The American Idol 2015 Hollywood Week group rounds came to a close last night and I am thrilled.
The group rounds are so hard to recap because everything goes so fast and you don’t know all the names of the people and maybe not the songs they’re singing. So I always feel like I have to apologize in advance for my recaps. But anyway, it’s over. Yay. Let’s take a look back at the group performance standouts.
Sal’s Gals (Jax, Alexis, Sal, Kelley, and Kaitlin), “Drive By.” Sal has been a standout and was getting a lot of airtime so far this season, but his group round performance fell flat. But he was still better than Alexis who had suffered an anxiety attack before her group took the stage. To me, her audition sounded like an extension of the anxiety attack. I thought it was awful. Jax, who is really being pimped by a lot of people, was a little overdone and annoying, but she was definitely the best of her group.
Alexis and Jax were put through to the next round. The others head home.
Three to One Brunettes (Riley Bria. Keri Lynn Roche, Emily Brooke, Jake Black), “With A Little Help From My Friends.” This was a great performance. They all played well off of each other and there wasn’t one actual standout because they were all good. Riley Bria has the most potential out of all of them though, so I’d say he was the star of the group.
They all made it through to the next round.
Blvd (Cody Fry, Piper Jones, Rayvon Owen), “Since U Been Gone.” Even though the arrangement of this Kelly Clarkson song was kind of annoying I still found the overall performance sold. First of all I love Cody Fry. I think he’s one of the best male singers in the competition this season. And Rayon is another fantastic performer. Both are very strong and I see them going deep into the competition.
All members of Blvd made it through to the next round.
LKYCO (Please) (Daniel Seavey, Quaasim Middleton, Trevor Douglas, and Savion Wrigh), “Story of My Life.” Stupid group name. But a GREAT group. These guys are al great. Trevor is so fun to watch and listen to. I like him a lot. Savin is basically perfect. I don’t think he can do any wrong. He’s born to perform. Qaasim is fine to me. I don’t love him, but he’s talented. Daniel, was always, is cute and fun to watch, but is his voice ever going to finish changing?
Regardless of my nitpicking, they were one of the best groups of the night and they all made it through to the solo rounds.
JKL (Lovey James, Kory Wheeler, Jess Lamb),” All About That Bass.” Idol is pushing Lovey hard even though last night her performance during the groups was all over the place. And Kory, who I once thought was great was just kind of flat. Jess was still as powerful and in control as ever though. I honestly would have kept Jess and cut the others. But the judges decide to keep Lovey along with Jess. The others were sent packing.
Violent Vixens (Joey Cook, Krista Bettevy, Shannon Berthiaume, and Naomi Tatsuoka), “Somebody To Love.” This group number got off to a great start. I was very impressed. But the first solo right after the in-harmony opening was Joey. And I can’t stand Joey’s voice. It didn’t match the rest of the style of the performance and she forgot the lyrics. I would have kicked her off the stage then and there. Shannon, hover, I would have sent right on to the Top 24. She’s a true artist and not a gimmick like Joey.
Also stronger than Joey was Naomi. She’s quite the character and could use a new look for the stage, but she’s got a great, strong voice and a presence that can’t be denied. The entire group was sent through to the next round.
What did you think of the last of the American Idol 2015 group rounds? Who were your favorites? Who did you think should’ve gone through but didn’t?
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