‘American Idol’ Hollywood Week Features Major Cuts, New Arena Round
Disney/Chloe Rice Reading Time: 3 minutes
American Idol Season 22 returned on Sunday for the Hollywood Week round, as the judges narrowed down the singers who made it through auditions. After some huge cuts, the Top 24 was decided during Monday’s Showstopper round.
American Idol Introduces Arena Round During Hollywood Week
Hollywood Week is notorious for putting American Idol contestants through the wringer. This season, the show introduced the “Idol Arena,” or as Lionel Richie called it, the “Gladiator’s Pit.” The singers performed at random on stage surrounded by their competition.
The judges informed the singers that over half of them would be going home at the end of the round. To be more specific, the 143 singers who made it to Hollywood Week were narrowed down to just 56. As Richie shared, “We’ve never cut this many people ever in American Idol history.”
Sunday night’s show featured some incredible performances, including Emmy Russell’s original song “Like That.” (You might remember from her audition that Emmy is Loretta Lynn’s granddaughter.) The judges were also impressed by Triston Harper’s song “Wrapped Up in Jesus.” Meanwhile, Kennedy Reid delivered a powerhouse performance of “How Great Thou Art.” All three singers made it through.
As expected, the night wasn’t without its drama. Madai Chakell stopped her performance of “Tatooed Heart” by Ariana Grande and asked to start over twice, eventually deciding to sing a cappella. After talking about her issues with the accompaniment, Madai was given another chance to sing. At the end of the song, she randomly broke into an English accent. Unsurprisingly, Madai was eliminated during Sunday’s show.
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Showstopper Round Decides Top 24
On Monday night, the remaining singers competed in the Showstopper round, as the judges narrowed the competition down to the Top 24. The three Platinum Ticket winners, who got to skip the Arena round, returned to the show to perform during Monday’s episode. All three made it through.
After singing, the contestants faced the Final Judgment with the panel to determine if they were part of the Top 24. The episode featured not one but two sing-offs, as the judges tried to figure out who should move on to the next stage of the competition.
First, Kaibrienne and returning contestant Alyssa Raghu went head-to-head with two separate renditions of “Shallow” by Lady Gaga. Kaibrienne’s gritty take on the track won out, as she earned a spot in the Top 24. Alyssa was eliminated.
Later, the judges asked for another sing-off between Ziggy and Mackenzie Sol. Both singers performed “Jealous” by Labrinth. The panel decided to keep Mackenzie in the competition, meaning Ziggy was eliminated.
Next week, the Top 24 will perform at Disney’s Aulani resort in Hawaii. America will then vote for which singers they want to see in the live shows. The show will once again air on both Sunday and Monday night.
