S20.E07: Hollywood Week: Genre Challenge

[helenamonster]

Original airdate: 3/28/22

[Ms Blue Jay]

Sooooooooooooooooooooooo I love Hollywood Week!

I'll get the negatives out of the way

- How many sob stories did they shove into MY Hollywood Week?
- I was so starstruck and excited to see David Cook - then they showed him for like 2 minutes?  How stupid are they?  Remember how popular he was?
- I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate the judge fakeouts.  It's so F***ing stupid.

 

Other than that, it's Hollywood Week, so I loved it!  I like how the judges are on the same wavelength, and don't fight, and all pretty much agree on who should go through, and the decisions - of what were shown anyway, seemed fair, but a lot was cut.

This is a handy guide of all the songs used:

https://www.tunefind.com/show/american-idol/season-20/219893

Standouts for me

The woman who did Whitney Houston's "Saving all my Love for you".  I believe she was on the Oscar night auditions.  She was great.

The guy who sang "My Future" by Billie Eilish.  The guy said he has vision problems (or did).  I did not recognize this song whatsoever and he sang the song in a totally different style than Billie usually does.  It was like a great soul rendition.

The last audition - a young woman who sang "Everything I wanted" by Billie Eilish.  Definitely a standout.

Although, there were just a lot of good auditions.
 

 

 

[MissPriss]

I’m almost scared to say these are some amazing talents. We know some will crash and burn, but this group seems miles above many years. 
 

I love Hollywood week. Harmony is my soft spot. I’m excited to hear good duets. Can’t wait. 

[Annber03]

I would've liked to see more full performances. Seeing only parts of a lot of them made it harder to get as invested. It felt like they just kinda rushed through a lot of the performers, I had a bit of a hard time keeping track of everyone. I agree on the judges' fakeouts with teasing whether or not they're going on to the next round - I know they've gotta do their suspense thing and all, but just tell them, for goodness' sake. 

That slowed down version of the Police's "Roxanne" that the one girl did was...interesting. Lots of people who got very shouty with their singing. But there were a few good performances in there, and I'm not surprised that a good number of the contestants wound up going through. And it was nice to see some "Idol" alumni pop up, too :). I would've liked to see more of them mentoring the contestants. 

The fact that the platinum ticket contestants get to pick their duet partners is interesting. Curious to see how that'll pan out. 

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

4 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

I would've liked to see more full performances. Seeing only parts of a lot of them made it harder to get as invested. It felt like they just kinda rushed through a lot of the performers, I had a bit of a hard time keeping track of everyone.

I know.  Some of the cuts were soooooooooooo quick.

It seemed like someone was doing an interesting rendition of Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to do with it?"

And I'm sorry if it sounds mean, but how the hell did Eyelashes get through?  I'd like to see how that happened.

Some stuff that also might sound mean

1)  Jordin Sparks didn't sound that great to me?  I'll take corrections on that.  I was always a Blake fan anyway.  LOL

2)  The Platinum singers, I agree that they're good, but the Journey song was not the best showcase for that, I thought, until the end.  I feel like Katy was making confused faces through that whole performance.  

Luke's face when it's NOT a country performance is so funny.  He always looks SO confused and he always looks at the other judges like, "Oh shit, is this good?  Should I be paying attention to this?"

Edited March 29, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Annber03]

21 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

2)  The Platinum singers, I agree that they're good, but the Journey song was not the best showcase for that, I thought, until the end.  

Yeah, agreed on this. The first girl who started off the song especially sounded...off. 

[Diana Berry]

55 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I know.  Some of the cuts were soooooooooooo quick.

It seemed like someone was doing an interesting rendition of Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to do with it?"

And I'm sorry if it sounds mean, but how the hell did Eyelashes get through?  I'd like to see how that happened.

Some stuff that also might sound mean

1)  Jordin Sparks didn't sound that great to me?  I'll take corrections on that.  I was always a Blake fan anyway.  LOL

2)  The Platinum singers, I agree that they're good, but the Journey song was not the best showcase for that, I thought, until the end.  I feel like Katy was making confused faces through that whole performance.  

Luke's face when it's NOT a country performance is so funny.  He always looks SO confused and he always looks at the other judges like, "Oh shit, is this good?  Should I be paying attention to this?"

I was thinking the same thing.  Luke definitely gets feedback from Katy and Lionel.  I think it’s great at least he’s not like this isn’t my thing and just makes his own decisions.  

Edited March 29, 2022 by Diana Berry
Misspelled

[Gemma Violet]

I was sad to see Luke Taylor (Deep Voice Guy) get cut.  In anticipation of that, I've been consoling myself with Wellermen videos.  (Thanks whoever posted about it on this site.)  

Lots of good ones thankfully got through, though.

Count me in as one who hates the judges fakeouts.  "The two who stepped forward are going through.  The two who didn't . . . . are going through, too!"  Ugh.

 

 

[scarlettudor]

I couldn't believe Clay Aiken wasn't brought back as coach for the kids   I hope he was asked and maybe just didn't have time to do it.  I was also sad that deep voice Luke didn't make it through.  Darn.

[Koalagirl]

8 minutes ago, scarlettudor said:

I couldn't believe Clay Aiken wasn't brought back as coach for the kids   I hope he was asked and maybe just didn't have time to do it.  I was also sad that deep voice Luke didn't make it through.  Darn.

Clay is running for Congress. The primary is in May so I guess he’s been working on his campaign.  I would have loved to have seen him too.  Maybe we’ll get to see more alums as mentors once the live shows start.

[Annber03]

12 minutes ago, scarlettudor said:

I couldn't believe Clay Aiken wasn't brought back as coach for the kids   I hope he was asked and maybe just didn't have time to do it. 

Isn't he planning to run for political office again? If so, that would probably explain that. 

ETA: Or, what @Koalagirl said :D. 

Edited March 29, 2022 by Annber03

[LennieBriscoe]

I'm thinking Clay is over it, regardless of his current plans. 🙂

The only singer whose dismissal surprised me, and made me a wee sad, was the young man right before the Platinum Ticket Trio. 😔

Speaking of whom: They were meh!  Definitely didn't  demonstrate why they got the Platinum tix, as opposed to others. 🤷‍♀️

 

Edited March 29, 2022 by LennieBriscoe

[Gemma Violet]

2 hours ago, Koalagirl said:

Clay is running for Congress. The primary is in May so I guess he’s been working on his campaign.  I would have loved to have seen him too.  Maybe we’ll get to see more alums as mentors once the live shows start.

Just a guess but I'm thinking possibly Clay couldn't do it because of the equal time rule for non-news shows.  Maybe ABC would have to give air time to his opponents.

Edited March 29, 2022 by Gemma Violet

[KWalkerInc]

I thought Ruben looked really good!  I knew he had lost quite a bit of weight when he was on a Christmas parade broadcast, but that was several years ago now, so I'm glad he still seems to be doing well.

Does Lee DeWyze actually do Indie-Folk?  When he was on the show, I thought he seemed like a straightforward rock singer.  He seems nice but I never liked his voice. 

"Don't Stop Believin'" was not good.  I wonder if some of the people in the seats were trying to figure out what the judges see in the Platinum Ticket winners (and questioning their overall judgment as a result).

Edited March 29, 2022 by KWalkerInc
Called Indie-Folk Indie Rock

[LennieBriscoe]

4 hours ago, Gemma Violet said:

Just a guess but I'm thinking possibly Clay couldn't do it because of the equal time rule for non-news shows.  Maybe ABC would have to give air time to his opponents.

We are talking about mentoring these singers, right? So Clay's political opponents would have to be granted the equivalent air time doing...something?

Edited March 29, 2022 by LennieBriscoe

[TheGreenKnight]

Of the people we've seen so far, my favorites were Nicolina, Noah, Fitz, Kevin Gullage, Jay, and Katyra. I still think Noah's winning this thing, nobody else stands a chance. The group that sang at the end was surprisingly good together. Jay was in that group; Kenedi was good, too.She and Christian, Tristen, and Sir Kayne have potential to go either way, I guess. Christian's vocals were really good, it's just not my favorite style.

Always nice seeing contestants like Jordin, Haley, and Ruben again. I was never fond of Alaina, but she was okay. I know David Cook was one of the older winners back when he won, but wow, he's really aged. I did not care to see Chayce, fast forwarded straight through him. No offense, he always kind of grossed me out to look at even though he seems nice on a personal level. It's not like he won on singing talent or anything. I suppose he could be a reality check for the contestants that if you're not a White guy, you're out of luck.

Edited March 29, 2022 by TheGreenKnight

[Gemma Violet]

2 hours ago, LennieBriscoe said:

We are talking about mentoring these singers, right? So Clay's political opponents would have to be granted the equivalent air time doing...something?

I'm sure they wouldn't have to be doing the same thing as Clay (mentoring)--I would think they'd just have to be granted the same amount of actual air time.  I don't think it would have to be the same show, just the same media outlet--ABC, or maybe Disney.  Again, I'm just guessing.

Edited March 29, 2022 by Gemma Violet

[peachmangosteen]

11 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Jordin Sparks didn't sound that great to me? 

Yea, I thought she sounded borderline terrible. I was embarrassed for her.

I also agree that the platinum ticket auditioners sounded pretty bad. I felt embarrassed for them, too. 

David Cook! Still tied for my fave winner ever. He did look old, which made me feel old lol.

[twilightzone]

I don't Clay missed anything, considering they had to cram 7 mentors into 2 hours with lots of contestants.  It's no fault of the alums., but often they were reduced to being "cheerleaders" - "I'm here for you, be yourself, have confidence, listen to the judges, etc. etc.

Whereas when Carrie mentored, it was the Top 5 and she had a lot more time to get to know and work each contestant - diving into song choice, performance, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 29, 2022 by twilightzone

[Guest]

36 minutes ago, twilightzone said:

I don't Clay missed anything, considering they had to cram 7 mentors into 2 hours with lots of contestants.  It's no fault of the alums., but often they were reduced to being "cheerleaders" - "I'm here for you, be yourself, have confidence, listen to the judges, etc. etc.

Whereas when Carrie mentored, it was the Top 5 and she had a lot more time to get to know and work each contestant - diving into song choice, performance, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agreed that the alumni mentors were kind of wasted, but considering that this was the first episode of AI I've watched in years (though I only watched the first 45 minutes), I'd say they served their true purpose for TPTB: getting eyes on the show. I'm guessing a fair number of people tuned in just to see Jordin, Ruben, Haley (🙋‍♂️) or whoever.

[peachmangosteen]

8 minutes ago, tracyscott76 said:

Agreed that the alumni mentors were kind of wasted, but considering that this was the first episode of AI I've watched in years (though I only watched the first 45 minutes), I'd say they served their true purpose for TPTB: getting eyes on the show. I'm guessing a fair number of people tuned in just to see Jordin, Ruben, Haley (🙋‍♂️) or whoever.

The question is, will you keep watching?

[Guest]

20 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

The question is, will you keep watching?

Lol no. I mean, I heard some good singing, and what I saw of the judges was much less irritating than what I'd been seeing on the Fox version, but it mostly just reminded me why I gave up on watching talent reality shows.

So their plan only partially worked on me...but others might have gotten hooked!

Edited March 29, 2022 by tracyscott76

[Annber03]

5 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

David Cook! Still tied for my fave winner ever. He did look old, which made me feel old lol.

I laughed at the bit where he was talking about his time on "Idol" and mentioned it was fourteen years ago, and then one of the current contestants piped up with, "I was nine!" :p. 

But yeah, this whole season in general is making me feel damn old, really. 

[jpgr]

I did not like the RHCP daughter's (Maybee) performance tonight at all. Waaaaay over the top. If you want to show off your voice and over-emote, pick a song where that might work. The performance and emotion has to be in service of the song. I think that too many singers don't actually think about what the lyrics mean and try to interpret them as the basis for their performance. The lyrics don't even have to be deep and meaningful for that to work.

I thought the platinums sounded really good toward the end, with Hunter Girl (ridiculous name, IMO) sounding the weakest by far.

[sempervivum]

I used to love Hollywood week because of the group rounds. The contestants had to mill around/network in order to find others to band together with, then they had to agree on a song, arrangements, choreography and solos. They did all that stuff by themselves. Now the showrunners decide which 2 singers will 'duet', which clearly gives them a chance to manipulate the results to some extent. If they want to push Kennedi (the beautiful confident country singer), they'll pair her with Kelsie (homely country singer with no experience), for example. I HATE this.

Also, although there used to be some mention of the vocal strengths of each singer, they were never forced into a box. I don't even understand why this kind of sorting is necessary or helpful. Some of the best performances involved genre-breaking: Adam Lambert was sort of Broadway, but killed on rock; David Cook was rock, but killed on both Broadway and country; Kelly was pop, but killed on Big Band, etc. Now they're given a box and expected to stay in it. I'm not even sure they all actually picked the genres attributed to them. Sir Blake is pop? Cole is rock? Tristen is soul? OK, show.

Speaking of David Cook, I can't believe he's almost 40 (and looks it). Still my favorite Idol voice, and still doing silly stuff with his hair, I see.

[TheGreenKnight]

4 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Also, although there used to be some mention of the vocal strengths of each singer, they were never forced into a box. I don't even understand why this kind of sorting is necessary or helpful.

Because at the end of the day it's still a show. They know their ratings would absolutely flatline if 11 of the 12 finalists were all country artists or all R&B artists, for example. They like to have a mixture of genres in an attempt to please everyone, I believe.

As for Jordin, she was singing a cappella. It wasn't perfect by her standards, but I didn't think it was outright bad either. I was surprised when somebody was singing "To Love Somebody" earlier in the show and she wasn't the counselor (that's before I realized they were sorting by genre). I just thought they'd have her advise them since that was one of her performances that was well-remembered.

[pezgirl7]

I was on Instagram and I discovered this singer, Ryan Aragast, who auditioned for this season and made it past the first round. But I don’t think they’ve show him on tv at all, have they? I think he has a really good voice. It makes me wonder how many other good contestants we’re not being shown.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CbtUWedAsn9/

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by pezgirl7

[sempervivum]

40 minutes ago, pezgirl7 said:

It makes me wonder how many other good contestants we’re not being shown.

Yeah, I was wondering what happened to the gravel-voiced 18 yr. old Canadian pipeline worker from the first audition, since

Spoiler

He's in the top 24 according to MJ's

I also wondered about the treatment of Kevin Gullage, the very good, very classic soul singer-also from the first audition-in the Hollywood genre round, where he was shown apparently bombing,

Spoiler

even though he also is in the top 24.

 

[Ilovepie]

On 3/28/2022 at 7:10 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

The woman who did Whitney Houston's "Saving all my Love for you".  I believe she was on the Oscar night auditions.  She was great.

She was awesome! Way better than her audition with the box.

 

On 3/28/2022 at 7:31 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

Jordin Sparks didn't sound that great to me?  I'll take corrections on that.  I was always a Blake fan anyway.  LOL

Blaaaaake! I will never forget his version of You Give Love a Bad Name. I've watched since the beginning, but this was the moment I became obsessed with Idol. Now I have to go find this on YouTube. ;-p

Add me to the list of David Cook lovers. I saw him in concert a decade ago or so and he seems so nice. My favorite Idol contestant of all time, but I think he broke the show. The first WGWG and the best. I watched his performance of Always Be My Baby when I finished watching this episode. Man, the old seasons of Idol were so great. I miss Simon, Randy and Paula, and even Ryan before he had 12 jobs.

I still think Kennedi sounds amazing, but the country platinum ticket holder didn't sound any better than a couple of the other country gals, possibly because she had to sing something outside her genre?

And woof, that Kelci girl made me cry too Lauren Alaina. Again. Something about her just gets to me and makes me want to hug her. Watching her sit next to those other polished country girls was hard to watch. You could almost see her wilting looking at them with their gorgeous hair and make up and all the experience, and when she got up there and was shaking so badly I just teared up. This is too much for her, but I can't help rooting for her. I just want her to be ok.

[Ms Blue Jay]

23 minutes ago, Ilovepie said:

And woof, that Kelci girl made me cry too Lauren Alaina. Again. Something about her just gets to me and makes me want to hug her. Watching her sit next to those other polished country girls was hard to watch. You could almost see her wilting looking at them with their gorgeous hair and make up and all the experience, and when she got up there and was shaking so badly I just teared up. This is too much for her, but I can't help rooting for her. I just want her to be ok.

I cried through her whole audition LOL

23 minutes ago, Ilovepie said:

Add me to the list of David Cook lovers. I saw him in concert a decade ago or so and he seems so nice. My favorite Idol contestant of all time, but I think he broke the show. The first WGWG and the best. I watched his performance of Always Be My Baby when I finished watching this episode. Man, the old seasons of Idol were so great. I miss Simon, Randy and Paula, and even Ryan before he had 12 jobs.

I've watched that performance of Hero he did with David A. an embarrassing amount of times.  He's so good.

[TheGreenKnight]

On 3/31/2022 at 12:52 PM, Ilovepie said:

Add me to the list of David Cook lovers. I saw him in concert a decade ago or so and he seems so nice. My favorite Idol contestant of all time, but I think he broke the show. The first WGWG and the best. I watched his performance of Always Be My Baby when I finished watching this episode. Man, the old seasons of Idol were so great. I miss Simon, Randy and Paula, and even Ryan before he had 12 jobs.

Yeah, I loved David Cook even if I had rooted for Archuleta and Carly Smithson. He, Kris Allen, and Laine Hardy are the only WGWGs I liked out of the ten or so there are.

[LexieLily]

On 3/31/2022 at 1:52 PM, Ilovepie said:

Add me to the list of David Cook lovers. I saw him in concert a decade ago or so and he seems so nice. My favorite Idol contestant of all time, but I think he broke the show. The first WGWG and the best. I watched his performance of Always Be My Baby when I finished watching this episode. Man, the old seasons of Idol were so great. I miss Simon, Randy and Paula, and even Ryan before he had 12 jobs.

 

On 3/31/2022 at 2:15 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I cried through her whole audition LOL

I've watched that performance of Hero he did with David A. an embarrassing amount of times.  He's so good.

Little Sparrow on Dolly Parton Week was the underrated one that did it for me. That, and Music of the Night on Andrew Lloyd Webber Night. (Underrated as in, not the trifecta of Awesome Cook Performances: Hello, Billie Jean, and the aforementioned Always Be My Baby)

Edited April 2, 2022 by LexieLily

[Ilovepie]

On 4/1/2022 at 11:12 PM, LexieLily said:

Little Sparrow on Dolly Parton Week was the underrated one that did it for me. That, and Music of the Night on Andrew Lloyd Webber Night. (Underrated as in, not the trifecta of Awesome Cook Performances: Hello, Billie Jean, and the aforementioned Always Be My Baby)

All awesome! He just killed it - he was so great at beating Idol at their own game by rearranging the songs to suit himself. I always tend to root for the people that can do that. He also had the best winning song too IMO....

[ljenkins782]

On 3/31/2022 at 2:52 PM, Ilovepie said:

Blaaaaake! I will never forget his version of You Give Love a Bad Name. I've watched since the beginning, but this was the moment I became obsessed with Idol. Now I have to go find this on YouTube. ;-p

Add me to the list of David Cook lovers. I saw him in concert a decade ago or so and he seems so nice. My favorite Idol contestant of all time, but I think he broke the show. The first WGWG and the best. I watched his performance of Always Be My Baby when I finished watching this episode. Man, the old seasons of Idol were so great. I miss Simon, Randy and Paula, and even Ryan before he had 12 jobs.

I still think Kennedi sounds amazing, but the country platinum ticket holder didn't sound any better than a couple of the other country gals, possibly because she had to sing something outside her genre?

Man, I was one of the biggest Idol fans around, but between no memory of Nadia Turner and now the jolt of remembrance hearing Blake and Carly Smithson's names, I've clearly lost my Idol trivia edge. 

I do remember David Cook though, he always seemed like a genuinely good guy. His "cut!" when the kid piped up about being 8 years old during his season was funny. The hair is unfortunate, but then again, it always was. And I was so glad to see Ruben looking so good and maintaining his weight loss, he was another favorite from back in the day.

I didn't think any of the platinum ticket holders sounded all that great (missed all their auditions except for Huntergirl) and I can only imagine how many of the kids out in the audience were snottily thinking they could do better, even as they gave them a standing ovation in the name of playing the game. I feel like in the old days, there would definitely have been a few juicy interview soundbites or stinkfaces in the audience, back in the bygone days when people weren't so aware of optics. Ah, the days of hot tubs and fights and kicking people out of groups in Hollywood week, that used to be my favorite. 

It seems like a spectacularly bad idea to single those people out though, I think I'd rather do that first round of Hollywood week with everyone else, instead of being stuck up there in that grumpy Muppet guy box overlooking the others. It just sets up a weird dynamic from the word go, I feel like schadenfreude becomes a factor when you're put up there on a pedestal. 

Quote

And woof, that Kelci girl made me cry too Lauren Alaina. Again. Something about her just gets to me and makes me want to hug her. Watching her sit next to those other polished country girls was hard to watch. You could almost see her wilting looking at them with their gorgeous hair and make up and all the experience, and when she got up there and was shaking so badly I just teared up. This is too much for her, but I can't help rooting for her. I just want her to be ok.

First of all, I remember disliking Lauren Alaina back in the day but I can no longer remember why. I loved her in this episode, she's adorable and seems like a real person. I'm glad she was the mentor for this girl, I imagine the dynamic being quite different if Hayley Reinhart had been the mentor. 

As for Kelci, this feels like one of those feel-good stories that only really works in these early rounds unless she can shake off the nerves exponentially by showtime. It makes it so much harder to eliminate the ones who've been briefly lifted from obscurity, only to be sent back with a taste of the other side. She is so sweet and I'm rooting for her, but it would be really hard to watch her struggle too. So it's kind of a double-edged thing.

OTOH, as I said, I didn't see Kenedi's audition so I can't speak to the quality of her voice, but she didn't impress me in that Journey thing (and I'm partly into the duets and she didn't impress me there either) and I'm not rooting for her for the reverse reason of Kelci. I feel like Kenedi and that other girl, the pageant girl, could get a recording contract just by walking into a studio. They're album-cover ready and lord knows, a good voice is no longer required. I like the idea of Idol being a vehicle for those who wouldn't otherwise get a shot.

[LexieLily]

11 minutes ago, ljenkins782 said:

Man, I was one of the biggest Idol fans around, but between no memory of Nadia Turner and now the jolt of remembrance hearing Blake and Carly Smithson's names, I've clearly lost my Idol trivia edge. 

I didn't think any of the platinum ticket holders sounded all that great (missed all their auditions except for Huntergirl) and I can only imagine how many of the kids out in the audience were snottily thinking they could do better, even as they gave them a standing ovation in the name of playing the game. I feel like in the old days, there would definitely have been a few juicy interview soundbites or stinkfaces in the audience, back in the bygone days when people weren't so aware of optics. Ah, the days of hot tubs and fights and kicking people out of groups in Hollywood week, that used to be my favorite. 

@ljenkins782, do you remember this? I. Don't. Do. Groups!

Also, there needs to be a thread for Idol trivia games :D

[Babalooie]

Kelsie...

[Ilovepie]

39 minutes ago, ljenkins782 said:

I didn't think any of the platinum ticket holders sounded all that great (missed all their auditions except for Huntergirl) and I can only imagine how many of the kids out in the audience were snottily thinking they could do better, even as they gave them a standing ovation in the name of playing the game.

Yeah, it's one thing to give them a pass to the next round, but to single them out so spectacularly puts a big target on their back. All three seem like they have a lot of experience performing though so they might be better able to navigate that than some others might be. But yeah, I don't think they sounded any more amazing than a lot of the others.

[ljenkins782]

3 hours ago, LexieLily said:

@ljenkins782, do you remember this? I. Don't. Do. Groups!

Also, there needs to be a thread for Idol trivia games :D

OH.MY.GOD. I am sad to say that that was another Idol gem that was lost to my fading memory, but it just flooded back. And now you're gonna send me down a rabbit hole, I didn't know any of those old clips were on YT!! I think my favorite of the old-time Hollywood fights was Kimberly Caldwell vs Julia deMato. 

[LexieLily]

46 minutes ago, ljenkins782 said:

OH.MY.GOD. I am sad to say that that was another Idol gem that was lost to my fading memory, but it just flooded back. And now you're gonna send me down a rabbit hole, I didn't know any of those old clips were on YT!! I think my favorite of the old-time Hollywood fights was Kimberly Caldwell vs Julia deMato. 

I remember that being a fight - and it being a BIG DEAL when Julia made it through semifinals group one while K. Caldwell was third and had to wait to get through as a WC - but I don't remember what the argument was about.