‘American Idol’: Eliminated Singer Asks To Speak To The Manager
ABC/Eric McCandless Reading Time: 5 minutes
American Idol Season 19 returned on Sunday night with the first round of Hollywood Week. Judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan decided which contestants should move on to the Duets round.
The week started with the Genre Challenge. The genres were indie-folk, pop, rock, R&B, soul, and country. Mentor Bobby Bones also returned for this round of the competition, helping the contestants through their performances.
Tonight’s episode featured the return of Claudia Conway, as well as a cringeworthy moment in which one of the contestants complained about her elimination, asking to speak with “the manager.”
WATCH This Week’s ‘American Idol’ Performances
Pop Round 1
Siblings Liahona and Ammon Olayan auditioned together. This time, Liahona performed “No Excuses” by Meghan Trainor, and Ammon performed “Lost in Japan” by Shawn Mendes.
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Liv Grace Blue performed “Ain’t No Sunshine.” Laila Mach performed “Fix It to Break It” by Clinton Kane. Ava August performed “We’re Going to Be Friends” by Jack Johnson.
Out of the contestants in the first Pop round, Laila, Ava, and Liahona made it through to the next stage of Hollywood Week.
Country Round 1
Caleb Kennedy performed “Between Whiskey and You” by Chris Stapleton. Meanwhile, Alex Miller made Cameron McGhar a belt buckle with her name on it, saying he liked her. Cameron sang “Stay” by Sugarland, which Katy called “authentic.” Alex performed “Freeborn Man.”
Cecil Ray said he was doing the show for his daughter. He faltered a little in the beginning, so Katy had him start again. He performed “Shake the Frost” by Tyler Childers.
Caleb, Cecil, and Alex made it to the next round, along with Drake McCain and Mignon. However, Cameron McGhar was eliminated.
Soul
Re’h performed “Get Here” by Oleta Adams. Katy once again said Celeste Butler’s performance was too cruise ship. Xavier Washington sang “Gravity” by John Mayer. After the performance, the judges declared, “Amen!”
Grace Kinstler performed “10 Seconds” by Jazmine Sullivan, while DJ Johnson performed “Rise Up” by Andra Day. Out of the Soul performers, DJ and Celeste were eliminated, while everyone else went through to the next round.
Indie-Folk Round 1
Christina Daugherty sang “Hit the Road Jack” on the acoustic guitar. Hunter Metts performed “Everything I Wanted” by Billie Eilish. Cassandra Coleman sang “Dynamite” by Sigrid.
Christina, Hunter, and Cassidy, as well as Graham DeFranco, made it through to the next round.
Pop Round 2
Anthony Guzman ditched his Thor outfit from auditions to perform “Fever” by Peggy Lee. Yurisbel also returned and had Katy Perry dancing along to his performance.
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Andrea Valles also took the stage to sing “Lay Me Down” by Sam Smith. Katy called her a “magician.” Erika Perry sang “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins, but asked to start over part of the way through.
Andrea and Anthony were the only singers who went forward from this group. Erika asked the judges if they were sure about their decision before walking off. Later, she called herself a “lunatic” and asked “to speak to the manager” about her elimination.
Country Round 2
Christian McGuckian was nervous in her first audition, and got help from the judges in her Hollywood Week performance of “Gunpowder & Lead” by Miranda Lambert. Chayce Beckham performed “Hard Times” by Tyler Childers.
Chayce was the only contestant to make it through this round.
Pop Round 3
Mary Jo Young returned to perform “Falling” by Harry Styles. Colin Jamieson, meanwhile, sang “Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leon on the guitar. Talked-about contestant Claudia Conway also returned to the show with her mom Kellyanne Conway. She sang “River” by Bishop Briggs.
All of this round’s contestants, including Claudia, Colin, and Mary Jo, got through to the next round.
R&B
During this round, Vahhley performed “Love on the Brain” by Rihanna. Unfortunately, the judges chose not to send her through to the next round. Tryzdin Grubbs and Brianna Collichio were also eliminated from the competition.
Indie-Folk Round 2
Wyatt Pike performed “Stay” by Rihanna. Trinity Rose sang “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by the Beach Boys. Lizzy O’Very performed “Lights” by Ellie Goulding with an accordion. Murphy also returned and shared his story of losing his father and his choice to start busking. He performed “I Got a Name” by Jim Croce.
Wyatt, Murphy, EmiSunshine, and Lizzy made it through to the next round.
Rock
During the Rock round, Beane returned to the show to perform “Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John. Casey Bishop, meanwhile, performed “House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals, and Althea Grace sang “Girl” by Maren Morris.
Out of this small group, only Christian Terry was eliminated. Everyone else made it through to the next round.
Willie Spence
This singer went viral with a performance of “Diamonds” by Rihanna. He opened up about his mother’s stroke, and how he returned home to take care of her. During Hollywood Week, Willie ended the show by singing “All of Me” by John Legend. The judges sent him through to the next round, giving him a standing ovation.
At the end of the show, the judges told the remaining contestants that they won’t be able to pick their partners for the Duets round this year. Instead, the judges will pick for them.
