American Idol's ninth-season dream ended for 25 additional Hollywood Week hopefuls during last night's Fox broadcast of the week's second elimination round.
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Seventy-one contestants survived the week's group performance round, which required the 96 eighth-season hopefuls that survived the week's initial individual performance round to organize themselves into small groups and do a group performance for American Idol's judges. After they performed, the contestants were then individually cut or advanced to the week's third performance round.
Several of the newly-formed groups advanced en masse, including two trios that featured Charity Vance, a 17-year-old high school student from Little Rock, AR; Ashley Rodriguez, a 22-year-old college student from Boston, MA; Michelle Delamor, a 22-year-old clothing store associate from Miami, FL; Janell Wheeler, a 24-year-old sales representative from Tampa, FL; Jermaine Purifory, a 25-year-old telecommunications student from Cleveland, TN; and Casey James, a 27-year-old musician from Fort Worth, TX.
Three quartets that included Liz Rooney, a 25-year-old 911 dispatcher from Worcester, MA; Thaddeus Johnson, a 17-year-old high school student from Oklahoma City, OK; Jessica Cunningham, a 24-year-old make-up artist and hairstylist from Portland, ME; Todrick Hall, a 24-year-old actor and playwright from Arlington, TX; Theri, a 20-year-old hair stylist from Atlanta, GA; Jareb Liewer, a 28-year-old acrobat from San Diego, CA; Siobhan Magnus, a 19-year-old glassblowing apprentice from Cape Cod, MA; Andrew Garcia, a 24-year-old musician from Moreno Valley, CA; Katie Stevens, a 17-year-old high school student from Middlebury, CT; and J.B. Ahfua, a 18-year-old recent high school graduate from Taylorsville, UT among their members were also shown advancing in their entirety.
Many other contestants also managed to advance despite the axing of one or more of their brief groupmates, including Michael Lynche, a 26-year-old personal trainer from Astoria, NY; Timothy "Tim" Urban, a 20-year-old college student and musician from Duncanville, TX; Tori Kelly, a 17-year-old high school student from Canyon Lake, CA; Maddie Penrose, an 18-year-old high school student from Murray, UT; Jeff Goldford, a 28-year-old consultant, singer and songwriter from Chicago, IL; Jermaine Sellers, a 26-year-old church singer from Joliet, IL; Mary Powers, a 29-year-old singer from Burbank, CA; Hope Johnson, a 20-year-old bartender from Arlington, TX; and Alex Lambert, a 19-year-old singer from North Richland Hills, TX.
Several contestants which American Idol's broadcasts had previously spotlighted failed to survive the second round's cuts, including Amanda Shechtman, a 19-year-old theater student from Roslyn, NY; Kimberly Kerbow, a 25-year-old college student from Marina Del Rey, CA; Mark Labriola, a 28-year-old computer consultant from Aurora, CO; Matt Lawrence, a 25-year-old trucking company manager from Starke, FL; and Seth Rollins, a 29-year-old insurance adjuster from Lakeland, FL.
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Given this was the last year that he met American Idol's age eligibility requirement, Labriola took the news especially hard.
"Can I please get one more chance? I mean this is it for me, I don't get to come back next year," he begged the judges as he struggled to hold back tears.
"You know what, we've all heard 'No' more than we've heard 'Yes,'" Kara DioGuardi replied.
"Yeah, Mark, you know what -- don't beg, it's not cool," Simon Cowell added.
"I just feel like if I was given another chance... sorry," Labriola sobbed to American Idol host Ryan Seacrest afterwards.
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In addition, Margo May, a 23-year-old server from Kansas City, MO; Moorea Masa, a 17-year-old high school student from Portland, OR; Ben Honeycutt, a 23-year-old worship leader from Fort Oglethorpe, GA; and Michael Castro -- the younger brother of seventh-season American Idol finalist Jason Castro -- were also shown being eliminated from the competition.
Certain that she had no chance of advancing any further, one hopeful -- Kat Nestel -- also decided to quit shortly before her group was scheduled to perform for the judges.
"I just left because I knew that I would mess up," she explained afterwards. "Like I didn't want to like humiliate myself."
American Idol's coverage of the eighth season's Hollywood Week rounds will continue with next Tuesday's broadcast of the week's third round performances. Although most of their identities appear to have already leaked online, American Idol will formally reveal the ninth season's Top 24 semifinalists during next Wednesday's broadcast.
About The Author: Steven Rogers