American Idol 2014 Hollywood Week continued Thursday night as we saw the dreaded group round all condensed into one hour of TV. So we didn’t get to see a lot of the drama we normally see. And that’s OK with me, but I didn’t like not getting to see much of the standout performances though.
Let’s take a look at the standouts from the Hollywood Week Group Round.
David Oliver Willis, Tony Foster Jr., Sarina Joi Crowe. This group of three have all been here before and their veteran status kind of showed on the stage. They were a great way to open the group numbers. Their harmonies were great and their solos were solid. Great trio. The judges cut Tony. The other two move on to the next round.
Casey Thrasher, Dexter Roberts, Ben Briley. I thought their version of “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys was atrocious. But individually, they’re all great performers. So I wasn’t surprised when the judges sent them all through to the next round.
It’s time for a fast forward montage. Paula Hunt, Adrina Brogden, and Briana Oakley all sounded great and were all put through to the next round.
Spencer Lloyd, Megan Miller, Alissa Siebken. They can all sing, but the girls had some rough patches. Megan even dropped some lyrics. But Spencer is a star. He really shined. Alissa gets cut. Megan and Spencer move on.
Matthew Hamel, C.J. Harris, Caleb Johnson, Tyler Ahlgren. These guys were all over the place. Caleb and C.J. have it, but the others were just soppy and literally all over the place. Caleb basically stole the show, but I’m not a fan of his stage personality. Caleb and C.J. make it to the next round. The other two head home.
Jena Asciutto, Sikenya Thompson, Allie Odom, Munfarid Zaidi. This was hard to follow. Sikenya was sick and crying and dropping the words and we never heard the guy sing. Jena was the obvious standout but only Allie was cut. The other three moves on to the next round.
Jessica Meuse, Nica Nahae, Stephanie Hanvey, Cara Watson. Why this group EVER decided to do “Single Ladies” by Beyonce is beyond me. The whole performance was awful. Even Jessica, who seems to be a producer’s favorite was horrible. But she was ditched by her first group in the middle of the night. I’d cut them all, but we all know that’s not going to happen. Only Stephanie gets cut. The others move on.
Terrica Curry, Carmen Delgina, Emmanuel Zidor. Well the guy in the group made me uncomfortable but the two girls were decent. But like the judges said, that was a horrible song choice for this make-or-break moment. Such a bad choice. But for some reason, only Emmanuel moves on to the next round.
Christina Collins, Olivia Diamond, Queen Bulls, Malaya Watson. This group was very solid, but the clear standout was Malaya. I LOVE her voice. She really reminds me of 1950s girl group singers like Darlene Love. I really, really like her. They all four move on to the next round.