February 8, 2012 06:38 PM PDT

American Idol: Day 1 of Season 11 Hollywood Week Ends With a…

by Michael Slezak

With all due sympathy (and concern) for The Girl Who Fell Off the Stage, Day 1 of American Idol‘s Season 11 Hollywood Week will go down in the history books for starting with a whimper, and ending with a bang.

UPDATE: American Idol Full Episode Recap: Legend of the Fall

Indeed, over the course of the one-hour telecast, we saw the downfall of several high-profile auditioners — Jim Carrey’s daughter, the kid who dropped out of high school, and the bearded dude who kissed Ryan Seacrest on the cheek, to name a few. But “downfall” took on a whole new meaning with the final a capella auditioner, 16-year-old Symone Black, who delivered a sparkling, soulful rendition of “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay,” then attempted to field a question from Randy Jackson before collapsing with the speed and mysteriousness of Madonna being swallowed by the Smoke Monster at the end of the 2012 Super Bowl Halftime Show.

American Idol: Top 10 Auditions of Season 11

Sorry, that was a whole lot of sentence. But it was also a whole lot of cliffhanger, seeing how Uncle Nigel let us see footage of a crumpled Symone being tended to by Idol staffers, before foisting a dreaded “to be continued” upon the Idoloonie nation. Obviously, girlfriend is going to survive, although the show’s decision to not play Carrie Underwood’s “Flat on the Floor” over the closing credits signals the fact that Symone might’ve possibly been injured. One thing is certain: We’ll be tuning in tomorrow to see how it all plays out.

Also certain: I’m headed off to work on a full episode recap — UPDATE: It’s live, so read it here! — that will post Thursday morning here at TVLine. Until then, I’ll turn things over to you: Who was your favorite from Day 1 of Hollywood Week? Who was your biggest disappointment? Sound off in the comments section, and for all my Idol news, interviews, and recaps, follow me on Twitter @MichaelSlezakTV!

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Tags: American Idol, Reality TV

Comments (71)

Holy schizz, that was a bad fall! Steven musta been having some serious flashbacks not to make light of it, that looked nasty. Boos to the show for leaving it like that, though, that was self serving crap. But of course we’ll have to tune in now, so that was the point.
Comment by Irishize – February 8, 2012 06:44 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- TONIGHT’S IDOL SHOW-in bad taste.
  unbelievable…
  very bad taste. I am thinking that I will not watch the show tommorrow-in protest.
  Of course the girl is OK but should IDOL cash in? I am shure they have compensated her for here ordeal-but to lead us on-as I said-in poor taste.
  Comment by zingaro – February 8, 2012 07:31 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - completely tasteless. that’s trash i’d expect from real world or hell’s kitchen, not idol. i’m done with this show.
    Comment by kyle92 – February 8, 2012 08:35 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - I have been an avid fan of AI for several years. After tonight’s disgusting antics, I am SO done with this show! Michael Slezak’s review is equally tasteless.
    Comment by Karen – February 8, 2012 10:02 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - You must be new to Idol. This type of stuff happens every Hollywood frigging show….!
    Comment by SallyinChicago – February 9, 2012 03:41 AM PDT Reply To This Post
    - Maybe he’s like Keith Richards – he’s been dead for ten years but no one’s had the heart to tell him.
      Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 9, 2012 05:48 AM PDT Reply To This Post
      - Okay, that turned up in entirely the wrong place. weird.
        Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 9, 2012 06:16 AM PDT
    - Not the truth. I watch Idol every year, and nothing like this has ever happened.
      Comment by MaryK – February 9, 2012 05:55 AM PDT Reply To This Post
      - Remember Season 8 with Tatiana. They way they paraded her out in front of the viewers. The women was obviously mentally ill but AI producers played her for the ratings
        Comment by cathy – February 9, 2012 08:49 AM PDT
- Does Steven have a heartbeat? I swear it seemed only Randy and JLO were animated. Steven didn’t say anything while the kids were auditioning. JLO and Randy were the most vocal.
  Comment by SallyinChicago – February 9, 2012 03:40 AM PDT Reply To This Post
What a crazy show. A lot of decent performers. I personally wasn’t shocked with any of the eliminations. I thought all those that got cut made it to this point with very small “Yes’s”. I thought Travis was good, but I agree that he doesn’t have enough to make it past this round. Jane was alright but I didn’t think her audition round was that strong, her going home isn’t a surprise. Same with Wolf and Romero.
-
Symone falling was crazy crazy. That’s really all I can say on that.
Comment by IdolBeTheJudge.Blogspot.com – February 8, 2012 06:46 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I do believe that some people made it through the first Hollywood round on the strength of their original audition impression, because some of them, when you close your eyes and listen, just didn’t sing that great.
Also, I think many singers are affecting their voice too much to make themselves stand out, singing with too many runs, vocal gymnastics, etc. Many of them may have done the job in this round because of the format of it, but it’s much harder to imagine how their records will sound because many of them lacked soul and relied instead more on vocal gimmicks…
Comment by Andrea – February 8, 2012 06:53 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- I agree with you, but this is the nature of Hollywood week. I think that the contestants feel that they need to show everything they can do but it always just ends up with some over the top performances that are just a little bit too much. I think the best hollywood performances are when they scale themselves back a little bit and give a genuine performance.
  Comment by Ken – February 8, 2012 07:17 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Yeah. I understand they’re trying to show themselves at their best and all, but the overdramatic stuff needs to be toned down and people need to just SING. Girls need to stop with the whole “trying to be Mariah/Christina/Whitney” style, and guys need to quit trying to impersonate either the “screaming rocker” style or the Luther/Stevie style. Like my mom says, “‘Loud’ doesn’t automatically mean ‘good’.”
  What got me about the girl falling is how so many people, judges included, just stood there staring. I know part of it’s shock and part of it probably because they don’t want to get in the way of the medics or would be shooed off if they tried, but still, it just struck me funny to see everyone simply standing there staring in horror. I would’ve expected SOMEONE to move maybe a little bit right away, at least.
  I feel so bad for that poor girl. And really, Idol, we got the hint the first time she’d fall, I’m sure she doesn’t really want America reliving that moment a zillion times during the broadcast breaks and such.
  As for other less dramatic moments, I can’t believe that kid who went through and got voted off at this point last year had it happen again. I mean, he wasn’t the greatest, I didn’t think, but still, I felt bad for him, twice in a row like that has to suck. I was also really disappointed that Ramiro (I forget the spelling right now), the one who was deaf and had the surgery on his ears and everything, left. I was hoping he’d stick around a bit longer.
  Comment by Angela – February 8, 2012 10:20 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Idol can’t win. It’s either too overly dramatic, or boring.
    Comment by SallyinChicago – February 9, 2012 07:17 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- One word…..”hollerating”.
  Comment by Kim R – February 9, 2012 02:59 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- They tell the kids to bring their A game, their best, and most if not all, go through runs and screeches to show their “range”….plus it’s nerves. It’s like a beauty contest — your bring your best curves, your best smile and some probably “overdo” it.
  Comment by SallyinChicago – February 9, 2012 03:43 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Oh my gosh – my DVR cut off while Symone was still singing – I had no idea that she fell (I studiously avoid commercials – so I hadn’t seen the teaser).
When I was 15/16 I used to hyperventilate and pass out (crumple to the floor) after every competitive performance (Solo & Ensemble). Without fail. But I was never on a stage that high! Sure hope she’s OK!!
Comment by ladyhelix – February 8, 2012 07:01 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- my dvr (time warner) cut out early too. very annoying.
  Comment by stella – February 8, 2012 09:38 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Did Idol go a few minutes over time? I always program the DVR so it continues to record for about five minutes after the program is over. don’t worry – you’ll be watching clips of that poor girl fall forever. I feel badly for her.
  Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 9, 2012 05:34 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Girlfriend is gonna be fine. Lol’d @ Flat on the Floor,
and did anybody notice Haley Reinhart in the opening intro? That was flippin awesome! March 1st ladies and gentlemen, March 1st.
Comment by Zach – February 8, 2012 07:04 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Exactly three weeks to this day!
  Comment by RTW – February 9, 2012 06:53 AM PDT Reply To This Post
This show is so predictable already. Boring too.
So over Idol. Ugh. Thank god I did not waste my time watching this garbage.
Comment by Titina – February 8, 2012 07:05 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Why did you waste your time commenting on this blog?
  Comment by Ben – February 8, 2012 07:40 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Win.
    Comment by Christia – February 8, 2012 08:25 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Because she’s right?
    Comment by Bob – February 9, 2012 02:43 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Pretty sure I saw Scott Dangerfield (amazing audition from last season) and Alex Wong (SYTYCD) at Hollywood week…am I crazy?
Comment by Kristin – February 8, 2012 07:17 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Yes, you did see Scott Dangerfield. Was he the one that quit last year because he wanted to graduate from high school, or finish school, or something like that?
  Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 8, 2012 07:38 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Now I think I remember – he was a teacher and had obligations to his job and students. I also think he was the one that came into the audtitions with lipstick on his face!
  Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 8, 2012 07:45 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Definitely saw Alex Wong.
  Comment by cpod – February 8, 2012 08:54 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Yes I saw Alex “Freaking” Wong several times also. Which had me completely distracted…why was he there, was he auditioning, was he there for support, if so why the heck is he in the front row BEING so distracting lol.
    Comment by Kate – February 9, 2012 06:56 AM PDT Reply To This Post
I am one of those older folks Symone was trying to reach out to . I loved her performance. I pray she will be ok .
Comment by TOM – February 8, 2012 07:27 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I saw Alex Wong too, yep that was him.
Comment by Shelly – February 8, 2012 07:28 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Don’t tell me that Alex Freaking Wong can dance AND sing??
  Comment by K2 – February 8, 2012 11:17 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Yup, noticed him on Monday in the list of competitors for Hollywood Week on the AI site. You can watch his video, apparently he auditioned on crutches.
    Comment by Anna B – February 9, 2012 07:31 AM PDT Reply To This Post
TONIGHT’S IDOL SHOW-in bad taste.
unbelievable…
very bad taste. I am thinking that I will not watch the show tomorrow-in protest.
Of course the girl is OK but should IDOL cash in? I am shure they have compensated her for here ordeal-but to lead us on-as I said-in poor taste.
Comment by zingaro – February 8, 2012 07:32 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I’m bored by the contestants so far. Maybe I’m just singing competitioned out, because they’re all starting to sound the same. Decent enough, but there’s nobody I’m excited about right now.
Comment by Amber – February 8, 2012 07:55 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- The point of AI is to “make” a star. These newbies don’t come to American Idol already polished. We watch their transformation. Maybe that’s why you’re bored. The Voice is different. The singers are already pros and given chance after chance and now they’re on TV for another chance.
  I like that AI allows us to follow the contestants who look like Muppets and grow into talented people.
  Comment by SallyinChicago – February 9, 2012 08:44 AM PDT Reply To This Post
  - I like to see a star being made, but usually by now there’s at least 1 person that I really think is great or that I really want to do well. It may not be the same person throughout the whole season,but at least there’s someone to root for. That’s always been my favorite part of American Idol; getting invested in the contestants and watching the one or two that I really like and cheering them on as they go through the rounds. Right now nobody stands out to me, so I’m lacking that part. And I couldn’t care less whether they look polished or not.
    Comment by Amber – February 9, 2012 07:52 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Simone had one of the best voices of the night. We didn’t need to see the same mediocre singers that we saw during the auditions. I guess it’s a good thing that Simone fell, or else we would still think that no good singers made it through to Hollywood.
Comment by Annie – February 8, 2012 07:57 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I hearby crown Jane Carrey the winner of the “Could you have POSSIBLY picked a crappier song to sing?” award for choosing CCR’s ultra-silly “Lookin’ Out My Back Door”. Gee, what happened, Jane – were you unable to get clearance for freakin’ “MacArthur Park”? I’m not sure she would have made it much farther in the competition but a better song choice couldn’t have hurt her any.
.
Someone else that needs to get the “gong” for their song choice is David Leathers for singing a Celine Dion song, “Because you Loved Me”.
.
My favorites at the moment are Elise Testone, Jen Hirsch, and Lauren Gray.
Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 8, 2012 07:57 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Thankfully David Leathers doesn’t make the live show.
  Comment by Sg. Grant – February 8, 2012 08:15 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Sgt. Gray you sreva troll. Michael S. Please block him. We all know there are spoilers but no one should post them.
    Comment by forwarders – February 9, 2012 04:03 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- I actually really like the song, and CCR’s version brings a smile to my face whenever I hear it. But Jane’s version lost all of that.
  Comment by Kevin C. – February 9, 2012 01:44 AM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Kevin C., you may have a point. she absolutely sucked the life out of the song, which left us with silly lyrics and not much else.
    Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 9, 2012 05:36 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- I agree, darcy’s evil twin. Crapfest of a song choice. Ugh.
  Comment by Crystal Fan – February 9, 2012 07:13 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Stage Dad. Drama. Now everyone will remember Symone Black.
Comment by Shejay – February 8, 2012 08:21 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Did you notice how Nigel made sure he got a shot of himself calling for a medic? Duh, ya think?!
Comment by NJloonie – February 8, 2012 08:32 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- He was probably the one who tightened the rope across the stage that tripped Symone. For the drama, of course.
  Comment by Eli – February 8, 2012 09:38 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- I disagree. He looked worried. Nigel has had three heart attacks. He moved in quick when she fell.
  Comment by LUP23 – February 9, 2012 06:51 AM PDT Reply To This Post
I thought it was incredibly tasteless to use real life tragedy a a cliffhanger to get you to tune in the following day– this is a new low
Comment by Jake – February 8, 2012 08:53 PM PDT Reply To This Post
People still watch this show? I stopped watching years ago and never looked back.
Comment by musiclady – February 8, 2012 08:54 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Stopped watching it years ago?
  Yeah, right!
  Comment by just saying – February 8, 2012 09:08 PM PDT Reply To This Post
That was a horrible way to end the show and hook viewers to tune in tomorrow night.
Comment by Lesleigh – February 8, 2012 09:27 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- That happens every year — where have you been? Have you seen the woman who walked out and they were trying to talk her into staying? There have been diabetics who couldn’t make it.
  Comment by SallyinChicago – February 9, 2012 03:44 AM PDT Reply To This Post
I’m pretty sure that Symone will be the next American Idol.Her voice is really fulfilling my nerves. Fantastic indeed! Go Symone in every downfall u had there could be rising tomorrow that will be happened.Just keep it up!!
Comment by Ryan – February 8, 2012 09:32 PM PDT Reply To This Post
That girl fell off the stage about twenty times over the course of the show- twice before each commercial break, sporadically throughout previews- enough already!
Also, as much as I liked his audition, Phillip Phillips wasn’t great. Reed Grimm was also pretty bad.
Even though I liked her personality, the judges made the right call cutting Jane Carrey- she was very karaoke.
Comment by Eli – February 8, 2012 09:36 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Dez Duron (The Voice) >>> Creighton Fraker (Idol)
Same kind of voice, except Dez was about eighty times stronger. And Dez was cut, while Creighton was not.
Comment by Jared – February 8, 2012 09:39 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Mobile DJ was so good, I hit rewind on the DVR cranked up the volume and watched it again.
Comment by TVAddict – February 8, 2012 10:24 PM PDT Reply To This Post
*Cue 15 YouTube mashups of Symone and “Flat on the Floor”*
Comment by Octodad – February 8, 2012 10:49 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Phillip Phillips was awful but I would love to have massive sex with him. I wonder if Heejun flaps his arms during sex?
Comment by Melinda Doobig – February 8, 2012 11:21 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- He’s a cutey pie.
  Comment by SallyinChicago – February 9, 2012 03:45 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Is idol still on the air? How quaint.
Comment by Jj – February 8, 2012 11:39 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I took one thing away from tonight, and it wasn’t concern over some trumped up fainting spell, it was JEN HIRSCH! Where the F did that chick come from?? She gave me chills, reminded me of Kat McPhee’s first audition back in season 5. Here’s hoping she sticks around, I want me some more of that!
Comment by Grace – February 9, 2012 12:37 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- I agree. Liked her a lot.
  Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 9, 2012 05:46 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Alex confirmed on his facebook page that he was on the show. No more than that.
Comment by Jill – February 9, 2012 01:20 AM PDT Reply To This Post
“Fulfilling your nerves” = does not compute. And of course she won’t win, she’s not a WGWG (white guy with guitar)!
Comment by hillchics – February 9, 2012 03:36 AM PDT Reply To This Post
What a tacky way to end the show. Sure the girl is probably fine but you don’t leave a cliffhanger of whether or not someone is seriously injured. And the sad thing about it is Nigel Lythgoe is gloating about on his twitter and sees nothing wrong with it.
Comment by Christina – February 9, 2012 04:47 AM PDT Reply To This Post
I am glad to read other opinions about Phillip Phillips – he wasn’t that great last night. In fact, he was pretty bad, IMO. I would have put Travis Orlando through rather than Phillips based on the two performances.
The poor girl that fell off the stage, Symone Black, was quite good but I sure feel sorry for her. I don’t know that it was necessary to show the clip over… and over…and over. Idol doesn’t know the word “subtelty” exists, that’s for sure.
Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 9, 2012 05:45 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Don’t cry for Symone — that’s the best publicity anybody can get on the highest rated show! Everybody’s talking about HER today.
Comment by SallyinChicago – February 9, 2012 07:18 AM PDT Reply To This Post
My favorite part was hearing Nigel say “medic!” Felt like I was watching an episode of SYTYCD there for a minute
AND! Alex Freakin’ Wong was in the audience! Why??
I absolutely LOVE Heejun. He gives me the warm fuzzies.
Comment by Saracen Riggins – February 9, 2012 07:36 AM PDT Reply To This Post

American Idol: Day 1 of Season 11 Hollywood Week Ends With a…

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