin’s entertaining performance was only passable vocally, though Kara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson both seemed to enjoy it.

Casey James was in Room 1, while his Hollywood Group member Jermaine Purifoy waited in Room 2. Both their solo performances were incredibly enjoyable and vocally strong, though extremely different from each other.

Andrew Garcia, Katie Stevens and Jermaine Sellers also waited in Room 1. Earlier in the day, Sellers made the bold choice to sing “Man in the Mirror,” and some of the notes seemed to escape him. His rather rigid performance might not have won over the judges, but Sellers definitely has a great voice.

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American Idol 9: Group Night

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Features, Video,

It’s group night in Hollywood, which is always a drama-filled festival filled with massive amounts of tears, screaming…and some singing, too. It’s likely the best episode of American Idol 9 , and what a pity it comes so early in the season.

Group night is about performance and showmanship, and some singers are more apt to bring that than others. The most talented performers often find each other, as was once the case with Blake Lewis, Chris Sligh, Rudy Cárdenas and Tom Low in Season 6. It’s the task of every group to choose a number, assign parts and work out some choreography. Naturally, some are more successful than others, but those with real chops usually manage to come out of group night unscathed.

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American Idol 9:  Hollywood Week Begins

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Video,

We’ve sat through seven audition cities and eight weeks of watching singers vie for their chance to compete on American Idol 9 . On Tuesday, this patience was finally rewarded with the beginning of Hollywood Week. This grueling round of auditions is always filled with drama, despair and dashed dreams. In other words, it’s tons of fun.

Tuesday’s opening Hollywood Week episode was the first to feature now-permanent panelist Ellen DeGeneres , who was called to serve on Idol when Fremantle and Paula Abdul could not come to terms on Abdul’s contract. The Idol wannabes gathered at the Kodak Theater, as per show tradition. One hundred and eighty-one contenders arrived from all over America and all walks of life to sing, cry and perhaps watch their dearest dreams come true. But the road to fame is not easy. As one contestant observed, “there’s hundreds of people here, and I have to stand out.”

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American Idol 9: Chicago Auditions

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American Idol 9 visited the Windy City, opening this audition episode with a montage of angry, rejected contestants. It was an auspicious beginning. Shania Twain was the guest judge for this city, a development which seemed to thrill Kara DioGuardi.

The crowds who waited chanted “Yes, We Can,” in honor of Barack Obama, who called the city home until taking up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania in Washington, D.C. Viewers were quickly taken into the story of Katelyn Epperly, a pretty blonde (dyed) with pretty ringlets. Her low, sultry voice quickly proved that there’s more to her than what meets the eye, and Katelyn earned praise from the judges. “I think you have a voice that could sing a hit song, I think,” Shania Twain generously told her. Epperly earned her golden ticket, and the Chicago auditions were well under way.

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