Getting a Group Anything But Joyful on ‘American Idol’ Season 11

After the nail-biting end to the first Hollywood auditions, which faded to black with 16-year-old Symone Black laying flat on the floor after collapsing and unintentionally catapulting herself straight off stage in the worst way, this week’s group night began with her papa and a prayer circle pleading for her life. As it turns out, a little less rehearsal and a few more bottles of water was the right remedy for dehydration, and she rebounded just fine, finding a group in record time after being released from the ER!

Just like last year, producers foiled some already formed foursomes and more by announcing that groups had to have a mix of Day 1 and Day 2 contestants, causing some to start over, and most everyone to search to fill in the gaps. Police officer Alisha Bernhardt didn’t need a bullhorn, as she bellowed every 5 minutes for someone to join her in singing the Three Dog Night version of Paul Williams’ “Joy to the World,” a selection from which she would not budge 1 millimeter! It’s no wonder she was having trouble connecting, as she began every introduction with “Do I scare you?” Aren’t police officers supposed to cultivate that “community helper” image of friendliness? I guess Alisha missed that day, because she continued to struggle in winning friends. Even sick as a dog Amy Brumfield, formerly of her tent, abandoned ship with Alisha to search for calmer waters and sweeter harmonies with a new group, Make You Believers.

The majority of the sounds came to be harmonious in the hall, as talents took to their new best friends like fish to water, even if some were more than a bit bossy, like Brielle Von Hugel, but with the mediation skills of Kyle Crews in her group, as mellow as his voice, an “all for one” aura soon prevailed. Even when groups were compelled to transform four-part harmony to five or six, most adapted easily, tweaking into the wee hours before their toughest performances. An exception, however would be the group, M.I.T. That can’t stand for “Men in Tights” in this case, so maybe it should more aptly be “Men in Turmoil,” as country-fied Richie Law from the Aspen auditions was always assured that he had the right grounding in harmony and theory to teach his band the basics, but mild-mannered Heejun Han had a hard time taking to his instruction, instead preferring to slur his Richie’s hat attire between practice verses! When folks kept falling like flies from whatever virus befell Amy Brumfield and then spread to the bunch, and Phil Phillips was agonizing with a kidney stone, Heejun jabbed that his “cowboy had a brain stone.” They say adversity creates greatness, so maybe M.I.T. will sound marvelous!

The sweeter harmonies seemed to be wafting from the female side, so next week will reveal who gets real and takes the glory in group performances. Steven Tyler advised that “a little sleep deprivation” does everybody good, so next Wednesday will show if that medicine cures!

“American Idol” airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.

Source: “American Idol” telecast, Feb. 9, 2012 FOX TV.


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