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Entertain This!
“American Idol” delivered a bloodbath Monday night as more than half of the 144 contestants were cut from the competition.
But that’s Hollywood, baby. Hollywood Week, that is. The singers entered the “Idol Arena” for a follow-up performance to their auditions, which would either convince Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan to keep them in the running or send them home to hone their skills.
Some of the aspiring stars who blew away the judges in the auditions round choked and failed to give their best showings, which led to the end of the road for standouts like Landynn Kennedy, Sam Sparks and Mikaela Bautista.
Meanwhile, contestants like Josh King and Jamal Roberts, whose auditions showed more promise than fully-formed, ready-for-Hollywood talent, stepped up to the plate and wowed not only the judges but made their competition quake in their boots.
Here’s who shined in Episode 5, who survived the “biggest cut in ‘Idol’ history” (a declaration from Ryan Seacrest, who said the same thing last year) and who’s out of the competition.
Backstreet Boys’ Brian Littrell tears up during son’s tribute song for grandma
It’s been a few episodes since we saw Baylee Littrell, 21, step out of dad Brian Littrell’s Backstreet Boys shadow in the season premiere. And he came back to remind us what he’s made of.
He performed a song called “Hey Jesus,” which he’d written for his late grandmother, who was his best friend. As he sang about how she “gave me wings to fly,” his mom and dad were in the audience, with Brian Littrell teary-eyed with pride and singing along to the original song.
“Baylee, you’re so good,” Underwood said, noting his “heat” and “genuineness.”
Isaiah Misailegalu shows impeccable control in ‘Lose Control’
Isaiah Misailegalu again showed he’s got talent — and stage presence — beyond his 17 years when he adeptly navigated the vocal gymnastics required for Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control.”
As the high schooler delivered the first chorus, he held back a bit from full-on belting out, teasing us with the promise of more. When he circled back for a second go at the chorus, he mixed things up by delivering a falsetto. Both stylistic choices paid off.
“You have such a git, and you’re so confident on the stage,” Underwood told him. “I love you.”
Mattie Pruitt, the youngest ‘Idol’ contestant, leaves Luke Bryan in disbelief
When Mattie Pruitt, the 15-year-old high schooler from Tennessee with 12 siblings, opened her mouth to sing Chris Stapleton’s “Cold,” Underwood and Bryan gave each other looks that said “We’re in for a treat here.”
Her voice rang pure and clear throughout downtown Los Angeles’ Orpheum Theatre, compelling one of her fellow contestants to disbelievingly say, “Fifteen?!” Carsen rubbed his arms as if he had goosebumps.
“Nothing about that (is) 15. (There are) so many right things going on,” Bryan said, complimenting the “rasp and pain and heart” in her voice.
Airport pianist Josh King finds his main character energy
Josh King, the 24-year-old airport pianist who squeaked by with two yeses after the judges pushed him outside his jazz lounge comfort zone, had something to prove during Hollywood Week.
The show is “testing you (to see) how you react under pressure,” he accurately noted about the Idol Arena setup that called on singers without notice. He stepped on to the stage with Rick Astley’s “Hopelessly” on his lips, and what do you know? The man who is used to playing music in the background found his main character energy.
He hit all the right notes to close out the love song. “Josh! If you had done that in your audition, you would have gotten three yeses, absolutely,” said Underwood.
Who was eliminated from ‘American Idol?’
The show didn’t dedicate much time toward identifying the dozens of people who were either staying or leaving. As such, we tried our best to identify those who were sent packing. These people included:
- Carsen Webb
- Landynn Kennedy
- Sam Sparks
- Insite
- Freddie McClendon
- Pat Johnson
- Lola Sofia Bonfiglio
- Mikaela Bautista
- Sophia Humbert
Who’s going to Showstoppers week?
Again, the show did not name all 60-plus people who are moving forward to the next round alongside Platinum ticket winners Canaan James Hill, Filo and Kolbi Jordan, who were able to sit back and relax during Hollywood Week. Here are some of the survivors we spotted:
- Slater Nalley
- Amanda Barise
- Thunderstorm Artis
- Breanna Nix
- MKY
- Jamal Roberts
- Sonny Tennet
- Gabby Samone
- Baylee Littrell
- Victor Solomon
- Crews Wright
- Josh King
- Nina Daig
- Drew Ryn
- Grayson Torrence
- Lashon
- Isaiah Misailegalu
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