American Idol - The Hollywood Round

Well, I think it's time for us all to breathe a sigh of relief. While we lost the war on complaining about too many audition episodes it looks like we may have won a small battle along the way. They have found a way to narrow down 2 weeks worth of Hollywood episodes into 2 episodes! Tonight we saw the 1st Cut of Boys and Girls, the Group Auditions and 2nd cuts, and then even the day 4 performances that cut the group of 56 to a smaller number. They finally cut all of those scenes showing the guys visiting the set of The OC while the Girls auditioned, or the Brokenote Cowboy guy seeing the beach for the first time. GOOD RIDDANCE, I SAY!

Well, as thrilled as I am, I'm pulling the rest of my hair out thinking about 3 days of Idol next week and all of the TV conflicts it will cause!

Anyway, first thing first, let's talk about tonight's episode. There definitely were some shockers of who went home. People had some of these girls and guys pegged for the long haul (I'm guilty for at least one!). Since we're going to find out the top 24 tomorrow, let's just note some highlights of who didn't make it through and who we can still root for in the coming rounds:

Exits that we kinda saw coming....:

• Perla Meneses - Shakira 2.0 - Most of us thought she was awful in the audition and didn't know what the judges were smoking. Apparently we were all breathing the same clean air after she got cut during the group auditions for the inability to sing anything that was NOT Shakira.
• Sarah Burgess - "I lied to my parents to audition" girl - We didn't see her perform, but I was never impressed with her original audition. And I did not care for the crying theatrics that followed.
• Matt Sato - ZIT NOSE - I stared at the screen trying to remember ol' Matt, but for some reason I couldn't. Yes, the ol' zit had been cleared away from the nose....but it just happened to reappear on his forehead! FANTASTIC! Well, thank the Lord they let this guy at LEAST pass the Day 1 Hollywood round. It was fantastic watching him call mother dearest on his PINK RAZR to give her the good news. Ecstatic Mom professes love for son only to be followed up with a flamboyant "She never tells me she loves me either!!" Unfortunately, ZIT HEAD couldn't remember words for his life in the group round. I was looking forward to another Kevin Covais this year. (of course Kev had a thing for the ladies, something tells me this guy didn't!)
• Amanda Collucio - Best Friend #1 with Antonella Barba - She was okay, but it seemed like she was just getting by on her looks and because she was a package deal with her MORE talented friend Antonella

Surprise Exits:

• Ashyln Carr - "Makes Weird Faces and got brought back in to audition room" Girl - Okay maybe it's not a surprise, but for all of the effort they made to keep this girl in the competition, they sure cut her quickly! We didn't see her sing in Hollywood, but I'm sure it was just more of the same bizarre stuff.
• Shyamala Malakar - We all knew her brother was the more talented of the brother/sister combo, but for some reason we thought we'd see both of them moving onward for a bit. Of course, if they didn't cut all of these Hollywood Rounds into one episode, we probably would have! I'm okay with this version of Idol though!
• Jarrod Fowler - Navy Guy - This guy won the NAVY IDOL competition or something and they flew him to his audition. Simon wasn't impressed with his Hollywood audition and he got an early boot
• Rachel Jenkins - Army Girl -Weird girl that talked to the picture of her husband. She didn't make the cut either. I guess IDOL isn't feeling very patriotic this year. It seems season 2's Josh Gracin was enough!
• Baylie Brown - I figured they were going to keep this girl around for a top 12 spot. Not the best singer, but when Simon called her COMMERCIAL with a Capital "C" I thought she had it. I'm not the only one, ew.com had her ranked #5 on their POWER 20 (updated weekly) speaking of which
• Ebony Jointer - ROLLER GIRL #3 from the "Rest of the Best" episode - Whom ew had ranked #4. I could've sworn I saw her in a group that all got eliminated. I cannot confirm this one though. Anyone out there recognize her getting the boot?
• Jory Steinberg - This one hit me hard. I went out on a limb and gave this girl some big props after the audition. I didn't think she'd win or anything, but to get cut on the first day? Ugh. The judges have spoken, there will be no JORY for this case. (ba dum CHING!)

Who is still in

• Sundance Head - Wow, he has had a rough Hollywood week hasn't he? The early favorite was struggling, but something tells me they keep putting him through for a reason. I'm sure he'll wow them enough on the solo performance to get him into the top 24. Then America can decide what to do with the big lug.
• Chris Sligh - Sligh Guy/Jack Osbourne 2.0 - He was still bringing some powerful vocals into the Hollywood rounds. And was 1/4th of the best Group audition by far with Rudy Cardenas, Thomas Lowe and Blake Lewis (The Beat Boxing Champion). I can't confirm if any of those 3 are still with us. They obviously all passed through the Group auditions, but I couldn't see who was in the 1 of 3 rooms that got cut. But we'll find out tomorrow for sure!
• Sanjaya Malakar - We didn't get to see the brother of the bro/sis combo perform, but I'm thinking we'll see him in the top 24. It's all but a sure thing at this point!
• Tami Gosnell - She picked up a lot of fans for her appearance in the "BEST OF THE REST" Audition episode. We also didn't see her perform, but they showed her make it into 1 of the 2 rooms to move on. With all of the early favorites that have been booted already, I'll go ahead and say this girl may be a lock for the top 12.
• Matt from last year's Brokenote Cowboys - I totally recognized him as soon as I saw the cowboy hat and the goatee. He never made it past the Hollywood round before and now here he is waiting to see if he's in the Top 24. We have not heard him really sing yet this season, so who knows what he's hiding. We'll find out tomorrow!
• Antonella Barba - Best friend #2 - We talked about her being better than Amanda earlier. Well, she's definitely still in it. Not much else I can think to say about it right now!

Other early favorites like Returning Gina Glocksen and Backup Singer Melinda Dolittle we saw get through the early Hollywood rounds. But it was tough to see if they made it in that last cut of the episode (which apparently is a cut to 40 contestants). Maybe I just missed something. But no fear! We'll find out tomorrow night when they announce the TOP 24!

So what did everyone think? Are you thankful that we're going to be back to LIVE Idol next week? Do you like this new edited version of the Hollywood Rounds? Tune in tomorrow as we discuss the Top 24!