‘American Idol’ Group Night: Recorded in Mono
They don’t call it “hell week” for nothing, amirite? Arguably the most grueling leg of any American Idol journey (some alums have argued that it’s even tougher than the live shows), Hollywood Week’s dreaded Group Round always brings the drama, drama, drama: weepy all-nighters, last-minute defections, M.I.A. contestants, meddling momagers, epic ego clashes, facepalm-worthy lyrical memory lapses, stern Harry Connick Jr. lectures, and of course, at least one bout with illness that sends a hapless contestant racing to the emergency room (or at least to the nearest trash bin or toilet bowl with a sudden case of the heaves).
Season 15’s dramatic groups episode, which aired Thursday, featured all this and more. But this year’s token sicko, soulful farm boy Trent Harmon, managed to pull himself away from the trash can, pull himself together, and deliver a triumphant performance – despite suffering from a full-blown case of mono that practically quarantined him from his fellow contestants.
I’m sure some detractors and rules-sticklers will cry foul that Trent was allowed to perform solo – an Idol first – during the Group Rounds, when all other contestants were threatened with instant disqualification if they had fewer than three singers on their teams. (It was under doctor’s orders that the highly contagious Trent didn’t work with anyone else, but I suppose producers could have opted to send him home – or stick him inside some John Travolta-inspired plastic immunity bubble, maybe?) Some naysayers might, understandably, have seen this as preferential treatment. But the situation did put Trent, whose voice was already clearly affected by his illness, at a disadvantage. “I’m going to be one person against four voices,” he said, comparing himself to the other, strength-in-numbers performances of the day. “There’s no way to compete with that, but it’s what I got.”
Hitting the stage looking pallid and clammy but determined, Trent fearlessly belted Clean Bandit’s “Rather Be,” alone and a cappella – and when he made it to the chorus, he made it clear that there really was no place he’d rather be than on that Dolby Theatre stage, even if he was on the brink of collapse. His voice wasn’t at optimum strength – he was breathless in parts, and his vibrato sounded especially goaty, so Harry’s corny one-liner about this song sounding “better in mono” wasn’t really appropriate – but Trent was a trouper and a showman, and he never, ever gave up.
“I don’t know if it was just your mono that kept other contestants away from you; I don’t think other contestants can get near your talent,” remarked Keith Urban. Jennifer Lopez compared Trent to another trouper, Phillip Phillips, who battled kidney stones and intense pain throughout Season 11 yet still went on to win the show. Hopefully Trent won’t have to suffer like poor P-Squared once did, but Trent did prove he has a similar drive and fighting spirit.
Not all of this Thursday’s Hollywood Week contestants overcame adversity so easily, however.
For instance, Poh Scott, little sister of last season’s semifinalist Shi Scott, couldn’t deal with the pressure, decided she “just wasn’t ready,” and quit unexpectedly – leaving her groupmates, Dalton Rapattoni and Kassy Levels, stranded as a duo and on the brink of disqualification. Thankfully, Dalton and Kassy later rebounded with a last-minute replacement, Anatalia Villaranda; named themselves Chicken Noodle Soup, for some reason (maybe because they are good for the soul?); pulled off a nicely harmony-laden version of Bruno Mars’s “Treasure”; and survived. But for a scary minute there, it was looking like Dalton and Kassy would have to fake having mono, just so the producers would cut them some slack, too.
Meanwhile, the original group that Anatalia had bailed on due to artistic differences, Envy, struggled, with the three remaining singers (Sonika Vaid, Stephany Negrete, and Andrew Nezerbakian) not gelling at all. Keith said Stephany was the only one onstage who made any actual attempt to perform, and he griped that the awkward Andrew “didn’t seem like he’d ever been on a stage in his whole life.” But all three survived this round anyway (Sonika’s natural gift in particular could not be ignored), and the Ariana Grande song that Envy performed, with its “one less problem without you” line, seemed like a direct dig at the absentee Anatalia. Ha.
Another tense TV moment came when an all-girl group dubbed Singing Out Loud – Michelle Marie, Shelbie Z., Ashley Lusk, and Lindsey Carrier – clashed during rehearsal due to what Shelbie called Lindsey’s “bossy” ways. They argued for five hours over what song to perform, even! Eventually, the song they settled on, Carrie Underwood’s “Undo It,” turned out to be a good choice – for everyone but Lindsey, that is, who the judges complained didn’t let loose and was “simmering [too] low.” I bet Lindsey wishes she could undo that. She was the only member of Singing Out Loud who was shipped home.
And then there were all those flubbed lyrics. Seriously, who doesn’t know the lyrics to a cinematic disco classic like “Stayin’ Alive”? Apparently plenty of Season 15 Hollywood Week contestants, who barely stayed alive in this competition. The foursome Soul Cats (Laurel Wright, Marshall Cunningham, Drew Angus, and John Arthur Greene) forgot so many of that song’s words, they may as well have been singing Frank Stallone’s Stayin’ Alive movie sequel theme “Far From Over” instead. I was shocked that any of the Soul Cats were forgiven for this gaffe, but Marshall and Laurel advanced. The Sistahs (La’Porsha Renae, Marlena Johnson, and Tonie Starr) also messed up the same Bee Gees’ classic – Marlena was the main offender, really – but all three divas’ sassy performance skills won the judges over. “Now, that’s how you forget the words!” Harry joked. OK, then.
But the most egregious lyrical offenders were Las Varequas (Eliz Camacho, Gianna Isabella, and Dana Ordway). I might have forgiven them being unfamiliar with the more than decade-old Blu Cantrell one-hit wonder “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” under normal circumstances, but it’s seriously one of the most overdone Hollywood Week songs ever. So sorry, there was just no excuse. The tensions in the girls’ rehearsal spilled over into their live performance and made it downright unpleasant, even though all three singers (Gianna in particular) had some mighty pipes. I was more entertained by Gianna’s mama, ‘80s freestyle diva Brenda K. Starr, optimistically cheering Las Varequas on from her seat in the audience than by anything Las Varequas themselves did onstage. Eliz was the worst of this bunch, so it was her time to go. With her likability issues and unflattering villainess edit, she would have never won over the public vote anyway.
The aptly named group Rebirth (Manny Torres, Malie Delgado, and Christian Easen) had an easier time dealing with a big Hollywood Week setback – namely the loss of La’Porsha, who quit their ranks to join the Sistahs. (Sorry if you’re having trouble keeping up at home. Just imagine trying to recap it all! #idolbloggerproblems) While the song Rebirth sang, Alex Clare’s “Too Close,” was another hackneyed old Hollywood Week standard that should’ve been retired from Idol a couple seasons ago, they pulled off a vivacious and charismatic trio performance without whining, complaining, or making any excuses. The judges even declared Rebirth the best group of the day. Just like with Trent, a good attitude and roll-up-the-sleeves work ethic paid off for these plucky kids.
Still, I’m not entirely sure that Rebirth was the best group of the episode. Team Blue Eyes (Jordan Sasser, Kory Wheeler, Jenna Renae, and Kelsie Watts) killed it doing their own confident version of “Treasure,” after a rehearsal that was so blissfully drama-free, they actually managed to get 10 hours of sleep the night before.
Milk & Cookies (Sara Sturm, Lynnzee Fray, Bri Ry, and the endearingly adorkable Jenn Blosil), on the other hand, used their fatigue to their advantage, with a quirky and slightly loopy cover of One Direction’s “Drag Me Down.” (Side note: They rehearsed this number in the Dolby’s restroom. So it would have been kind of awesome if they’d performed Klymaxx’s “Meeting in the Ladies’ Room” instead. Just a thought.)
One group that was a total pleasant surprise was Trick or Treat Tribe, featuring three guys I don’t remember at all from this season’s auditions (Marcio Donaldson, Jon Klaasen, and Kylle Thomason), and one guy that I don’t remember giving all that great an audition, Kacye Hayes. (Another side note: I do remember Jon Klaasen from The X Factor Season 3, when he was in the boy band Forever in Your Mind.) This quartet’s upbeat performance of “Uptown Funk” was a delight. Marcio and Kylle were especially fun and entertaining, and Kacye showed much more personality than he did in his more somber first audition. And all four guys showed exactly how to power through Hollywood Week fatigue and give 100 percent. Trick or Treat Tribe were a real treat.
Other groups featured obvious solo stars. Tristan McIntosh totally upstaged the (also-great) Amelia Eisenhauer and Lee Jean, her fellow members in a group called Ooh Times 2, belting “Too Close” (yes, again). And easy-breezy tomboy Avalon Young stole the show from one of my Season 15 early favorites, Collette Lush – seemingly without even trying – on a laid-back rendition of Usher’s “DJ Got Us Falling in Love.”
And finally, off-the-grid cowgirl Jeneve Rose Mitchell was amazing doing Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now.” Harry told Jeneve: “You had a pining in your voice, which is what that song is about. You made the lyric the most important thing. That is potential artistry.” Um, potential? Heck, I’m convinced Jeneve is an artist already.
Interestingly, however, Harry berated another contestant, the sassy and gregarious Joy Dove, for actually allowing her teammate in Smooth Soul, Lindita, to upstage her during an extended ad-libbed section of their performance of Jessie J’s “Domino.” Ultimately, though, it was loverman cut-up Daniel Farmer, Smooth Soul’s third member, who got the boot. He was probably mostly bummed about being permanently separated from J.Lo, though.
Other memorable Season 15 auditioners sent packing this Thursday were green-haired rocker girl Jaci Butler, sweet Cajun kid Cameron Richard, blowhard Brian Dale Brown, and long-haired bar singer Elvie Shane. The Elvie elimination saddened me the most. Elvie has left the building, indeed. Perhaps he should not have done “Too Close.”
And there you have it. Hollywood Week continues apace next week (ah, the magic of editing), when we get closer to the unveiling of this season’s top 24 – the final 24 contestants to ever compete on American Idol! Here’s wishing Trent Harmon a speedy recovery, and here’s hoping for fewer lyrical memory lapses and fewer “Too Close” and “Hit ‘Em Up Style” covers next Wednesday. See you then.
Parker out.
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