Recap: 'American Idol' Hollywood Week
The new Hollywood Week format showcased on Tuesday (Feb. 12) night's American Idol had some odd consequences. On one hand, it was almost completely devoid of the sort of suspense and histrionics viewers have come to expect. That's bad. On the other hand, I felt like I actually saw some super performances over the course of the two-hour episode. That's good.
To some degree I missed the old Hollywood structure. I missed the ridiculous trio performances that forced the hopefuls to display collaborative skills they'd never use again in the competition. I missed the late nights of fighting, I missed the one guy who couldn't find a team and ended up making awful music with two discordant gals, I missed the flirty twit who would rather party and hook up than learn to harmonize. I missed the frequent freak-shows and the occasional unexpected alchemies that the episode used to often feature.
And perhaps because of the new format, the stakes on Tuesday's episode felt lower. Yes, there were nervous tears. Yes, there were people on the verge of collapse from psychosomatic colds. Yes, there were one or two confused people who said that they wished they'd been given a fair shot. [Fair shot? Goodness gracious. If you want a fair shot, go out and make it in the industry without American Idol, without the advantages of this television exposure. American Idol is all about cheating and skipping steps.] But nobody stood on the stage and refused to leave. Nobody swore at Simon, on stage or off. Nobody ranted about the specific people who made it through versus the people sent home.
For the full recap, head over to the It Happened Last Night blog...
sounds lame; i'm glad i missed it!
...ok, i'm not glad i missed it, but it still sounds really lame.
Yeah, I was a little surprised when that was it for hollywood week! In a way I agree with the format change, but I also feel a bit ripped off. I barely know the top 12!