Hollywood Rounds: Part 3

Welcome back. Last week featured some really great moments, and then we had some questionable moments as well. That's Hollywood Week for ya. Tonight we will get a little more performance and hopefully a little less drama with some solo performances. These performances are big in that they will help shape the Top 24 that will be revealed tomorrow and will perform next week.

Last week we named our Personal Top 20 these 18 contestants remain:

Audition 1=Lee Jean, Sonika Vaid
Audition 2=LaPorsha Renae, Tristan McIntosh
Audition 3 =Jenn Blosil, John Wayne Shultz
Audition 4=Amber Lynn, Chris "CJ" Johnson
Audition 5=Mackenzie Bourg, Jenna Renae, Emily Brooke, Adam Lasher
Audition 6=Jessica Cabral,  Chynna Sherrod, Zach Person, Collette Nash, Stephany Negrete, Manny Torres

So with all that said, let's get started:

Solo Round

Stephany Negrete- I like how she jumped right into the middle of the song "Set Fire to the Rain" and the big part of the song. She has a natural, easy voice that is so powerful yet doesn't seem like she is doing much to get it to hit certain notes.

Thomas Stringfellow- He does so many weird cuts of lyrics, like little noticeable weird things. It's tough to describe, but if he does it once or twice it'd be alright, but given he does it, on almost every note it gets a little irritating.

Avalon Young- Didn't sound great. She has sounded better at other points that I have heard her.

Olivia Rox-She chose to sing an original song, it was ballsy but from the few seconds we heard it seemed like a good song, not sure of the voice at this point.

John Wayne Shultz-He is sans his lucky black hat, which he lost. He is a big strapping, country dude. If you like pure country then this guy really is for you. He seems like a good guy so that helps his whole persona.

Tristan McIntosh Drama- So we learn that under Idol rules each song that is sung in front of the judges can only be selected by 3 contestants. Tristan was the 4th, she selected the same song that 3 other contestants earlier on the sign-up board chose. She gets pretty emotional about how the song means a lot to her and her mother that was in Kuwait. I feel like Idol really wants me to love everything about Tristan, and I respect her whole family situation, and it's hard having a parent in the armed forces, but Tristan has underwhelmed me many times over the course of the past number of weeks. Her audition was good, but since then, not as impressed. 

Mackenzie Bourg-I enjoyed his original audition, but he disappeared last week. Tonight he sings an original song called "Roses". It's pretty, and he obviously is a good song writer. He has a really nice quality to his tone and really enjoyable.

Shelbie Z- She has a really strong country song. They didn't show much from her tonight, but you can tell she has a lot of power, even in small doses.

Kory Wheeler-We only see a small snippet of his performance, it's nice.

James VIII-I didn't like his voice that much here, thought it was very one dimensional.

Tristan McIntosh-One of the girls that selected the song that Tristan was getting emotional about "What Hurts The Most" by Rascal Flatts, decided to give up her spot for Tristan. That's a solid, great karma move right there. Anyways, Tristan does a pretty nice job, I didn't find it hit the emotional punch that I think she wanted to give, given how invested she was into the song. It was good, not great for all that drama.

Sonika Vaid-Her voice seems just like what you hear on the radio, like Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez, not as seasoned, but that's still a good comparison. She has talent there, that's for sure.

Lee Jean- He has a very sweet, gentle voice. It doesn't fill the stage or make a big presence, but it's a real nice voice. 

Sara Sturm-Her voice is also very sweet and tender. Lee Jean and Sara have a nice little friendship going, it's cute. Sara does a nice job with her song, not amazing, but not bad.

Jenn Blosil-She really is super quirky, but her voice is really quite good. She has been compared to Sia, and she really kinda does, like Sia Jr.

Emily Brooke-Even though this is the second go around for Emily in the process it still takes a toll on her, at least emotionally, because her voice sounded quite good. There were a couple choices that were a little off, but for the more part it wasn't bad at all.

Malie Delgado-So I mentioned before that the girl who gave up her song for Tristan would be getting good karma, well, I was wrong because Malie was the one who gave up her song and she has laringytis and basically has no voice. It goes in and out, when she tries to go for the higher notes, but she tries her hardest to get through, and it didn't sound really bad.

Mionne Destiny-She also was losing her voice over the course of the past few days in Hollywood and it was noticeable. It was okay.

Jessica Cabral-I think she has one of the best voices in the competition, but even she was a little under the weather here, and you can tell. She still has an amazing voice and it would be an injustice if she didn't make the Top 24, she deserves that spot.

Joshua Wicker- I think he did not sound good at all, I also find it super awkward when he went all the way up to the judges and sing right in their faces. Not so good.

CJ Johnson-He has a great intensity in his voice, is a good looking guy,and is enjoyable to watch.

Jeneve Rose Mitchell-We have seen a lot of her the past few weeks, it's sweet, but I didn't enjoy it too much tonight.

Dalton Rapattoni-I like how he takes songs like the one he did tonight "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and makes it into a soft rock kind of thing, it's creative and enjoyable.

Three Room Decision/Results
This is an Idol staple. Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think we have seen the 3 Room Decision in at least a couple years. This process is that there are 2 rooms that have contestants in that will move on, 1 room has the eliminated room, the question is, which rooms are safe, and which one is not?

Room 1-Notable Contestants (that we saw)
Tristan McIntosh, Mackenzie Bourg, Stephany Negrete, Shelbie Z, LaPorsha Renae, Jessica Cabral, Dalton Rapattoni, James VIII, Lee Jean, Chynna Sherrod
Results=SAFE to Next Round

Room 2-Notable Contestants
Joshua Wicker, John Wayne Shultz
Results=GOING HOME

Room 3- Notable Contestants
Malie Delgado, Trent Harmon, Jenn Blosil, Avalon Young, Manny Torres, Adam Lashner, Emily Brooke, Thomas Stringfellow, Sara Strum
Results=SAFE to Next Round

Final Thoughts
*Tomorrow night 51 contestants will perform at the Showcase. This was a live performance, now taped, they did for the judges so they can make their decision on which contestants move on. 51 will sing, but only 24 will make it to the Live rounds where the home audience will vote ultimately for the Top 10. It's gonna be a big show tomorrow.

*The 3 room decision results was great, I loved seeing it, even though the first room was stacked with several contestants that actually can be the winner. It was a no doubter.

*There is a lot of good talent on this show, I feel we haven't seen some notable audition faces in awhile, which gets me nervous on if they made it or not. People like Collette Lush, Jenna Renae, Amber Lynn, Zach Person, Chynna Sherrod are some great voices that have been missing. Let's hope we see them tomorrow, or at least find out their fate on the show.

That's it. Tomorrow we are getting to the nitty gritty, the Top 24 will be revealed and live shows start next week. It's going fast. Can't wait to see how it all shakes out. Until next time, see ya!