American Idol 2023 Recap Hollywood Pt 1 Performances and RESULTS
American Idol 2023 Recap Hollywood Pt 1 Performances and RESULTS – Season 21 continues with Hollywood Week, featuring judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan along with host Ryan Seacrest.
Seven alums mentor the Hollywood hopefuls, separated into three categories. Justin Guarini and Jordin Sparks mentors the Stage Presence group; Clay AIken and David Archuleta mentors the Confidence group; Phillip Phillips and Caitie Turner mentor the Songwriting group. Reigning winner Noah Thompson is also on hand to help the singers.
American Idol 2023: Full Season 21 Schedule
American Idol 2023 Spoilers: Top 26 Season 21 Contestant List
American Idol 2023 Spoilers Showcase Round Contestant and SONG List
American Idol 2023 Top 55 Contestants Guide (Videos, Photos)
Reminder: Comments on this post are a SPOILER FREE ZONE. Do not spoil outcomes. Keep spoiler discussion confined to specific spoiler posts.
The four platinum ticket winners sit in a balcony watching. The first three–Tyson Venegas, Kaylin Hedges, Cam Amen–were chosen by the judges in each audition city. But Ryan Seacrest announces the winner of the AMA Awards competition. And it’s Elijah McCormick. Ryan does the whole “AFTER A NATIONWIDE VOTE…” spiel.
Nutsa – I Surrender
Nutsa sits down with Justin to work on her stage presence. Unlike many contestants who need to be drawn out, the singer has TOO much energy and needs to dial it back. Justin helps her tone it down, while still remaining intense. She’s a big old fashioned singer, straight out of the 80s and 90s. The only thing missing is the pageant dress. She’s got an amazing instrument, but what she really needs is more of a connection to what she’s singing. Nevertheless, the judges give her a standing ovation.
Colin Stough – Stone by Whiskey Myers
Colin works on his confidence. But he wonders if he should have chosen Stage Presence. He’s never performed on a stage before. He accompanies himself on acoustic guitar. He’s not flashy like Nutsa. But he’s authentic. I believe every word he sings. He’s a raw talent like Noah Thompson was last season.
Sara Beth – Roxanne by Sting
She chose confidence too. Clay sits down with her. If she doesn’t feel confident, FAKE IT Clay says. You can do it! She’s the young mom who got mad at Katy. Clay promises, “They are going to love you.” Sara sings with an interesting soulful growl. She has potential, but sings like a mom who hasn’t really pursued a singing career. And as a matter of fact. Right on stage, SHE QUITS to be with her family. After she runs off stage, the judges ask her to come back. Katy tries to convince her to stay. “You lose out on your potential.” She adds, ‘”Self love is just as big as motherly love.”
Moving on to the next round: Sara Beth, Nutsa, Colin–the entire line moves on. But in the end, Sara Beth decides to leave anyway. While her three young children are a factor, she seems to be also using them as a shield for her own insecurity. She probably never expected to get as far as she did, and when she got to a certain point in the competition, she chickened out.
Marybeth Byrd
Marybeth works on Stage Presence. Photos of the singer working with Jordin are posted to the press site. But all we see here is her dynamic performance. She pours on the passion as she sings. She is blistering. She sheds a little tear as she finishes. “I was really in the moment with that song,” she says
Zachariah Smith – Cold as Ice
His oldest step child is 10. He’s 19! Step man. Heh. Clay is helping the singer work on his confidence. He’s being tough. Zachariah loved talking to Clay. He was his mother’s favorite. Heh. Not feeling this song choice, it doesn’t highlight his sweet tenor. He can hit the high notes and he’s working the stage like a maniac. “He’s a little kooky, but he’s natural,” Katy observes.
Hannah Nicolaisen – Original Song
Hannah sits down with Catie Turner to chat about Songwriting. An athlete as well as a singer, Hannah doesn’t have much performing experience, she says. Catie loved her original song, and advised Hannah to proceed in the competition on her own terms, even if it’s a big risk. Hannah is a natural singer and songwriter, despite her concentration on the sportsball!
Moving on to the next round: Zachariah, Hannah and Marybeth are going on to the next round.
We Ani – Original Song
Despite singing an original song, We decided to work on Stage Presence. Press photos reveal her working with Jordin Sparks. The singer gets a call and response thing going with the crowd. She walks off the stage to a standing ovation. The audience keeps singing her song even after her exit. She’s in tears, ‘That was worth everything!” she says.
Olivia Soli – How Will I Know to Know by Whitney Houston
We see just a snip of her rangy performance.
Malik Heard
The former The Voice contestant covers YEBBA.
Kaeyra – Black Hole Sun
After her audition, she promised Katy an uptempo song, but she’s still flipping pop rock songs into ballads. But she’s VERY GOOD at that particular skill. I expect she’ll struggle on an upbeat number.
Lyric Medeiros – Just Keep Moving the Line from Smash
Lyric works with Jordin on her stage presence. She hits her mouth on the microphone and draws blood. Oh no. She sings Broadway, despite the panel hating Broadway music.
And in fact, Lyric is sent home. But We, Olivia, Kaeyra, Malik move on to the next round.
Paige Ann – Pull You Through
She works with David Archuleta. She’s a big fan, and after her audition, he wished her good luck over zoom. She works with him on confidence and he tells her to concentrate on why she’s competing in order to stay grounded. Her voice is HUGE.
Makayla Stacey – Warrior
Oh boy. Makayla is Phil Stacey’s kid. He competed on season 6 with Jordin. The two have a big reunion. Makayla is about the same age as Jordin when she won the competition. Back then, Jordin babysat the infant Makayla. She feels a certain amount of pressure being her father’s child. Her voice is huge, but she needs to work on her pitch.
Hayden Madison – Still Need You (Original)
She works with Phillip on her songwriting. The song is about her brother, who battled depression. They had to literally babysit him 24/7 to make sure he didn’t hurt himself. He’s OK now, she says. Phillip is impressed with her song. “Stay yourself,” he says. She accompanies herself on electric keys. She has a Taylor Swift vibe. It’s an emotional song, but the verses are breathy, but she opens up on the chorus. She gets a standing ovation. And she’s teary. “Massive star,” says Luke.
McKayla leaves the competition, but her father is proud of her!
Madi and Mckayla are sent home! Paige Ann and Hayden move on to the next round
Matt Wilson – Can You Stand the Rain
He worked on stage presence with Jordin. He feels she really helped him. “She gave me some incredible tips.” It’s a beautiful, fresh and contemporary version of a 90s classic.
Oliver Steele – Broken Halos
He works with Phillip on songwriting, despite performing a cover in front of the judges! Phillip, who didn’t even audition without his guitar, at a time when hopefuls weren’t allowed to play instruments, suggests that Oliver lose the guitar. And just like Phillip, he did not take that advice. The performance is simple, yet emotional. His vocal cut right though. Oliver closed out the auditions with his emotional song dedicated to his father who had a stroke.
Oliver, Matt are through to the next round
Fire – You Say
She’s the str***** who the judges made audition in two different cities before they finally gave her a golden ticket. She works with Clay on confidence. She’s nearly in tears. He reminds her that she deserves to be here. She’s nervous, but manages to deliver an impactful performance. It’s her best so far.
Lucy Love – Make You Feel My Love
Jordin helps Lucy get grounded for her performance. She confides that she’s ending her marriage. “It feels like somebody died.” Jordin gives her a hug. “Don’t be afraid of what you’re going through, use it,” Jordin says. Her enunciation is a little weird at times, but her phrasing and intonation are unique. She’s an unmistakable voice. The entire crowd are on their feet before she’s even finished. “That’s what we call spectacular,” says Katy.
Lucy and Fire BOTH advance to the next round
Brayden Phillips
He jokes around on stage, pretending as if he couldn’t remember the name of his song, until he spits out that he chose to work on his confidence. The little snip of song was confident enough.
Next, Noah gives a group of contestants a pep talk!
Mariah Faith – I Hope You’re Happy Now
After her audition, the judges gave Mariah the opportunity to open for Noah and HunterGirl in Las Vegas. She chats a bit with her new friend Noah. She chose the Stage Presence group.. Her raspy growl is outstanding.
Trey Louis – Vienna
He’s the singer who endured a school shooting. He works at a mattress store now. A video he uploaded went viral. He works with Justin on his stage presence. His audition was vocally good, but awkward. He’s got a strong and appealing classic rock voice. But he has issues with pitch. And he’s still awkward on stage. Only experience will fix that.
Mariah, Trey advance to the next round. Brayden is eliminated.
Emma Busse
She’s another contestant the judges told NOT to be so Broadway. Her phrasing is a little choppy, and her voice cracks. But she sings a pop song with passion and credibility. Katy calls her “spectacular.
Emma is through to the next round.
Ashley Tankard flubs her performance of ‘Stars” with cracks all over the place. Sad. She runs off stage crying. Kamron Lawson has the same problem.
Megan Danielle – Up to the Mountain
Lauren Daigle joined her on the circle during her audition to sing “You Say.” Megan worked on confidence. But she sounds even better than her audition! This is a very heartfelt rendition. Her old-time rasp is gospelly and pure. She’s feeling the Lord, for sure. Her voice breaks at the end. The judges are on their feet. She’s thinking of her grandfather who recently passed away.
Megan is through to the next round. Ashley and Kamron are eliminated. Also going home: Ophrah Kablan, Dany Epp, Owen Eckhard, and Keelin.
Dawson Wayne – Sour Skies (Original)
He reminds me of season 19 contestant Wyatt Pike, who quit at the Top 16.
Kya Monee – And I’m Telling You
She worked on confidence. But she seems to have plenty of it. It takes a lot of guts to take on this big Jennifer Hudson song from Dreamgirls. The crowd is on their feet by the end. Kya, who duetted with the late Willie Spence on season 19, is hoping to go farther in the competition this time.
Iam Tongi – I Can’t Make You Love Me
His dad introduced him to music. He bought the guitar he’s playing today. But he passed away only a few months before this performance. Clay helps Iam connect to the audience. He needs to open his eyes! He does subtle things with the phrasing that makes the song entirely his own. Not big changes, but enough to suit his unique talents. This 18 year old kid is a natural. His audition went viral. He has millions and millions of views across all platforms. Will he do it again?
Kya, Iam and Dawson all advance to the next round
Crazy twist for Monday’s Duet Challenge. The contestants will pick their own partners. Chaos!
A couple of notes: After making such a big deal about the mentors, we didn’t see much of them. Clay and Jordin got the most screen time. David was shown working with ONE contestant, and that was it. Same with Caitie, while Phillip got a couple of segments.
Also, American Idol is stingy with the videos this season. Why didn’t they put up Megan Daniel’s full performance? She was in at least the Top 5 of the night I’ll try to cut some longer clips tomorrow.
