February 9, 2012 06:28 PM PDT

American Idol: What Did You Think of Day 2 of Hollywood Week?

by Michael Slezak

“That’s it? Why wasn’t there even a single performance?” –Polly Slezak, my mother and current houseguest, at the close of Thursday night’s American Idol telecast

Alas, Mom, there is no Santa Claus. And also, there is no singing — at least on Day 2 of Season 11 Hollywood Week.

UPDATE: American Idol Full Episode Recap: The Day the Music Died

Indeed, over the course of the one-hour episode, we saw vomiting, weeping, bickering, and begging. We even saw raging against the devil. But what we didn’t see were any of the group-round performances from the 185 contestants who survived the introductory a capella rounds from Hell Week. It’s hard to understand how America’s long-standing, wildly popular reality singing competition could forget its central ingredient — I mean, would Pizza Hut forget the crust? Would Sunoco run out of gasoline? — but that’s what happened. Oh, and Symone Black survived her cliffhanger collapse, even asking if she’d made it through to the next stage of the competition before heading to the emergency room. Cue sad trombone?

As for me, I’m gonna get working on a full episode recap that will post Friday morning right here at TVLine. [UPDATE: Full recap is now live!] Until then, hit the comments and release your rage, shock, and disappointment. And for all my Idol news, views, and recaps, follow me on Twitter @MichaelSlezakTV!

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Tags: American Idol, Reality TV

Comments (62)

First?
I didn’t like this episode. American Idol should scrap the group drama round if it wants to stay on top.
Slezak, I heart you!
Comment by Elizabeth – February 9, 2012 06:31 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- They should show the group drama, but it needs to be balanced with actual singing.
  Comment by Annie – February 9, 2012 06:40 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Exactly. This was just a waste of an episode. They should have sprinkled in a few performances with the drama stuff. Only having this made this show look cheap. I know it’s the 11th season but this was ridiculous. Not to mention the fact that in the beginning of the show when he was trying to pump up the drama Ryan actually said that “the first casualty of the night was Symone”, as we see her lying there with medics rushing to her side. Pretty disgusting episode in a lot of ways tonight. They used a 16 year old girl’s scary fall to try to boost their ratings. Not good Idol. Not good at all.
    Comment by IdolBeTheJudge.Blogspot.com – February 9, 2012 06:55 PM PDT Reply To This Post
    - I loved this Big Brother episode.
      Wait a minute, what was Ryan Seacrest doing there? Where’s Julie Chen? What’s wrong with the Big Brother house? It looks like a hotel…
      Some talented people who apparently didn’t go to Hollywood:
      Gabi Carrubba (Nygel’s fan)
      The Dixons
      Samantha Novaceck (or her planking “girlfriend”)
      Aubree Dieckmeyer (America’s Next Top Idol)
      Shelby Twenten (who is bipolar)
      Haley Smith(Tell Me Something Good)
      Cortez Shaw (Someone Like You)
      Brittany Zica (who thinks she is Jess from New Girl)
      Reis Kloeckener (the Glee guy)
      Ashley Robles (I Will Always Love You)
      Who cares about “The Betties”? Or that cop? She is just as annoying as former contestant Tatiana Nicole del Toro. Do you guys remember her laugh?
      I think this episode was a big joke. The only good things about tonight were Amy’s charisma and Heejun’s sense of humour.
      Comment by Saulo – February 9, 2012 09:20 PM PDT Reply To This Post
      - What is your basis of who didn’t make it to Hollywood? I’m pretty sure I saw Gabi for a few seconds in between all of the dramatic scenes.
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        Comment by milly – February 10, 2012 01:08 AM PDT
      - I’m being ironic and complaining about the fact that there are awesome singers who went to Hollywood but we haven’t seen them yet.
        I’m not talking about “few seconds” and all that (crap) drama, I’m talking about a show-stopping, worth-watching performance!
        Comment by Saulo – February 10, 2012 05:15 AM PDT
- They should keep Heejun because he was the comic relief. As for not having enough singing….I don’t care about the singing until it gets down to the final 40. THAT’s when it really matters. And as for people getting sick. That was pretty dramatic, and I hope they had a medic on duty.
  Comment by SallyinChicago – February 9, 2012 09:02 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I’d rather hear the contestants sing than watch the drama. I want to hear for myself who wowed and who didn’t and not have AI producers decide for me.
Don’t these kids realize the audience is already forming opinions about them? Bad attitudes will kill you on this show.
Comment by Deb – February 9, 2012 06:34 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Well, this really wasn’t that different from other Hollywood Weeks, they just USED to be two hour episodes, the first usually taken up with the histrionics, and the second with the triumphs and train wrecks of the actual group performances. This time the second hour is NEXT week.
  Comment by Owen – February 9, 2012 07:28 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Wow. “Never wish for what you want, or you will surely get it”.
    Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 9, 2012 08:02 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - They should have arranged their scheduling so that the group rounds were done on back-to-back nights. It seems so silly to wait an entire week for “The Bettys” to start singing.
    Comment by susela – February 9, 2012 08:45 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Close your eyes. Feel the recappers’ collective rage.
Comment by katherine – February 9, 2012 06:35 PM PDT Reply To This Post
After watching some of the superb performances on The Voice, American Idol is looking pretty lame…
Comment by Neetsiethis – February 9, 2012 06:38 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Good luck Michael, it’s going to be hard to recap an episode, where nothing happened.
Someone please tell the American Idol people that sometimes two hour episodes are good, and needed, and that their central purpose is to show young and talented people SINGING. They’ve forgotten that part over the years, but tonight they went crazy with it.
Comment by Annie – February 9, 2012 06:39 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I wasted a half hour of my life and I want it back before giving up on tonight’s episode. Everybody has boring elements that make up part of their job. Why waste precious air time and subject the viewer… when all we want is to be taken away for 1 hour from our boring lives? Not add to it!
Comment by BW – February 9, 2012 06:42 PM PDT Reply To This Post
What a waste of my time. After tonite’s episode I was beginning to feel sick.
Comment by Rosemary – February 9, 2012 06:42 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Don’t even bother with the recap Slezak, nothing happened.
WORST EPISODE EVER. An hour of filler? Seriously?
Comment by Pat – February 9, 2012 06:45 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Agreed. That honestly was the worst episode ever. No singing and 70% of the episode was spent recapping what happened in the other 30%. Seriously how many times did they have to show that girl puking in a plastic bag. Once was too much.
  Comment by Amber – February 9, 2012 07:17 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - I know right they showed the girl puking in a plastic bag like 4 times and the other girl fallinng like 10
    Comment by Raquel – February 13, 2012 04:21 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Don’t waste you time with a recap Michael since nothing happened. Seriously one of the worst hours Idol has put together.
Comment by Christina – February 9, 2012 06:46 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Okay, guys, here’s what went down. This episode was supposed to be two hours long; first hour dram, second hour singing. However, because they scrapped one of the audition episodes, they needed to stretch this one out over two show slots to make up for it. I know, I was disappointed, too, but just think of how great it will be when we hear them next week after the wait!
(Also, I never read spoilers in advance before, but this season I did, and since I already know who’s in the Top 24, these episodes aren’t much fun and I wait in eager anticipation for the live rounds.)
Comment by IdolFlash-7-9-35 – February 9, 2012 06:51 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Thanks for the explanation. I’m glad they cut out one audition episode… they tried to stretch it out too much this year. Sad to have an entire episode of no singing though. Which they had found time to recut the edit.
  Comment by Ben – February 9, 2012 07:09 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Well, they should have just cut two audition episodes. The auditions went on waaaay too long.
  Comment by susela – February 9, 2012 08:47 PM PDT Reply To This Post
They cut my favorite audition – Ethan Jones goes home and they don’t even have the courtesy to show his performance – stupid idol.
Comment by Niki – February 9, 2012 06:53 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- At least his audition was shown…many people haven’t even been shown, including some of the top 24 (!)
  Comment by Miranda – February 9, 2012 08:20 PM PDT Reply To This Post
AMERICAN IDOL IS THE WORST SHOW EVER, period.
Comment by kira – February 9, 2012 06:53 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I remember when people used to watch this show! It was around this time last year they introduced us to that no talent hick Scotty. That was the beginning of the end of American Idol.
Comment by Yee Haw – February 9, 2012 06:56 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- And I remember Scotty’s audition, when they introduced us to… hang on, were we watching the same show?
  Comment by Ben – February 9, 2012 07:08 PM PDT Reply To This Post
this is the type of episode that makes American Idol show how far superior it is over other newer singing shows like The voice. that show might make it to this stage in a few more years but idol is still running strong 11 seasons in and the singing is essential when we get to the final 10-12 singers but the drama and the background stories make you feel a part of these groups and root for some contestants while hating others. Nothing compares to it. yes i wish there was some singing but idol isn’t showing 2 hours a day anymore, they got one hour to put the best into it and with that i thought they really got a great deal in as far as showing what type of people we have in season 11. American Idol still rocks!
Comment by jonathon – February 9, 2012 06:56 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Other shows may lack the drama, but they at least show some SINGING. Randy always emphasizes that this is a singing competition, so clearly a critical element was missing tonight.
  Comment by Elise – February 9, 2012 07:13 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Day 2 was a complete waste of my time.
Comment by Danielle Notaro – February 9, 2012 07:04 PM PDT Reply To This Post
The only thing worth mentioning in this episode is that HeeJun seriously gets more adorable every time I see him.
Comment by Lindsay – February 9, 2012 07:10 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Adorable???? Were we watching the same program? Because I’m going to go out on a limb here and say there aren’t TWO contestants named “HeeJun”, one of which was adorable. And WTH was he doing wearing a hood – indoors????
  Although, let me say this – the best part of the program involved HeeJun when they started playing the theme from “The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly”, because that pretty much summed it up for me.
  Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 9, 2012 08:06 PM PDT Reply To This Post
What a waste of an hour!
Comment by Jamie – February 9, 2012 07:13 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Oh please.
I think that’s all I have to say about THAT.
Comment by marie – February 9, 2012 07:18 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Hang on Marie – what did you say? I had to go throw up in a plastic bag.
  Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 9, 2012 08:24 PM PDT Reply To This Post
After 10 full seasons they still can’t figure out how to get people into groups of 4 or 5 singers in a less mindless fashion? Something as simple as telling the formed groups to move along to the rehearsal space ASAP would prevent the rest of the unmatched people from having to wander the ocean of bodies in the auditorium crying out in despair “I need a group!” “Anyone want to sing Joy to the World?” “Do you need someone from Day 1?” “HELP ME!” I mean, c’mon! Ever heard of a board with signup sheets???
Comment by Scarlett – February 9, 2012 07:19 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Scarlett — it’s EASY for you. Why don’t you go to California and try to form a group. It would be simpler if the producers put the groups together, but that wouldn’t be fun would it?
  Comment by SallyinChicago – February 9, 2012 09:08 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - You call tonight “fun”??
    Comment by Bad Breaker – February 9, 2012 10:01 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Worst. Episode. EVER. Don’t even bother writing a recap. And someone should tell the producers that an hour of watching people vomit, cry, fight, and pass kidney stones has absolutely no entertainment value.
Comment by Kathy – February 9, 2012 07:32 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- You just described the entire plot of Jersey Shore.
  Comment by Tahoe MIke – February 9, 2012 09:35 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Hilarious !
    Comment by Bad Breaker – February 9, 2012 10:03 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Tahoe Mike for Comment Of the Night!!
    That was too funny, dude!!!
    Comment by Billy – February 10, 2012 12:54 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Exactly, can’t wait for the two hour episodes, they aren’t even showing all the singers
Comment by Jake – February 9, 2012 07:45 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I have to admit that half-way through this episode I started getting the old Idol Itch – couldn’t wait to hear the stars emerge. WHAT??? It’s OVER? No stars emerging? And then wasn’t it a bit of a spoiler to see next week’s preview of several singers making it past the group sing on to the single sing? C’mon, man.
Comment by Becky – February 9, 2012 07:50 PM PDT Reply To This Post
What a waste. I hated it. American Idol need to step up their game. That was a hour I could have checked out someting esle on tne tube. So far this season is truly boring. The Xfactor was more exciting.
Comment by Vonya – February 9, 2012 08:12 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I loved it. I think this is the best episode they’ve done so far.
Can’t wait to see Heejun and his group performing.
Comment by Saulo – February 9, 2012 08:15 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- I think you and me are the only people who feel that way. I was so freaking entertained the entire episode! And Heejun is just an awesome person. Slezak! If he’s eliminated, get him on Idology! (…please)
  Comment by Mia – February 10, 2012 07:54 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Mr. Slezak – take your mom out for a nice lunch and shopping instead of writing a recap. Here, I’ll save you some time and do it for you: “There was more medical information in that show than there was music. Did you know you can faint if you get dehydrated? If you happen to be dehydrated do NOT stand near the edge of a stage. Not only that but performing in groups can give you the flu, especially if you live in a tent and you’re not accustomed to being indoors. Maybe that’s why HeeJun kept his hood on – so he didn’t catch cold. Group performances also cause mass vomiting and possibly even kidney stones. This episode was the longest hour in Idol history. It was like a bad combination of “ER” with the drama and trauma of “House” tossed in for good measure, along with the worst parts of “Glee”, a little bit of Mama Rose from “Gypsy”, and I swear I saw scenes that were reminiscent of high school drill team camp – minus the pom-poms”.
Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 9, 2012 08:21 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Love your recap Darcy.
  Comment by SallyinChicago – February 9, 2012 09:06 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Perfect recap…loved the Mama Rose reference. What about the stage father? I found him somewhat creepy.
  Comment by TheBeach – February 9, 2012 10:08 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Oh, and how could I forget that annoying cop? What was so special about her?
Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 9, 2012 08:35 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Her father is Steven Tyler’s stepbrother. You didn’t know that?
  Comment by Billy – February 10, 2012 12:58 AM PDT Reply To This Post
  - OH, HELL TO THE NO! Tell me you are making that up!
    Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 11, 2012 01:00 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I can’t believe the whiners on this board — “waste of my time” — then why don’t you turn it off? You folk are the same ones who watch Jersey short so — GO AWAY and whine somewhere else.
It was an engaging show. We saw the stresses they go through. We saw the pressure build. We have plenty of weeks to see “singing”….about 20 weeks of singing coming up.
Comment by SallyinChicago – February 9, 2012 09:05 PM PDT Reply To This Post
It should have been a 2 hour show, with the second hour showing some of the group performances. Nigel is really botching this season so far. He should have realized there would be a terrible reaction to an episode with no singing. :/
Comment by Miranda – February 9, 2012 09:13 PM PDT Reply To This Post
This was Idol raised to its highest art. For years of result shows they have tried to cram more and more filler in, with less and less content. Tonight they reached Idol perfection; all filler and no content. They even managed to do it with no group medley, and no Ford video. Somebody got their merit badge for this one.
Comment by Tahoe Mike – February 9, 2012 09:50 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- LOL! And don’t forget – the judges were nearly non-existent.
  Comment by darcy's evil twin – February 9, 2012 10:04 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Full episode recap? Recap of what??????
Comment by JimmyJ – February 9, 2012 10:25 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I thought there was a poll! fot the first time, I would gladly give it an F! Awful episode. If I wanted drama only I would be watching a thousand others things on tv. waste of time, that one.
Comment by Mayra – February 10, 2012 02:19 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I really liked Hayley Smith. I think she would have gone really far if not have possibly won. I would love to hear her sing again.
Comment by jill – February 16, 2012 06:53 PM PDT Reply To This Post

American Idol: What Did You Think of Day 2 of Hollywood Week?

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