American Idol Recap: Drama? Major!
There’s an evil science behind the annual rite of passage known as the “group-performance round” of Hollywood Week on American Idol: Take a hundred or more emotionally fragile, sleep-deprived singers, force them to splinter off into small groups to learn sometimes unfamiliar songs under intense deadline pressure, and watch as fascinatingly awful things begin to happen.
That was certainly the case tonight.
Read more at TV Line
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‘American Idol’ recap: Groups Gone Wild
Welcome to Group Day of American Idol’s Hollywood Week, a veritable breeding ground for limitless teenage egos and overbearing stage moms. Group sings are a big deal: J. Lo and S. Ty were all decked out in their sparkly blouses from the Krystle Carrington Dynasty collection, and Randy wore polka dots and stripes. It was a huge event. Are you sure you’re ready to read on? In the words of Ryan Seacrest, “prepare yourself for the heartbreak and the devastation” headed your way!
Read more at EW
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More Recaps after the JUMP…
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‘American Idol’ Recap: Bruno Mars Rules, Jacee Badeaux Cries in Drama-Filled Hollywood
It was all Bruno Mars, almost all of the time on American Idol’s Hollywood group round episode Wednesday night, as nearly half of the contestants pinned their hopes on the breakout pop crooner’s earnest melodies.
Mars’ solo Hot 100 No. 1 singles “Grenade” and “Just the Way You Are, ” as well as Cee-Lo Green’s “Forget You, ” were among the songs performed most frequently in the group round, with wildly varied results. New York natives Pia Toscano, Alessandra Guercio and Brielle Von Hugel sailed through with their rendition of “Grenade, ” while a “Just the Way You Are” cover by a group of Latino contestants rendered only two them safe: Miami native (and six-pack-sporting) Jovanny Barreto and MySpace auditioner Karen Rodriguez.
Read more at THR
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American Idol Engages in Group Therapy
Tonight’s two-hour American Idol focused on the Hollywood Round’s group day, when all the aspiring singers clique off into foursomes and fivesomes and try to harmonize their way into the judges’ hearts. Of course, what with all the egos and competitiveness involved—not to mention the sheer exhaustion that comes from people having to learn a lead, some harmonies, and some dance steps for the purposes of pulling off a life-changing performance.
Read more at Popdust
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‘American Idol’ Hollywood Round, Part 2 Recap
What happens when you take a bunch of extroverted, self-involved wannabe superstars and force them to work together? Drrraaaama!
Whereas before they might have been shooting daggers at each other from across the audition waiting room (or at least Tiffany Rios was), tonight it was time for the 168 remaining ‘American Idol’ hopefuls to band together in the common interest of survival.
Read more at TV Squad
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‘American Idol’ Group Day: Jacee Badeaux, tears and a Steven Tyler lap dance
After eliminating roughly half of the 327 contestants the first two days of Hollywood Week, “American Idol” is back with the dreaded Group Day, which is one of our favorite parts of the entire show. There are always so many tears and meltdowns, but there are also some amazing performances that come out of it — remember Danny Gokey and Jamar Rogers group from two years ago? I still remember how good they were.
Read more at TV Squad
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“Hollywood Round #2”
Shit got real early on when it was revealed that the groups must consist of singers from both day one and day two of auditions, so day one singers who had already formed groups needed to re-form, which instantly caused problems. Brett Loewenstern’s group had problems finding a new person and got ditched two times, the second when Jessica Yantz made the biggest mistake of her life and decided to team up with Tiffany Rios. It was gratifying to see how bad Tiffany’s comment about how all the other contestants only thought they could do what she did bit her in the ass. “Do you want me in your group?” she asked one guy. “No, ” he said. “Are you being serious?” “Yes, ” he said. It was great. At one point, she tried to get Scotty McCreery to join her, and he asked to hear her sing, and she retorted that she should her him sing. He started to bail, and then she basically begged him on her knees to join her. Somehow, her desperate mess self failed to tempt him. She and Jessica were ultimately allowed to just be a duo.
Read more at AV Club
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‘American Idol’ Brings The Pressure On Group Night
Group night on “American Idol” is notoriously brutal. It’s full of attitude, fighting, ragged nerves and exhaustion. And that’s just from the audience at home watching the ridiculous diva behavior onscreen.
But after pulling an all-nighter, a number of this year’s picks to click, including teens Jacee Badeaux and Lauren Alaina, as well Chris Medina, James Durbin, Brett Loewenstern and Chelsee Oaks, survived to sing another day, while some early favorites went down in flames, unable to handle the pressure.
Read more at MTV
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‘Idol’ Insanity: The Hollywood Week Group Round’s 10 Most Dramatic Moments
“American Idol’s” Group Round is, as Ryan Seacrest pointed out repeatedly throughout Wednesday’s harrowing two-hour episode, the most difficult challenge of Hollywood Week. “Prepare yourself for the heartbreak and devastation, ” he warned. The drama started straight away with attempts to form literally and figuratively harmonious groups, but that was just the beginning of the drama…after that came the all-nighter practice sessions, the public-restroom rehearsals, the 15-year-olds’ meddling stage parents, the ex-lovers’ spats, the claws-out catfights, the bad step-touch choreography, the forgotten lyrics, the backstabbing teammate switches, the harsh judges’ critiques, the Tatiana Del Toro-style tantrums, the countless Bruno Mars covers, the surprise eliminations, etc.
Read more at Reality Rocks
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‘American Idol’: All Together Now: Group Grope In Hollywood
It was time to turn aside the sob stories, the amateurs and the wannabes and get down to business with “American Idol’s” fabled Group Rounds.
The 168 contestants left were put together in 39 different groupings of between three and five apiece and given 24 hours to work up a song and a choreographed presentation for tunes ranging from Cee Lo’s “Forget You, ” Bruno Mars’ “Grenade” and Duffy’s “Mercy” to Queen’s “Somebody to Love” and the Temptations’ “Get Ready.”
Read more at Fancast
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Hollywood group sing leads to ‘Idol’ meltdowns
The “American Idol” group sing exists solely for two types of people. Those interested in studying the psychology of how coalitions form, work together and bond under stress, and those who simply like watching egotistical people melt down when faced with the pressure.
Season 10 took that to another level by mandating that each group contain some whose initial performance came on the first day and some who sang on the second. That kept the successful Day One auditioners who had already made informal arrangements from having an unfair advantage, and also added to the stress level when this was announced at 8:30 p.m. the night before the next round was to take place.
Read more at MSNBC
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‘American Idol’ 2011 continues Hollywood Week
Check your back-stabbing weapons at the door, Idolettes — it’s “American Idol” group night auditions in Hollywood Week. In Pasadena.
Why is this night different from all other nights? Because you’re going to learn the important showbiz lesson of appearing to play nice with people you feel in every way superior to.
Read more at Washington Post
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‘American Idol’ Season 10: Hollywood Week Continues With Group Night
The stress and scramble started well before the contestants hit the stage on Idol’s continued Hollywood Week. That’s because it was group night – singers had to form a team and perform together, even though the eliminations would be individual.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal
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‘American Idol’ Recap: Group Night Brings More New Faces And Shattered Dreams
Wednesday night (February 16) smelled like sleep deprivation, bad craft service and embarrassing levels of desperation. It’s not VMA week here at MTV (kidding), so it must mean one thing: Hollywood Group Number Night on “American Idol”!
In the past, we’ve had havoc-wreakers like the Brittenum Brothers, Tatiana del Toro, Julia DeMato and Antonella Barba. Who will step up and be this season’s resident diva?
Read more at MTV (Jim Cantiello)
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Group nights make me emotional: American Idol 10 Hollywood Week Part 2
In all honesty, the group episode of Hollywood Week is the best part of the season. It’s the one episode of American Idol where I don’t care if the drama is manufactured. I still believe its the most truthful of all Idol-ness. I hold it near and dear to my heart, every single year, even if I forget what happened by the following week.
Read more at Top Idol
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Hollywood Group Rounds Recap: Idol Delivers a Stellar Episode (I Know, I’m Shocked Too)
American Idol’s Hollywood group round is traditionally a VFTW favorite for the drama factor. Stars like the Brittenum Twins, Brenna Gethers, and Tatiana Del Toro made us stand and cheer during this episode. But some years, the group drama was lame and predictable. Which way will the Idol wind blow this year? Well… it’s blowing toward awesome. The drama was real, the singing was hilarious, and overall the show entertained the hell out of me for once. I bet I won’t say that again this season. There is no way to recap this episode without confusing the shit out of you since so many people leave and join groups over and over, so I’ll just discuss my favorite parts. Which contestants showed that VFTW spirit and made me proud?
Read more at Vote For The Worst
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Paul F. Tompkins Recaps American Idol’s Group Night
So, it’s group night, which means the contestants are forced to form groups so they can all sing and dance together, you know, like you always see David Cook and Carrie Underwood doing all the time these days. And some people are ahead of the game and have formed their groups already. Smart! BUT HOLD ON, STUPIDS, because some producer-y guy is saying that those groups are invalid! Now every group must include members culled from both days one and two! I have seen every episode since the season started three weeks ago, and I have no idea what “days one and two” refers to. But here’s what I do know: This new rule has been created solely to make the contestants uncomfortable and start fighting with each other for our benefit. There’s no other point — it’s not in any way enriching the contestants. “Look, this is what the music biz is like, kids. Every successful artist has been forced to stay up all night learning songs, making up choreography, and singing with four other people they just met. Ask any successful recording artist and they’ll tell you the same. Anyone who doesn’t is a liar! Yes, I’m including Billy Bragg!”
Read more at New York Magazine
