American Idol 10: Hollywood Week (Acapella)

Wow. This episode wasn't so bad. Not much fake drama and yes, lots of singing. Sure, no one blew me away, but Hollywood week stars don't always mean anything down the line. I mean, this exact episode last year was the best of Season 9 overall - Andrew Garcia performed Straight Up and Didi Benami did Terrified, both never lived up to that.

Now, I've got a good feeling about this year's crop of talent and, while most Idol fans are going through their typical self-destructive cycle of denial, fear, and anger, I am optimistic about the future of this show. No, it's not because Randy mentioned AGAIN, that they have the most talent EVER - heck, they let every freakin' person with marginal talent through. Haha.

The only problem I had with this episode though was the fact that I saw nothing I haven't really seen before. Seriously. Why do we have to see all the same people we just saw in the auditions? Why are they beating us over the head with a stick with these same sorry sob stories and sobbing people? Why can’t we see different folks during Hollywood? Heck, I hated the repackaged sob stories - they're annoying. That is all.

TOP 40 SPOILER, here.

Anyway, here's my review on the people who got featured on today's episode:

DISCLAIMER: None as of this moment. Haha.

DAY ONE

Brett Loewenstern
His rendition of Let It Be is lovely and I think he has a great voice. He's oddly captivating to watch as well.

Rachel Zevita
Awesome. She improved a lot compared to her Season 6 journey. She looked more poised, sophisticated and that vocal control is impeccable.

Thia Megia
I like the quality of her voice, but that's about it for now.

Casey Abrams
If he remains interesting, I'll probably root for him. I like his style, I think he has a good voice and his musicality is impressive.

Victoria Huggins
Thank goodness Victoria was sent home, otherwise I’d seriously consider not watching the next show. She tried WAY too hard. I'm not going to lie though, her exit made me kind of sad. That look on her face was just heartbreaking. On a lighter note, she can annoy us next year. HAHA. CUT

Paris Tassin
Seriously? My Heart Will Go On? She did ok.

James Durbin
Oh no! He's still crying? Haha. Oversing much? James obviously has a good voice, but it seems like he’s inserting those high notes sort of randomly, and it’s jarring. He just doesn’t have a clue what to do with his voice. He reminds me of Adam Lambert with less vocal control and finnesse.

Lauren Alaina
Talk about overrated! She's good but not THAT good.

Stormi Henley
She's so out of her league in this competition. She reminds me of a less talented Kristy Lee Cook - to think that I don't find Kristy Lee talented to begin with. Pretty girl and.. yeah, pretty girl! Haha. CUT

Chris Medina
Backstory notwithstanding, he does nothing for me. There was nothing appealing about his rendition of You and I to me. I'll even go there and say that Joe Munoz (Season 9, Top 24) did it better, I think. At least in his original audition piece, he sounded ok if not particularly impressive. Here, he sounded flat. And please cut the sob story. I'm sick of it already.

Jacee Badeaux
Jacee really has a beautiful tone to his voice, one of those voices, where you just close your eyes and listen, and take it all in. It just feels so odd seeing a child whose voice hasn’t yet changed, competing against all these adults.

Robbie Rosen
Elliott Yamin did this song better but I enjoy the liberties he did with the song. Beautiful falsetto. Very nice.

Hollie Cavanagh
Seriously, what the hell? This is impressive!! She has this big voice that's undeniably powerful, she kicked ass and that makes me happy. On how she turned from that bumbling mess of a girl into the confident person we saw on that stage is beyond me. Now, the only problem I have with her is that she sure love some Miley Cyrus songs. Haha.

Steven Beghun
He's so average. Next! CUT

CUT: Sarah Sellers, Jacqueline Dupree and Heidi Khzam

DAY TWO

Rob Bolin
Interesting tone but the song choice was a tad boring.

Chelsee Oaks
Decent, I think.

Nick Fink
God, I hate when people beg like that. CUT

Jacqueline Dunford
She's more than decent. I'm not a fan of her phrasing though.

Scott McCreery
I hate repeats. It's like Kristy Lee Cook only being able to sing Amazing Grace from the audition rounds to Hollywood week.

Jackie Wilson
I said, I hate repeats!!!

Jerome Bell
Now, I'm repeating myself about how I hate repeats! Haha.

Tiffany Rios
At least she looks more put together than she did at the audition. Haha. That is all.

Travis Orlando
Wow. He sounded bad with that version of This Love. Wrong choice of song, I believe. CUT

MADE IT: Clint Gamboa, Julie Zorrilla, Naima, Adedapo, Gutierrez borthers, Paul McDonald, Emily Ann Reed, Stefano Langone, Molly DeWolf Swenson and Ashley Sullivan