American Idol judges Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick Jr. and Keith Urban began advancing or cutting the fourteenth season's 213 Hollywood Week hopefuls during Wednesday night's broadcast on Fox.
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On Day 1 of Hollywood Week, the judges announced only 24 contestants will end up surviving the cuts and ultimately sing for America's votes. The judging panel told the 213 artists, who were all gathered in the Orpheum Theatre, that a select few hopefuls would be asked to sing for them immediately. Because every artist was expecting to perform over the course of the next few days, no one understood the significance of why certain artists were asked to perform that day.
What the hopefuls didn't know was that the ones told to sing right away were the "most memorable performers" from all the previous auditions whom they'd like to see again. They were standouts from their respective cities. After taking the stage, the artists didn't receive any feedback from the judges, so they were left clueless as to what was going on.
Once a total of 38 singers performed on-the-spot, Harry asked them all to get up on the stage and then Keith explained why they had been selected, which erupted a big cheer from everyone. Jennifer said that while everyone was "not great," they'd be given the benefit of the doubt and automatically advance to the next round.
The performers who sang on Day 1 and survived the cut were Jax, an 18-year-old musician from East Brunswick, NJ; Mark Andrew, a 29-year-old landscape foreman from Eden Prairie, MN; Emily Brooke, a 15-year-old student from West Palm Beach, FL; Sal Valentinetti, a 19-year-old entertainer from Bethpage, NY; Adam Ezegelian, a 21-year-old toy designer from Wantagh, NY; Tyanna Jones, a 16-year-old student from Jacksonville, FL; and Savion Wright, a 22-year-old student from Jasper, TX.
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The rest of the artists who automatically advanced were "Hollywood" Anderson, a 22-year-old busker from New York, NY; Shannon Berthiaume, a 17-year-old student from St. Paul, MN; Adam Lasher, a 27-year-old songwriter and performer from Danville, CA; Garrett Miles, a 25-year-old musician and performer from Phenix City, AL; Trevor Douglas, a 16-year-old student from Fort Worth, TX; Joey Cook, a 23-year-old server from Woodbridge, VA; and Amber Kelechi, a 16-year-old student from Memphis, TN.
The judges then explained to the crowd that of the 175 remaining hopefuls, only half of them would advance. They would be seen for the first time in Hollywood Week the following day.
On Day 2, hopefuls performed in lines of 10. After singing, those artists were split into two more lines -- one of which got sent home and the other got to stay.
Only about a handful of hopefuls were featured performing during last night's episode on Day 2. Reno Anoa'l, a 16-year-old student from San Francisco, CA; Jaq Mackenzie, a 15-year-old student and actress from Santa Monica, CA; Erica Washington, a 24-year-old student from Mobile, AL; Michael Simeon, a 21-year-old farmer from Lumberton, MS; and "Big Ron" Wilson, a 24-year-old accountant from Gretna, FL, were shown advancing.
On the contrary, Priscilla Barker, a 20-year-old office assistant from Amory, MS, was shown being eliminated from the running to become the next American Idol.
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Wednesday night's broadcast concluded with Gabby Zonneveld, a 16-year-old student from St. Paul, MN, taking the stage to perform. She forgot her lyrics in the middle of the song and appeared to be having a meltdown. Her story will pick up and continue during Thursday night's episode on February 5.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski