‘American Idol 21’ episode 7 recap: ‘Hollywood Week’ kicks off with guest mentors Clay Aiken, Jordin Sparks and more fan favorites [LIVE BLOG]

“American Idol,” the iconic series that revolutionized the television landscape by pioneering the music competition genre, is back for another season on ABC. Helping determine who America will ultimately vote for to become the next singing sensation are music industry forces and superstar judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie. Emmy Award winner Ryan Seacrest hosts the reality TV competition series for the show’s sixth season on ABC and 21st overall.

Tonight is “Hollywood Week Part #1,” as fan-favorite “American Idol” alumni return as contestant mentors to build confidence, stage presence and songwriting as they prepare for amazing performances on the iconic Hollywood Week stage. Read our full recap of Season 21 Episode 7, airing Sunday, April 2, below.

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Returning to help this season’s crop of contestants navigate Hollywood Week are Clay Aiken (Season 2 runner-up), David Archuleta (Season 7 runner-up), Justin Guarini (Season 1 runner-up), Phillip Phillips (Season 11 winner), Jordin Sparks (Season 6 winner) and Catie Turner (Season 16 Top 7).

SEE Everything to know about ‘American Idol’ Season 21: Premiere date, judges and host

8:00 p.m. — Previously on “American Idol”! The sixth and final batch of auditions took place, with 12 contestants earning golden tickets to Hollywood and Cam Amen receiving the last Platinum Ticket, which allows him to skip the first round of Hollywood Week. Who will sink and who will swim as the pressure builds tonight?

8:05 p.m. — The country’s most talented undiscovered talent come together in Hollywood. The first round has been revamped with some new rules: Rather than choosing a genre for themselves, they choose one area they want to improve upon — confidence, songwriting or stage presence. Watching from above are the three Platinum Ticket holders (Tyson Venegas, Kaylin Hedges and Cam Amen) who won the advantage of skipping this round and go straight to duets. Voted in at the American Music Awards as America’s fourth Platinum Ticket winner is Elijah McCrormick.

8:08 p.m. — As mentioned earlier, some special “American Idol” alumni have returned to mentor these contestants. Phillip Phillips and Catie Turner will work with the songwriting group, Clay Aiken and David Archuleta will help singers who need a confidence boost, and Justin Guarini and Jordin Sparks will coach performers who want to work on their stage presence. First up on the big stage is Nutsa, who Justin had to actually coach down a bit. She has a habit of over-performing (and she knows it) so he worked with her on making her performance of “I Surrender” more intimate. The judges look flabbergasted by her transformation. Nutsa gets a standing ovation and Luke says, “I have chills everywhere!” However, there will be no direct feedback from the judges this round — so she’ll have to wait for her results until everyone else in her line has performed. I have a feeling she’ll be okay.

8:15 p.m. — Next up from the confidence category is Colin Stough, singing “Stone.” Lionel whispers, “I love him,” during the performance. Facing her own confidence issue is single mother, Sara Beth, who spent time with Clay. When she practiced in front of him, Clay didn’t mince words, saying, “I don’t know who I just saw in front of me. I want the person I saw in the audition.” He tells her to fake it until she makes it. She takes his advice and steps on stage to sing “Roxanne.” Sara Beth gives a performance that impresses everyone, but then announces it would be her last. She wants to go home to her babies. The judges look completely perplexed.

8:25 p.m. — After Sara Beth’s abrupt exit, Katy says, “No, we’re gonna figure this out.” Seriously? Just let her leave. There’s like 100 other people that want to be there. The judges call her back out and try to talk her into staying. Backstage, the conversations continue as Sara Beth tells a producer, “I feel like I’m not gonna win the show anyways so I might as well just go home.” I’m actually annoyed watching this unfold. Someone please show her the door and wish her well. Next, the judges make their first decisions of the week and tell an entire line of people they’ve advanced to the next round. That line includes Nutsa, Colin and Sara Beth, along with a number of people we didn’t see perform. Then Sara Beth quit again. Girl, bye.

8:35 p.m. — Performances continue with Mary Beth Byrd, who chose to work on her stage presence. It’s a passionate performance and as she walked away, Katy perked up and exclaimed, “Mary Beth Byrd for the win!” Next up is the 19-year old burger flipper, Zachariah Smith. He walked through the paces with Clay for his performance of “Cold as Ice.” I’m loving Clay as a mentor, who definitely keeps it real, saying, “You’re not gonna do it like that, because you’re giving me nothing.”  The crowd loves his kooky stage presence, but as Katy says, “It’s natural,” it just needs “bowling bumpers.” Next, Hannah Nicolaisen is the first to sit down with songwriting mentor, Catie Turner. Catie is impressed by Hannah’s songwriting skills and pushes her to have confidence performing it. If she goes out with an original song, at least she goes out on her own terms. So Hannah does just that and impresses the judges. She, Mary Beth and Zachariah all advance to the next round. A slew of other contestants are cut.

8:45 p.m. — Wé Ani kicks off the next group with an original song, however she chose stage presence as what she wants to work on most. She has the entire audience clapping and singing along after the first chorus, so the girl can definitely write a hook! After she heads backstage, Wé can hear the crowd still singing her song. It’s a moment that brings the young singer to tears. Next we see Olivia Soli sing “How Will I Know” and Malik Heard perform a song I’m not sure about. Kaeyra sings “Black Hole Sun” and seems to make more of an impression, earning a standing ovation. Lyric Medeiros knew she had to work on her stage presence, so Jordin was recruited to teach her how to sing with grit and “feel the lyrics.” The judges aren’t impressed in this Broadway-sounding routine of hers and as Lyric walks away Katy says, “I thought we smacked all that out of her.” Lionel adds, “She did not get the memo.” Lyric is cut from the competition, but Wé, Olivia, Malik and Kaeyra all advance.

9:00 p.m. — Paige Anne is just 16 years old and decided to work with David on her confidence. He explains to her that she needs to dial into her emotions, because that will give the song more impact. He can relate to her because he was also a contestant in high school. When she finishes her performance, Lionel says, “The children have taken over the building!” Next up is 16-year old McKayla Stacey, whose dad Phil Stacey was on Season 6 with Jordin. Now Jordin is McKayla’s mentor, so we’ve got a mini-reunion going on here. Jordin is thrilled to see Phil and reveals she even babysat McKayla a couple times throughout their season together. So is McKayla like a nepo-idol-baby? McKayla loves her connection to “American Idol,” but says it’s a lot of pressure to be as good as her dad was. After her performance of “Warrior” Katy says, “there was a little improvement,” but the judges don’t look super thrilled. Next up is another 16-year old, Haven Madison, who is performing an original she first performed for her songwriting mentor Phillip. He’s impressed with the youngster and can’t believe she wrote it by herself. It’s called “I Still Need You” and she’s got a number of her fellow contestants in tears as they listen on. As she walks away Luke says, “Massive star.” Paige Anne and Haven advance, but McKayla’s journey has come to an end.

9:10 p.m. — Matt Wilson is up next and the 21-year old teacher’s aide is giving Luke all the feels with his smooth R&B vocals on “Can You Stand the Rain.” He gets a huge ovation.  Next, Oliver Steele sings “Broken Halos” after a songwriting one-on-one with Phillip. It’s another standout moment and both Matt and Oliver move on, along with a group of singers we never saw perform.

9:25 p.m. — Next up is Fire, who memorably had to audition twice to get to Hollywood. She gets thrown into the lion’s den with Clay, who is the perfect mentor to bring her out of her shell. It’s a bit of a therapy session and Clay reminds her that she’s not here because she’s not good enough. She’s one of about 150 people in the whole country that made it this far. Fire admits that she expects the worst and has a tendency to think the world is against her. She sings “You Say” for the judges, and Luke comments that she’s “not comfortable,” but Katy is dialed in listening to Fire’s voice. Then it’s time for Lucy Love, who received some guidance from Jordin to use the pain she’s going through in her performance. Lucy is singing “To Make You Feel My Love” and gives a gospel flare that sends Katy into a praise dance. Lucy predictably advances, and so does Fire, who breathes a huge sigh of relief.

9:35 p.m. — The next group of auditions include 20-year old country singer Brayden Phillips and 21-year old Nashville performer Mariah Faith. We don’t hear much about Brayden, but the judges clearly love Mariah’s style, even if her voice isn’t always pitch-perfect. Then we hear from Trey Louis, whose audition went viral earlier this year when he revealed he had survived a school shooting. He’s singing “Vienna” after working on his stage presence with Justin. Both Mariah and Trey advance, but Brayden gets cut.

9:45 p.m. — Emma Busse studies theater and took Katy’s advice to get all of that Broadway training out of her system. It seems to have worked and we quickly see Katy advance her to the next round after a dark, brooding performance. Ashley Tankard and Kamron Lawson both buckled under the pressure of Hollywood after memorable auditions. Their voices just didn’t show up. Hoping to turn things around is Megan Danielle, who had a shaky first audition but looks poised to make an impression. “Whoa, Nelly!” Luke exclaims as Megan goes off on a Christian hymn. Megan advances, but Ashley and Kamron do not. Other notable standouts from the initial auditions to go home are Ophrah Kablan, Dany Epp, Owen Eckhardt and Keelin.

10:00 p.m. — Dawson Wayne kicks off the last group in this round with his original song “Sour Skies.” The judges look incredibly impressed by his artistry. Up next is Kya Monee, who is in Hollywood Week for the second time. She was previously there with the late Willie Spence, where the two developed a close friendship that lasted until his death. She’s gunning for a grand slam with “And I Am Telling You” and it seems to have worked. Lionel couldn’t stop waving his arms in the air throughout the performance. Last up is Iam Tongi, who had the most viral audition of the season with “Monsters.” He meets up with Clay to work on his confidence. Then he takes the stage to sing “I Can’t Make You Love Me” and absolutely stuns the judges once again. Luke calls it “perfect.” Next, the judges announce that Dawson, Kya and Iam have all advanced. With this performance round complete, Lionel announces “the fun has just begun.” Next up is the Duets round and each contestant will have to choose their own partner. Ready, set, go! The Duets will air Monday night, April 3 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

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