American Idol Season 8Top 36 Group 1 Results

The first three Season 8 finalists are:

Michael Sarver
Alexis Grace
Danny Gokey

Ryan Seacrest tells us 24 million votes were cast Tuesday night, 10 million more than the same week in 2008. It is impossible to concieve that anyone would even care enough to vote after watching Tuesday's fiasco. We'll chalk it up to the revised format where the Top 3 survive instead of the bottom four are eliminated. Still ... 10 million more votes with nearly 4 million fewer viewers than in 2008 (Tuesday's show averaged 25.10 million viewers and a 9.5 rating/23 share from 8-10 p.m., whereas in 2008 it averaged 29.0 million viewers with a 11.3 rating/27 share)? Have the "Idol" producers found a new way to cook the numbers?

When asked by Seacrest, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi have the temerity to pronounce Tuesday night's show good. If there was any doubt left (and there wasn't), now we know for sure that they're facile liars.

We are subjected to a recap of the "Idol" journey so far. (Do we not know these lame clips by heart by now?) And though we thought the singing torture ended after the performances on Tuesday, we were wrong. We failed to recall that the group songs begin on results nights of the semis. Needless to say, when you have only about four out of 12 who sound acceptable singing solo, putting all 12 voices together was like the cats yowling on the fence at midnight. Ugh! They "sang" and "danced" (possibly even worse than the "singing") to Jason Mraz' "I’m Yours." Anyone else getting sick of this song? And, not to be cruel, but how is blind Scott McIntyre supposed to do the group choreography when he performs in two weeks? Just asking ...

Watch video of Group 1 singing and dancing to "I'm Yours"

But wait! There's more! Bad singing that is. We have to view the prerequisite "highlights" clip from Tuesday's show, or in this case, the lowlights clip. It's times like this that we owe gratitude to the inventors of TiVO, DVRs, VCRs and any other device that has a fast-forward mode.

Before the voting results begin, Ryan chats with Group 1. We begin to understand why Jackie Tohn, whose singing left something to be desired on Tuesday, made the cut to the Top 36. She's animated, funny, spontaneous and totally comfortable onstage. When Ryan asks her to rate her Tuesday performance, she asks, "Like on a school report card, or like in the Olympics?" She then gives herself a 91, which she says equates to a B+/A-. Ryan asks Anoop Desai what the atmosphere is like among the contestants. Anoop tries to bluff his way through, saying he can speak for most of them and that they're relaxed knowing they've done the best they could do and now they're waiting to see if America has found them worthy. Ryan turns on the pressure: "You're relaxed?" Anoop begins to squirm. "Your results are in, Anoop. The nation has voted." More squirming and mumbling. "And they've decided that you, Anoop ..." Ryan pauses, then says, "So tell the truth right now, live on national television." Anoop folds, "I am ... the most nervous I've ever been." Ryan, getting what he wanted, taps Anoop on the shoulder and says, "God bless you." It was funny. For better or worse, Ryan was born to be host of "American Idol." He is very good at his job.

Next Ryan turns to Tatiana Del Toro, asking her a couple of times if she is alright. Seeing Tatiana acting relatively normal on live TV, it's really getting annoying just how much the producers are trying to prod her over the edge, making us wonder how much of a head case she really is, and how much was made to look like one through creative editing on the taped segments of the show. Ryan asks Tatiana if that is Paula Abdul's ring she's wearing (Paula gave Tatiana a "star" ring from her jewelry line at the judges' mansion after Tatiana said she tried to buy one but it was sold out). Tatiana says yes, then drifts into a Tatiana world conversation with Paula, until Ryan snaps her back to live TV to ask her about the plea she made to viewers the night before to keep her dream going. He tries, but the girl is sounding too normal and he can't get her to break. Hmmmm. He moves on to Stevie Wright. Maybe he can get some tears and drama from her. She obviously knows she's doomed after her train wreck of a performance the night before. Even Kara called her out on it (along with Casey and Stephen) earlier on tonight's show. Seacrest asks her what she and mother discussed after the show. Stevie reiterates what she said after her performance Tuesday: It's kinda confusing when the judges tell you to choose younger songs more of her age, then criticize her Taylor Swift song choice. Sadly for the producers, they strikeout on drama. Time for the results.

First up is Casey Carlson. She tells Ryan that she thinks she should have picked a different song, but she had the time of her life and feels great. We wish we had the guy from "Lie to Me" on the show for that comment; her face so betrayed her words (see photo). And, Sweetie, to paraphrase Simon, song choice was the least of your problems. You were off-key and never should have made the Top 36. Plus pulling faces and posturing made it 10 times worse. Needless to say, Casey does not make the Top 12. Nor does Stephen Fowler. Ryan calls him to the stage, shakes his hand, then totally embarrasses him by Stephen his hand is soaking wet. Thanks, Seacrest. Fowler says that he may have picked the wrong song, but he wanted to show another side of himself, though perhaps he should have stuck with what got him there.

Alexis Grace is next. Her outfit, complete with fedora looks really cute. She's either a great self-stylist or has been given good advice. The red lipstick is toned down, and we notice she has a yellow tongue from throat lozenges, but it's so much better than last year's green tongues. When she is declared Season 8's first finalist, Ryan tells her you may be the next American Idol. She says, "I know." No modesty there. Her dad, who looks like a '60s hippie, complete with long flowing hair and tinted granny glasses, breaks down in tears. Alexis reprises "Never Loved a Man," and, strangely, we like it better than Tuesday night's rendition.

Watch video of Ryan chatting with contestants, Casey Carlson and Stephen Fowler being eliminated and Alexis Grace becoming a finalist

Ryan starts calling duos up on the stage, beginning with Ricky Braddy and Jackie Tohn. Something odd happened at this point. As they approached Ryan, Jackie motioned to Ricky to change places with her so he would be standing closer to Ryan, as she said something to him, as if she already knew the order of things (and the results?) to come. Ryan tells Jackie, "Simon thought you played the clown too much and blew it. After watching it back, what did you think?"
Jackie: "Oh, I didn't think I blew it at all."
Ryan: "Would you have done the same thing all over again."
Jackie: "Oh, absolutely."
Ryan: "So you disagree with Simon?"
Jackie: "Oh, a 100 percent."
Ryan: "Simon, any reaction to that?"
Simon: "We'll see."
Ryan eliminates Ricky, then tells Jackie, "After the nationwide vote, Simon wins. You're not in the Top 12."

Then it's Anoop and Michael Sarver's turn. Ryan chats with them briefly, asking Sarver how he feels. He says, "My heart is pounding out of my chest. All that goes through my head is 'tomorrow's another day if not, and tomorrow's really another day if I, you know [make it].' " Seacrest then turns to Anoop and asks him if he is still nervous. "Yeah man, yeah," he says, to a titter of audience laughter. Seacrest then ends only Michael's agony. He's made it, but Anoop's been cut. Michael sings "I Don't Wanna Be," and we don't wanna be hearing it again. After Michael performs, Ryan says that only 20,000 votes separated Michael and Anoop.

Watch video of Ricky Braddy, Jackie Tohn and Anoop Desai being eliminated and Michael Sarver becoming a finalist

They're baaaack. Yes, it's time for an "Idol" promotional. In this case the opening of The American Idol Experience at Disney World. We see a short video of last week's ceremonies, which included, count 'em, all seven "Idol" winners appearing together for the first time. Then there is a glimpse of David Cook and Carrie Underwood dueting on "Go Your Own Way."

Watch video of the Disney World American Idol Experience ceremonies

Seacrest then calls down the next two contestants. Two people approach the stage, but who are they? Oh. It's a stunt. It's really Season 7 finalists Carly Smithson and Michael Johns making a guest appearance to sing "The Letter." Hate to say it, these two were much better in concert. The Disneyworld video was better than this. Carly was shrill and shouting, and Michael was, well, just bad. Waste of time.

Watch video of Carly Smithson and Michael John singing "The Letter"

Seacrest makes really short work with the next three real contestants, who aren't even invited down to the stage. Anne Marie Boskovich, Brent Keith and Stevie Wright are all asked to stand in place and are eliminated. Guess that means they don't even stand a chance of a wild-card callback.

All this leads up to what the producers hope will be the real drama of the night: Tatiana and Danny Gokey are called down to the stage. The face-off. But there was no drama here. Everyone knew Danny was a lock. That was the only sure thing Wednesday night. So we assume the producers were hoping for the big Tatiana meltdown. But that didn't happen, either. We're kept on hold for the obvious results with a commercial break.

Watch video of Anne Marie Boskovich, Brent Keith and Stevie Wright being eliminated and the Tatiana Del Toro and Danny Gokey face-off

We're back, and still having no luck getting Tatiana to have a breakdown, Ryan, almost reluctantly, decides to give us the results. It's *shock* Danny, who, we must note, was wearing the most butt-ugly pair of eyeglass frames we've ever seen on a guy. Is this going to be his style statement? Different (or no) frames every week? Also, has anyone else noticed that Danny looks alot like Robert Downey Jr.'s younger, geekier brother? Back to the action: You know how most contestants feel sorry for the loser standing by their side when they are chosen? They try to be a bit restrained with their joy? Not Danny. We see that he is just as self-absorbed as Tatiana is, whooping it up and ignoring her for a full 10 seconds, before realizing he ought to go over, put his arm around her and make believe he cares. Yuck. We're beginning to like him less and less. What's worse, we see one of his friends pull out a card as he is announced a finalist. As Danny sings "Hero," his friend shamelessly flashes the photo of Danny and his dead wife. Talk about literally playing the dead wife card. Enough already!Watch video of Tatiana Del Toto being eliminated and Danny Gokey becoming a finalist and singing "Hero"

Group 2 next week is: Megan Corkrey, Kris Allen, Mishavonna Henson, Matt Breitzke, Allison Iraheta, Matt Giraud, Jasmine Murray, Kai Kalama, Jesse Langseth, Adam Lambert, Jeanine Vailes and Nick Mitchell

Watch video of Group 2 dance

The show will air on Wednesday and Thursday next week, instead of Tuesday and Wednesday.

And if we had to guess, we'd choose Ricky Braddy, Jackie Tohn and Anoop Desai as being wild-card choices.

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© 2009

American Idol Season 8Top 36 Group 1

Oy! If these are the the best and the brighest that Simon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul could find after a search of more than 100,000 contestants, all we can say is that Cowell should add a question mark to the title of his series "America's Got Talent," and the answer would be: "no."

Prior to Tuesday, it was bad enough that no one Season 8 auditioner shown out like a beacon in the crowd (though, to be sure, they were a few favorites whose names were already circulating: Danny Gokey, Anoop Desai). But we could excuse that if only because we hadn't yet seen anyone sing a full song (or at least 1 min. 20 sec. of a song). But Tuesday night was the Big Reveal of what we were already beginning to fear: This season most probably will suck.

To begin with, we hate that the producers have reverted to the old way of picking the finalists. We begin with far too many semifinalists (36) who are initially divided into three groups of 12. Each week, the top three vote-getters go immediately to the finals. But it's really not the top three. It's the top guy vote-getter, the top girl vote-getter and the third highest vote-getter, male or female. Nine finalists are chosen this way. On Thursday of Week 3, the judges each present a list of three "wild card" contestants who have thus far failed to make the finals. They perform again, and at the end of the episode, the judges will choose the last three to complete the Top 12.

This gives each contestant just one shot (or perhaps two if the judges choose them for the wild-card round) to perform, eliminating some who might have potential to develop. Think about how different David Cook was from the beginning of the semis to his championship. Remember, it was still during the semifinals that he sang "Hello," one of his most outstanding numbers. What if he had been booted after his first semifinal performance, "Happy Together"? "Hello" came a mere two weeks later.

We also don't think the judges should be picking anything more at this point. After all, their (or, more likely, the show's producers) careful deliberations already forced Tatiana Nicole Del Toro, Nate Marshall, Nick Mitchell and Von Smith down our throats. What if Tatiana is (hopefully) booted tonight and they pick her for the wild-card round? Who wants that? Or they pick the 12 contestants that the public liked least, instead of the 12 highest-scoring also-rans?

DialIdol results for Tuesday night predict that Danny Gokey is the only safe singer. The highest scoring female by their statistics is Alexis Grace, and the third highest overall scorer is Michael Sarver. Other than Alexis, America hated the remaining women pretty equally. Any of the five could have placed second. As for the guys, the only one definitely dead and gone by DialIdol results is Stephen Fowler. They have Anoop Desai, Ricky Braddy and Brent Keith in a dead heat. That kind of stinks, as Ricky Braddy was a real standout, but his lack of face time in previous episodes obviously hurt him Tuesday night. We're also surprised that Michael placed in front of Anoop, a judges' favorite and previous audience favorite. Although Anoop was not at the top of his game Tuesday night, he was certainly better than Sarver.

Here's how it came down, contestant by contestant:

Jackie Tohn kicked off the show with Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation." Although we admit to a soft spot for our homie, to paraphrase Simon, if we're being honest, this was a crappy song choice that did nothing to showcase her raspy voice. And to paraphrase Randy on her outfit: "Whaaaat?" Those shiny stretchy nylon leggings were to die for, as in didn't they bury them back in the '80s? Though Tohn did look kinda cute overall, jumping around in her polka dot strapless top, wide red belt and matching kicks. If nothing else, she certainly stood out. But if this is her final performance, will we never find out the meaning behind the black-and-white cameo pin she wears for every performance? The singing, well, it was bleh. Though Tohn was so confident and full of energy, posturing all over the stage, that the judges (except Simon) all but forgave her mediocre singing. We're certain one of them will choose her as a wild-card contestant. But Simon wasn't having with any of it, saying, "I think that you actually played the clown tonight. I thought the performance was ungainly, I thought the song was a bit gimmicky ... so I don't think that you did yourself any favors tonight. I don't think the public is going to like that very much and I think that you may have blown this great opportunity by doing something silly, rather than good." BTW, he didn't like her outfit, either.

Watch video of Jackie Tohn singing "A Little Less Conversation"

Regardless of the endless praise that the final performer received, the best performance of the evening, as far as we were concerned, went to Ricky Braddy, who sang Leon Russell's "A Song for You." His parents were wearing T-shirts that read: "I'm in the Braddy Bunch." Cute. Unfortunately, Ricky is shy and doesn't have much of a personality. In addition, he's received so little face time, the audience knows nothing about him and this is going to hurt him badly. We can only hope that one of the judges picks him for a wild-card position. On the up side, he lost his glasses -- and with them part of his geeky appearance -- for the performance. Randy told him he was unbelievable, beautiful tone, nice voice, "the way to jump it off." Kara said, "You killed that. That was amazing. Your riffs, your interpretation. It was effortless. You have an incredible gift." Paula gave Ricky a standing O and said, "With so many contestants that are involved, you weren't featured in the past three weeks and I'm so proud that America gets to see how talented you are, because, make no mistake, you deserve to go very far in this competition." Yea! Agreed! Simon added, "Very, very good. I'm not jumping out of my chair like you three are." He then accurately added, "My only issue with you is, that I don't think at the moment that you have any star quality. Because you have a great voice, but I don't think you have the self-belief or the charisma right now to be what we would be looking for this year. At the moment, I think you're a nice shy guy with a very good voice. And you've got to start believing in yourself, a bit." Paula jumped in with, "Take lessons from him," pointing to Simon, to which Cowell retorted, "Why not?"

Watch video of Ricky Braddy singing "A Song For You"

We suppose we have to give the best female vocal to Alexis Grace (or at least put her in a tie with Anne Marie Boskovich), but none of the women really knocked us out. Although the judges thought Grace's performance of Aretha Franklin's "Never Loved a Man" was soulful, we were left unmoved. It was a good, strong, yet strangely unstirring vocal. And we hate to be critical of her appearance, but if you're going to wear a short, short lacy slip dress, you shouldn't be knocked kneed. As Simon would say, "Sorry." We actually like the pink highlights in her blonde hair. But the jury is still out on her RED lipstick. Can't decide whether we loved it or hated it, but it certainly made you look at her mouth. Randy said, "You worked it out, I'm loving you right now. Whaaaat?" (are we going to have to hear whaaaat all season, dawg?) Kara said Alexis is a new girl since her audition and that Kara loves it, adding "great job." Paula couldn't get her thoughts together in a cohesive sentence and decided to keep rambling just to annoy Simon. But she did tell Alexis that she has "that quiet confidence that she loves" and that she was wonderful, beautiful and fantastic. Simon said of the three singers so far, she was the best (we disagree), and told her she actually does have soul (wrong). He also told her she might be "a little dark horse in this competition" and that she reminds him of Kelly Clarkson (no way!) eight years before in the same position, and that she's "the one to watch." With all the winking he did at her, it's clear that Cowell really likes her. Whatever.

Watch video of Alexis Grace singing "Never Loved a Man"

It was a bad night for former "Nashville Star" contestant Brent Keith, who tried to stay true to his roots with Jason Aldean's "Hicktown." First, instead of playing his video, they put up Stevie Wright's by mistake. Next, Ryan Seacrest, trying to cover the blunder, says, well, let's go downstairs and have you perform. But by the time they get to the stage, of course, they've qued up the right video. When Keith finally did sing, we thought it was a pleasant performance, though nothing that we were going to remember the next day. Yet, we were put off when he had to defend his song choice to all the judges except Randy. All night the judges told contestants, "We don't know who you are as an artist with that song choice," yet when someone is definitive about the kind of music he wants to record, he gets dumped on as well. Whaaat? (sorry). We previously thought Keith's good looks and country genre would keep him in the running, but between his DialIdol score and the judges' apathy, we now believe this was his final appearance. And that he seemed pissed at the judges' comments probably didn't garner him any extra votes. Randy said he was a "new edge to country, with the old country swagger. I liked you man, I liked you. I think you'll make a very good country artist." However, Kara told him he was too safe, that she previously thought he had a lot of soul and that his song choice wasn't rangy enough for her, ending with "I think you have more in you than what we saw tonight. You're a cute guy, you've got a lot going for you and I wish you'd taken more risks." Paula agreed it was a safe song, but said she could definitely see him as a country artist, "I mean, look what's happened to Josh Gracin, look what's happened to Bucky Covington ..." to which Simon said, "What has happened to Bucky Covington?" Ha, ha funny Simon, but fact is, Bucky had a number of country hits on his first CD (possibly more than Gracin has had) and is about to release the second. Cowell continued, "You're a nice guy, you've got quite a nice voice and you did something that was not safe, it was forgettable ... so I think you may have just blown a massive opportunity by being forgettable. Sorry."

Watch video of Brent Keith singing "Hicktown"

There were two train wrecks Tuesday night and Stevie Wright, singing Taylor Swift's "You Belong to Me," was the first one. Because the judges had told her that her audition song, "At Last," was too old for her, Stevie tried to keep things young. She looked cute, but that's as far as it got. At first, her voice was so low you could barely hear it (she obviously has no lower range), then when the song picked up, she was off key, pitchy and couldn't hit the big notes. It was pitifully bad karaoke and brought back bad memories of Antonella Barba. You really had to feel sorry for the kid. But she does have a great smile and is very telegenic. Randy said, "It was not hot for me. I wasn't feeling that at all." Kara said, "We wanted you to be young, but you really picked a song that had nothing to do with you. I think you have an identity crisis going on." Yeah, OK, whatever. Paula agreed, "It was just not the right song for you. The low range was too low for you, and it wasn't the Stevie Wright we fell in love with." Simon, however, spared nothing and just put it out there: "They're being quite polite. I mean, Stevie it was terrible. The song is OK, you were out of tune, you looked really nervous, out of your depth. I mean the good news is, you've got some experience from this, I guess. But there is zero chance of you making it through to the next round, after that." Kara got upset, saying, "We don't have to kill her now, do we?" And Paula and Kara jumped in with "America votes," to which Cowell answered, "Yes, but they listen to me" (not on the David Cook finale, Simon, ha!).

Watch video of Stevie Wright singing "You Belong to Me"

We expected big things from Anoop Desai, and he didn't entirely disappoint with Monica's "Angel of Mine." It was a sensitive and soulful rendition, though we'd rank him No. 3 of the six guys singing Tuesday. The one thing Anoop does have is truckloads of charisma and likability, and even at this early stage he's dressing right for the show. We thought he looked so much better than that gangly youth in shorts we saw in his audition video. Randy said, "I got mad love for you, but the whole song for me was a little sharp ... it never quite settled. But I'm still a huge fan, baby." And, yes, he did say, "Yeaaaaah, whaaaat," again. Kara said, "I'm not sure you had the riffs or capability to kinda nail it [the song], the way it needs to be nailed. But I think there's a lot of great potential with you. And I like you. I believe you when you're up there. I feel like you're connected to what you're singing about." Paula told him, "America has connected with you in a large way already." (We thought so, too, until we saw the DialIdol numbers.) She also told him that he has a Brian McKnight feel to his voice and that she believes in him. Simon, inexplicably, told him of the song choice, "I thought it was a little too grown-up for you, in a way. ... it was just a bit too serious for you." But if he doesn't make it through on Wednesday, we'd put money on his being a wild-card choice.

Watch video of Anoop Desai singing "Angel of Mine"

Casey Carlson singing "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by the Police made Chris Sligh look like a genius. Bad isn't bad enough to describe just how awful she was. We never liked her audition and wondered why the judges put her through (c'mon, being cute is never enough), and we were proven right. How to describe? Well, aside from horribly flat and off-key vocals, she was pulling faces, winking and making weird and awkward "dance" moves that were so reminiscent of Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Elaine Benes on "Seinfeld" that we started laughing and saying "buh-bye" about 10 seconds into her performance. Yikes! But when the judges began telling her the same things, her little pretty elfin face became all pouty and she looked like she was about to cry, which made Simon not nearly as cruel as he could have been. He started by asking her how she thought she did. She told him she had had fun. He then said, "I've got to find something positive here. You look good." (Actually her boots with the dress were wrong, wrong, wrong.) "Because the singing was just atrocious, to be honest with you. And you could not have chosen a worse song." He also said it was karaoke and that she got one massive opportunity and threw it away. And, yes, that was being nice, because Carlson's performance was like one of those awful auditions when Cowell says, "That was a joke, right?"

Watch video of Casey Carlson singing "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"

The fact that everyone seems to love Michael Sarver is serving him much better than his voice did on Gavin DeGraw's "I Don’t Wanna Be." All we kept thinking was, "When Bo Bice sang that song he just killed it. Michael Sarver is justing killing the song." In fact, we like Bo's version even better than DeGraw's. Paula mentioned in her critique that Elliott Yamin and Chris Richardson also sang "I Don't Wanna Be." We don't even remember those renditions. Sarver's, too, will be quickly forgotten. That he placed third overall on DialIdol must attest to his likability and Everyman status (he works as a rouhgneck on an oil rig) and that people relate to what he says about how doing well on the show will help change his family's lives. He's OK looking, but not gorgeous. (For some reason, he brings to mind a Siberian husky dog.) But the judges love him even with his imperfections. Randy told him, "It started out a little rough pitch-wise, the first verse was a little weird ... I might like you a little better on a soul thing. I'm not sure if it was the wrong song choice for you; I just don't think that you performed it that well." Kara added, "I don't think that was your best performance, you've got more in you. What I like is that you're singing something that's true to you ... You're likable because you are who you are and you connect with the audience." On the other hand, Paula told him he did "a real good job." (Not). Simon said, "We put you here primarily because we like you, you know. You're a good, honest guy, hard-working, who needs a break. I'm not going to lie to you and say this was the best vocal I've ever heard, because it wasn't. We've heard a lot worse tonight. So I think if you get through, it's because people like you ... But with you in particular, I hope America does pick up the phone and give you another shot." Apparently people do listen to what Simon sez.

Watch video of Michael Sarver singing "I Don’t Wanna Be"

We really loved Anne Marie Boskovich during her audition and we found her interpretation of Aretha Franklin's "Natural Woman" interesting. It wasn't great, but it was no worse than Alexis Grace's turn with another Aretha Franklin song. The judges weren't as enamored with her as we were. Randy thought the song wasn't the right choice for her, saying that others had sung the song on the show and really slayed it, but that Anne Marie fell subpar below that. Kara said, "It's feels a bit old-fashioned. It doesn't feel young," and that she would rather hear something that was a little more fun and girly. Anne Marie answered, "I think that's not as good as a classic," which elicited some whoas from Randy, but then Simon and he said, "I like that." Paula told her that she thought she did better than what they had heard from her before, adding, "I think you played it safer during your earlier auditions and this time you came out and gave it your all." Simon compared her to a hotel singer, saying, "The simple truth is, your voice is not good enough for that song. So it just destroyed you, in my opinion."

Watch video of Anne Marie Boskovich singing "Natural Woman"

Stephen Fowler was even more destroyed by his choice of Michael Jackson's "Rock With You." Mostly known for receiving a second chance after forgetting his lyrics during Hollywood Week, Fowler needed a strong comeback and this wasn't it. We've previously really liked his voice, but "Rock With You" did nothing to showcase it. In fact, we kind of agreed with Paula who said he should have resung David Cook's "Time of My Life," just to prove he remembered the lyrics. Plus that song suited his voice much better. Randy thought Fowler's song choice was all wrong: "Dawg, it's not even in the right place for you man. It's not the right song for you to be singing." He also noted that other than the high notes it was pitchy. Kara said he was more connected to the David Cook song at the piano and that this song didn't give him any room to interpret. Paula told him, "Singing "Rock With You" is like the kiss of death. It belongs to one artist, and that's Michael Jackson. I'm a little disappointed" Simon said, "I actually wish you had forgotten the lyrics, because it was such a pointless performance. ... The whole thing was just atrocious. The last 10 seconds were OK, Stephen, but you're going to watch this back and realize that you've made a huge mistake here, because actually, you know what it was? It was corny. And you're not a corny person. You're not."

Watch video of Stephen Fowler singing "Rock With You"

The performance everyone was waiting for dreading was that of Tatiana Del Toro. Her appearance singing Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love for You" was a lot more subdued than expected -- though there was this very dramatic pose at the end -- and the judges (read: producers) seemed really disappointed by the lack of drama, even encouraging her to do her incredibly annoying laugh. If putting her in the semis isn't a setup, then what is? Her vocal performance was adequate with some really nice parts. If she was normal and more consistent vocally, she would have the possibility of being a sensation. But she's not and she isn't. She'll always be one of the jokes of Season 8. Randy told her she had some moments when he said to himself, "You know what? She actually can sing" (well if you thought she couldn't, why did she make it to the semis???) He added, "You didn't pull it all together -- that second verse the melody was very weird -- but there were moments. Tatiana, there were moments." Kara was questioning, "Who are you in the industry? Where do you fit? Is she a character or is she an artist? I don't know." Paula noted that Tatiana was the most talked about contestant on the show, adding, "You know what they say, good, bad or indifferent, at least they're talking about you. This demure Tatiana, I'm not used to. But I will say, especially your closing note, was beautiful. You had beautiful moments and then you had pitchy moments, but I don't know who you are today. Are you crazy? You know we miss the crazy." Simon said, "Tatiana, you are a complete and utter drama queen. Right? You are. I've never met anyone in my life, probably with the exception of Paula, who's wanted fame more than anyone else. ... You are desperate to be famous. ... To get back to your singing for a moment, actually, surprisingly, it was bad at all. It was better than I expected." He then encouraged her to "lose this weird thing," the demure thing, because "it's actually making me a little bit nervous. Do the weird laughing."

Tatiana Del Toro - "Saving All My Love for You" by Whitney Houston
Watch video of Tatiana Del Toro singing "Saving All My Love for You"

Last up, in the "pimp" spot was Danny Gokey. He also chose a song by a diva, in his case, "Hero," by Mariah Carey. As we expected, it was a very nice performance. Danny's got a great idea going for him: perform songs by female singers, because it's then hard to compare you with the original artist, plus it sounds like you've changed the song up. He did it with "Hero," and previously during Hollywood Week with Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance." And it works well for him. Without the exception of Simon, the judges went WILD. Too wild. It was very good, but not that good. OMG, at the end of the song they were standing, screaming, woo-hooing, raising their arms. Get a life. It didn't even approach LaKisha's Jones' performance of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" during her first semifinal week, nor Melinda Doolittle's "Sweet Sweet Baby (Since You’ve Been Gone)" the same week. Randy said, "The redeemer of the night, right here, Danny Gokey, that was blazing hot." Kara shouted, "Danny, you are the hero, man. That was incredible. You give us all hope. You were great!" Paula chimed in with, "Danny, you are stellar, and I have two words with a hyphen: sold-out arenas." Simon, trying to keep it real, said, "It wasn't fantastic, it was good. You know, the end part was great, the beginning was OK , the arrangement was a bit heavy-handed. You are a very, very good singer. I like you. I'm just not buying the hype [pointing to the other three judges] right now. It's too much," as he rolled his eyes. Thank you, Simon. You are correct.

Watch video of Danny Gokey singing "Hero"

Tonight, the first three finalists are announced.

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American Idol Season 8Hollywood Week Group Day

UPDATE: For those of you interested in knowing the Top 36 right now, there has been a change in the lineup after last night's show. To see the updated list, click on the link Season 8 Top 36 on the right.

Ah, Group Day. The drama, the catfights, the ... boredom. Excuse us, drama queens or drama-queen lovers, but we don't watch "Idol" for the drama, we watch for the singing. And on the chaotic Group Day episode, it was a full 30 minutes before we even heard a note sung. We weren't happy. We've been waiting to hear these voices for four weeks.

Of course, the drama involved only the girls, and that included the always teary-eyed Nate Marshall, who is quickly getting on our last nerve. In fact, Nate is on our short list of the most exasperating drama queens of Group Day, which is headed by Tatiana Del Toro and also includes Katrina "Bikini Girl" Darrell and Kristin McNamara.

Most of the contestants form cohesive groups fairly quickly, except for Tatiana, whose horrid laugh is only matched by her psycho behavior on Group Day. Finding herself without a group (what a shock!), she runs over to one and inserts herself into it. Within minutes, they're less than overjoyed, as she begins to manipulate and give orders. Yet, as Tatiana sees it, her group is out to sabotage her. So she leaves them to insinuate herself into another group, made up of Nate, Kristin (who welcomes Tatiana with open arms) and Nancy Wilson. Nate and Nancy aren't too happy about reforming the group, but finally capitulate. When, surprise! Tatiana decides to rejoin her original group, which includes Muna Hiluf and Kaylin.

At this point, we're getting so dizzy from the antics, we consider reaching for the Dramamine. Nancy, who knows how much is riding on the next day's performance, has a fit and calls Tatiana out on it. Tatiana, who could care less, basically says, yeah, well, I'm sorry, get over it. We begin to wonder if Tatiana is really that crazy or if the producers scripted the whole thing and put her up to these stunts by guaranteeing her a free pass to the next round in exchange for creating scenes. We'd put nothing past the show's producers.

Watch video of drama queen Tatiana

Watch video of more drama with Tatiana

Meanwhile, we are also (mis)treated to the dysfunctions of Team Diva, which includes the estimable Jasmine Murray, as well as Lauren Barnes, Rose Flack and pain-in-the-ass Bikini Girl. We love doomed Rose Flack, who not only hates Bikini Girl, but also accurately foresees the future, saying "we're going to be that group that gets up there and is just an absolute train wreck." To no one's surprise (well not ours, at least), Bikini Girl flakes out on the rest of her team and trots off to bed. The rest of the group don't know what they're going to do as Bikini Girl hasn't rehearsed. Not to worry, the next morning, she claims to be sick and essentially abandons them ... until she decides not to and unexpectedly shows up in the waiting area telling them "I'm here. Teach me what I missed." Rose storms off in a huff.

Watch video of drama queen Katrina "Bikini Girl" Darrell

Finally, we get some singing. Simon Cowell warns the contestants that if they forget their words they are out. As we said yesterday, the dynamics of group day can bring down even the best singers -- or elevate them.

In the latter category was the first group to perform, Team White Chocolate -- composed of India Morrison, Matt Giraud, Kris Allen and Justin Williams -- who perform a rap/singing version of The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back." It is so entertaining and so professional -- especially considering it was put together overnight -- that it's possibly the best group performance we've ever witnessed. As Ryan Seacreast says, "All the contestants are cheering now, but on the inside they're saying, 'Damn, I wish we were that good.'" No surprise, Kara DioGuardi announces that all of them are through to the next round. Wow! If this is a precursor of the rest of the groups, it's going to be a great 30 minutes. Unfortunately, it is not.

Watch video of Team White Chocolate (India Morrison, Matt Giraud, Kris Allen and Justin Williams)

We next see three different groups make a mess of the lyrics and melody of The Temptations "Get Ready." Austin Sisneros, making it up as he goes along, ends a line with do-do instead of "you do." Shelby Swartwood not only forgets all her lyrics, singing "heeeeeeeey, na na na na na," she sings off-key to boot. It just keeps getting worse. Gratefully, Simon stops the final group before they can finish, telling them "that was an absolute, total mess."

Watch video of three different groups messing up "Get Ready" (Maryn Azoff, Austin Sisneros, J.B Ahfua, Shelby Swartwood, Julissa Veloz)

The rehearsal footage of the Action Squad -- Alex Wagner-Trugman, Ryan Pinkston, Anne Marie Boskovich and Emily Wynne-Hughes -- seems to indicate they spent more time figuring out their team name and dance moves rather than their singing, and it shows. They sound like crap together on Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow)," though individually they weren't bad. Sadly Ryan, who sounded great at the top of the number, flubs his lyrics and is cut, as is Emily. She's sad, but he's pissed, saying he saw evil in Paula Abdul's eyes, which the producers turn devil red to funny effect. Alex and Anne Marie move on to the next round.

Watch video Team Action Squad (Alex Wagner-Trugman, Ryan Pinkston, Anne Marie Boskovich, Emily Wynne-Hughes)

Music teacher Danny Gokey seems to be the leader of his group, the Rainbow Coalition, which also includes, no surprise, Jamar Rogers and Taylor Vaifanua. They decide to do an a cappella version of Queen's "Somebody to Love," and their harmonies sound just great. Randy Jackson tells them, "Nice harmonies, guys," and Simon calls it a very, very good performance and says he likes the fact that they were brave enough to do it on their own. They all make it through. And we must say that we love Danny's voice more and more each time we hear it. We're pumped.

Watch video Team Rainbow Coalition (Danny Gokey, Jamar Rogers, Taylor Vaifanua)

It's good news all around for a few groups singing Grand Funk Railroad's "Some Kind of Wonderful," including contestants Jeremy Michael Sarver, Adam Lambert, Matt Breitzke and Jesse Langseth. We like Adam, but Kara really adores him, calling him an incredible singer. Kudos also go to the others, but the surprise for us was the previously unseen and unheard Jesse (sister of Grammy Award-winning artist Johnny Lang) who sounds like a real contender. We can't wait to hear more from her.

Watch video different groups singing "Some Kind of Wonderful" (Jeremy Michael Sarver, Adam Lambert, Matt Breitzke, Jesse Langseth)

There are just three groups left, and we're looking forward to none of them, because they are the drama queens. First up is Team Diva -- Lauren Barnes, Katrina Darrell, Rose Flack and Jasmine Murray -- singing Duffy's "Mercy," and they're going to need some. They decide to put their differences aside for the greater good, but it does nothing to help. Jasmine is in great voice, and when Rose does remember her lyrics sounds good, as well, but her lack of concentration will get her eliminated. It doesn't take a genius to see they haven't rehearsed together and Simon wants to know why. Lauren, Simon points out, tries to be PC, saying some people weren't feeling well the night before, but he demands a name. Katrina blames her absence on her scolioses, saying she was in high heels from 5 in the morning, then up until 3, but he's not having it. Kara asks Lauren to step forward and then Katrina, who knows the end is neigh, but couldn't care less. Never having met a camera she didn't like, she starts voguing. Kara says to the other judges and to Simon's amusement, "OMG, look at her, she just totally posed." Rose is also told to step forward and the three are cut. Rose and Lauren surround Jasmine, but Bikini Girl just struts off, still aping to the camera, while Kara says, "She must be ready for her closeup. Damn what a [bitch? The expletive was deleted by the producers]." In a group interview afterward, Lauren says some people had better work ethics than others. Bikini Girl says "OMG" and stomps off. Katrina later tells the camera, "They're just fake girls," and with a shrug, "They don't mean anything to me," and with a giggle and a hand gesture to her shoulder, "Brush your shoulder off." Yes, Kara, what a bitch.

Watch video of Team Diva (Lauren Barnes, Katrina Darrell, Rose Flack, Jasmine Murray)

Tatiana and ensemble are next, doing "I Want You Back." Mila Hiluf, doesn't sound bad, but the backing harmonies are horrendous. The group is stopped while Tatiana is still doing her solo, and she continues past the cutoff, then steps back in line. As the singers await their fates, Tatiana, thinking she is being cute, makes another attempt to be noticed, by singing "I wanna get through," but is quickly chastised by the judges, who hold up their hands and tell her, "None of that today." There's no question she would have been cut for that alone if she hadn't cut some kind of deal with the producers. The group sounded like such crap together that we're stunned when all of them are put through. And now we're really beginning to fear the prophesy of Tatiana's psychic friend who said she'd make it to the Top 12.

Watch video of Muna Hiluf and Tatiana Del Toro

Finally, the last group, Team Compromise, or should that be Compromised? Minus Tatiana, they're back to the original three, Nathanial Marshall, Nancy Wilson and Kristin McNamara. After del Toto's departure the evening before, the drama continued for the group when Kristin insisted she needed to rest her voice and Nancy got on her case because they needed to rehearse, while Nate stood on the sidelines, crying and carrying on like a girl. Bleech! It's ironic, because Nancy who seemed to be taking the assignment very seriously will get cut, while the two others will remain safe. When they come on stage and Nate says their name is Compromise, Cowell asks if they got along. Nancy immediately says, "no," so Simon asks Kristin, who he calls Blondie, how she responds to that. She's whines that she's just so tired of the drama, that it's so distracting and she wants it to go away. Simon says, "So you won't be having dinner together tonight?" And Blondie, wide-eyed, says "Me and you?" Oy. They begin to sing Duffy's "Mercy." Crying boy looks and sounds good and Blondie sounds better than good. Nancy, well, she sucks. Screws up the lyrics and is totally off key. Simon says it's obvious they don't like each other and they sounded like they were trying to sabotage each other on backups. He then says that he thinks one of the girls is safe and the other isn't. It's as simple as that. Kristin tries to make a supportive move toward the crying Nancy, who moves away from Kristin. Paula pronounces the judges results and Crying Boy tries to hug Nancy, the only one cut, but she turns away from him and walks off. There's no love in this room tonight. Nancy walks past Kristin, and from the double bleep we're pretty sure she says f**k you to her. And so it goes.

Watch video of Team Compromise (Nathanial Marshall, Nancy Wilson, Kristin McNamara)

Next week: Hollywood Week continues and the Top 36 are announced.

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American Idol Season 8Hollywood Days 1 & 2

Hollywood Week has finally arrived for the tryouts who received a Golden Ticket during the show's audition period (to put in into perspective, the auditions were held in July and August 2008 and Hollywood Week took place in November 2008). We learn that this year, once again, the rules have changed for this important level. To begin with, Hollywood Week is being held on the stage of the Kodak Theater, the venue where the finale is held. We imagine that this will somewhat ameliorate the awe and fear some contestants experierence when stepping out onto its enormity later on -- or perhaps the producers just wanted to see who could cope with it early on.

Another change: Before getting in front of the judges, the 147 contestants who have made it thus far go through "Idol" boot camp, where they work with stylists, makeup artists and, most importantly, the show's vocal coaches, led by Debra Byrd. Byrd stresses to each comer that the most important thing is song choice, song choice, song choice. And if she didn't emphasize it enough, it's song choice. Yet, we later see that the most prevalent thing that will trip up 43 contestants and send them packing on Day 1 is -- all together now -- song choice. And surprise! Former mentor Barry Manilow, who has had so much plastic surgery that his face now resembles a caricature of its former self, has been employed as a guest lecturer. He tells the tryouts that there are two elements to success: opportunity and preparation. They've already been given the opprtunity, now everything will be depend upon how they deal with preparation.

Which brings us to the third change with Season 8: On Days 1 or 2 (depending when the contestant is scheduled to perform), you get one shot to make it or break it. We liked when they changed the rules in Season 7 for Day 1. Contestants were either put through immediately to the next round, or given a second-chance reprieve to get through. After all, anyone can have a bad day. It was also interesting to see who made it through right away, who made it through on the second-chance try and who stumbled on both. Perhaps the producers discovered that those who needed a second shot to advance ultimately fell to wayside anyway and that the experiment was a time waster and exercise in futility.

Finally, we learned at the end of the episode that on Day 3, the show had reinstituted the group performances, which were always interesting. Although "Idol" is the search for the ultimate solo artist, competing on the show includes a season full of group performances with the other finalists, as well as a summer tour with group performances. This past summer, much to the dismay of many fans, the tour focused on solo performances in a countdown mode from 10 to 1, with only a couple of group numbers. We're left to wonder if this means they'll revert to the old format of mostly group numbers during summer 2009.

Of course, the danger with group numbers is that a great singer in a lousy or lazy group can be taken down with it. We recall Season 6, when Antonella Barba and her friend, Amanda Coluccio, destroyed the chances of then 16-year-old Texas bright light Baylie Brown, after the Jersey Girls partied and fraternized with the guys the night prior to the group sing instead of rehearsing. This so rattled Brown, that she forgot the lyrics during her performance and was eliminated on the spot, even though she had been a favorite of former "Idol" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe. Ironically, Antonella and Amanda made it through to the next round, with only Antonella going all the way to the Top 24, where she was finally eliminated after several weak performances and tons of controversy over questionable photos of her posted on the Internet by "friends" (some suspected Coluccio of the deed).

For Day 1, the contestants are split into two group. One group will get the day off to go sightseeing in Hollywood (a nice perk if you're going to be eliminated right off), the other will stand before Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi to find out their Hollywood first-round fates. Once more, they are performing a cappella. We are first shown Lil Rounds, who the producers seem to be pushing greatly. She received a lot of face time on the her audition, as she does in the Day 1 Hollywood segment. She sings Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." Frankly, we were surprised. Song choice? Don't the judges always advise not to sing Whitney or Celine because you can only come out sounding second or third rate? They're right and Lil did. It sounded shouted more than sung, with some warbling on the high notes. But, OMG, the judges loved it. Kara gives her a standing O and Paula joins her. Huh? Kara tells her, "I liked you from the day I saw you. I thought you were bold and brave then. You're still bold and brave, and that's what makes for a great artist." Er, OK. We like her, still that performance wasn't the best. Of course, she easily gets through to Round 2.

Next up is Dennis Brigham, who also auditioned in Kansas City. We weren't that impressed with him then, and his rendition of Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life," fails to ring any bells for us this time either. Nor for the judges, who cut him. But Brigham isn't going down without a fight. After his appeals fail, he leaves the stage, saying, "You all suck as judges." Simon retorts, "Dennis, you've just reinforced my decision a million times." But Brigham isn't done. He sasses back with, "Great, good. You need to get some wardrobe. For somebody to be so rich, your pants are very, very cheap, with that cheap very lame shirt you got on." Did we tune into the wrong show? Was that Heidi Klum and not Ryan Seacrest and is this "Project Runway"?

Watch video of Lil Rounds and Dennis Brigham Hollywood Week, Day 1

Next up is Nathaniel "Nate" Marshall. We didn't see him during the auditions. He sings "The Anchor Holds" by Ray Boltz. He has a nice voice, but nothing that's going to make us run to the phone to vote. Paula tells him, "You have beautiful vocals, but you picked a song that stayed here [she mimics a flat line with her hand] the whole time." Simon asks about the inspiration behind the song, and Nate tells him, "Well, I'm one of those kids that's been through a lot and it means something to me because music's always been the anchor for me that keeps me from freaking out when something bad happens or, when, you know, [voice cracking] I didn't have people around me to support me, like other people." Simon gives a face shrug, Paula says, "Aw." Nate adds, crying, "I just want this, more than anything." Now the judges are feeling bad. Yes, Nate is very sensitive, but too much for our taste. "It's on my skin, like it just bursts out of me every time I'm on stage and I don't know why," Nate sniffles. Paula tells him, "It's OK, sweetheart," and Nate wipes his eyes. Randy tells him, "It's OK." Well, yes and no. This was getting a little too dramatic for us. This isn't even the hard part of the competition and he's bawling already. On VotefortheWorst.com they're already calling him Danny [Noriega] v.2.0 and we're beginning to understand why. Were we surprised he made it through? Again, yes and no.

Watch video of Nathaniel Marshall Hollywood Week, Day 1

In Marshall's group are also some familiar faces from the auditions: Anoop Desai, Jasmine Murray and Rose Flack. We remember liking them all, especially Jasmine. Anoop is up first and he knocks it out of the park with Stevie's Wonder's "If It's Magic." He's also better looking than we remembered. Then comes Jasmine and we love her even more after hearing her sing "The Trouble With Love Is." Kara tells her, "For me, you have raw natural talent." Jasmine's also looking even hotter than during her audition. Guess the stylist segment of Idol Boot Camp is working after all. We knew from her audition that Rose Flack wasn't the strongest vocalist. She has trouble in her boot camp rehearsal and seems to be falling apart. But she pulls it together before the judges with Otis Redding's "Dock of the Bay." It wasn't great, it was more interesting. But she performed it well enough to get a pass to the next round, as, of course, do Anoop and Jasmine, and we notice Michael Castro (who was not shown performing).

Watch video of Anoop Desai, Jasmine Murray and Rose Flack Hollywood Week, Day 1

The next group includes Stephen Fowler. We like his smoky R&B tone. Paula tells him, "You nailed it" and Randy says that the Stevie Wonder song he performed ["Superwoman"] is one of the hardest, ever. He told Stephen, "You slayed it, dud. Wha?" We were impressed by Jorge Nunez during his San Juan audition and he gave us no reason to question that appraisal in Hollywood after we heard him do Jon Secada's "Angel." This could be the big Latin singer "Idol's" been hoping to land for years. Bravo! On the other hand, we weren't impressed with Von Smith's theatrical "Over the Rainbow" audition, and we fairly hated his overly dramatic rendition of James Morrison's "If the Rain Must Fall." Simon's "Thankew" said it all. Well, not quite. He also told Von, "I thought it was indulgent nonsense ... a horrible song, a horrible performance, really annoying. It's the kind of thing a child would do, when they're learning to sing, at like 10." So what did they do? Amazingly, put him through to the next round. Fowler and Nunez advanced as well.

Watch video of Stephen Fowler, Jorge Nunez and Von Smith Hollywood Week, Day 1

If wacky New York auditioner Nick Mitchell could ever settle down and just sing, we know he be just as impressive as he is funny. We figure he thinks that he doesn't have a snowball in hell's chance at winning idol -- or even getting near the Final 12 -- so he is shooting for as much exposure as he can get as far as he gets. That means reverting once again to his hilarious Norman Gentle persona. For his Hollywood Day 1 performance, he once again did "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," from "Dream Girls," even calling out to Seacrest in the balcony. Only this time Simon didn't get to stop him. Randy told him, "You are hilarious dude ... but you know what? Dude, you actually can sing! Because you have some skills in there, dawg." On the other hand, Simon said, "I genuinely don't know what to make of you. Because without the glasses and the headband you're just a boring person. And then when you put the stupid outfit on, you become a joke. It's just ridiculous." But, believe it or not, Nick/Norman gets through to sing in the next round! As do nearly blind singer Scott MacIntyre and jazzy Frankie Jordan.

Watch video of Nick Mitchell/Norman Gentle Hollywood Week, Day 1

Jackie Tohn leads off Day 2 of Hollywood Week singing Susan Tedeschi's "Rock Me Right," sounding like Janis Joplin. She's loud, she's brassy. What do want? She's a Jewish kid from Oceanside, Long Island. She's our homey. And she's also the only auditioner we've seen this season with a real rock vibe. We are still loving her, but since she is a bit over-the-top, we wonder if she's just annoying the rest of America. And is the performance genuine or is she acting it up for the judges? Randy thinks she's genuine, saying she was performing as if the judges weren't even there, as if she was just in her room and was going to go on all night. He also tells her he likes her. Paula tells her that she remembers Jackie the most out of all the auditions and that she would be missed if she wasn't there. Happily, she's also through.

Watch video of Jackie Tohn Hollywood Week, Day 2

A segment on making friends along the "Idol" journey results in the funniest line of the evening, when Jackie Tohn, referring to Deanna Brown standing next to her says, "We're friends. Best friends," then turns to Deanna and says, "What's your name again?" After exchanging names, Jackie waits a sec, then says, "Best friends for life," and high-fives Deanna. Ah, nothing like sincerity. This leads to true friends Jamar Rogers and Danny Gokey, who auditioned together and both made it to Hollywood, where they are roomies. Jamar's up first with The Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreaming." It's a nice job, but nothing we're going to remember the next day. Randy, however is a fan, telling Jamar he thinks he is different and relevant. Danny sings Seal's "Kiss From a Rose," and slam dunks the difficult melody. Paula tells him, "I love you. You are fantastic. You are ready to record." Jamar and Danny are through to the group round, as are Arianna Afsar, Matt Breitzke, Leneshe Young and Matt Giraud.

Watch video of Jamar Rogers and Danny Gokey Hollywood Week, Day 2

Ugh! Well we knew it had to happen sooner or later, the one you guys have all been waiting for, the return of Bikini Girl Katrina Darrell. Nope, she wasn't wearing a bikini this time, but she was still trying to makeout with Ryan and continued her bitch-slap fest with Kara, saying that "When Kara starting singing [during Katrina's audition], I thought that was kind of rude," and "Well, the first thing that went through my head was, 'Wow, she is getting insecure.' " Katrina sang Faith Hill's "Breathe," and it was the audition all over again -- Kara and Paula saying it started OK but went downhill and Simon and Randy saying she was better than the first time they heard her. And damn, we wish her voice was worse. Of course, she got through. As she was leaving, Kara says to Katrina, "Leave your number in the back room" and "Tomorrow bring your pool," to which Katrina answers, "I told you she doesn't like me." We can only hope her 15 minutes of fame are at 14:59.

Watch video of Katrina Darrell Hollywood Week, Day 2

Next, popular contestant Jessica Furney gets cut, along with Sharon Wilbur (who brought her dog to her audition) and Patricia Roman, San Juan's final tryout. This leads to the performances of oil roughneck Jeremy Michael Sarver, doing a tender job with Gavin DeGraw's "More Than Anyone." He makes it through, with Randy telling him it was one of the best he heard that day. But Jesus Valenzuela, whose young sons charmed the judges during his audition, does not, with his rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Lately."

Watch video of Jeremy Michael Sarver and Jesus Valenzuela Hollywood Week, Day 2

In the last group: David Osmond, sounding better than he did during his audition, Erika Wesley, a pleasant but forgettable singer whose San Juan audition wasn't aired, and Emily Wynne-Hughes, she of the multi-colored hair and tattooed arms, who at the last minute changes from "I Put a Spell on You," the song she rehearsed and sang well to one by No Doubt. The judges ream her on song choice and it looks like it's all over for Emily. But surprisingly, it's Erika Wesley who gets cut. David and Emily are safe, as are Alexis Grace, Brent Keith, Anne Marie Boskovich and Adam Lambert. Erika, not willing to go without a fight, appeals to the judges. Paula gets into a tiff with Simon over it, but much to her dismay, it's all over for Erika.

Watch video of David Osmond, Erika Wesley and Emily Wynne-Hughes Hollywood Week, Day 2

Tomorrow: Hollywood Group Day

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