Hollywood Week

Over the next few days 175 entries will be whittled down to just 40. The TV programme shows us only glimpses of some of those who will be successful. I think we see everyone who makes it to the last 40 but I haven't counted. It is difficult to review performances as we see so little and, especially in the group round, I have never been that sure we see the best of everyone anyway.

So all I can do is list my own notes as the individual sessions proceeded.

Laci Kay Booth
Great voice, very white teeth. Seems odd doing Natural Woman but she does do it well.

Alejandro Aranda
One of the predicted winners does Sorry from justin Bieber. Nice guitar work, all very good. Katy throws her jacket at him and then the other two as well. Seems like he's the one to watch!
Courtney Penry
Shouting and almost rapping. Forgot the words. All OTT and she's gone.

Madison Vandenburg
The 'next Kelly Clarkson' as the panel had called her. A bit tinny but this girl knows what she's doing. Pretty good talent but rather a flat personality.
Margie Mays
A pretty crazy girl. Quite fun, nice personality, OK but nothing special.

Tyler Mitchell
Sounds good. Confident
Logan Johnson
Recovering alcoholic. Not great but different to most and a good voice
Eddie Island
he's the odd-looking one with the Harry potter glasses. Good audition - like Coldplay meets someone.
Colby Swift
Good ol' boy but only 19 and can do Spanish. Totally genuine. Luke spots he has holes in his boots and gives him his. No-one had mentioned to Luke that the guy probably had decent boots at home but wears the ones with holes as a lucky charm!
Shawn Robinson
A change is going to come. Lots of runs which are a drag but  quite good.
Gill Ashton seemed another [pretty good one but gets a no after we see Dalton Elliott and Katie Belle sail through.
Laine Haron is gravelly and confident. Looks comfortable.
Jade Flores
Excellent! Unchained Melody is, for me, one of the best auditions we've seen.
Myra Tran
This is the Vietnamese girl and she attempts Chandelier Also pretty good audition again but she does struggle with the top notes.
Jeremiah Lloyd Palmer is the church guy whose parents and church won't accept him now he's declared as gay. Sings You're beautiful and does it well. He's a talented guy and should make the Top 24 with a nice bit of controversy and embarrassment for the churches and the panel who all are very churchy too but will have to put down one of the branches.
Walker Burroughs
He's Top 10 material, says Luke. Jazzy, different, seems to be on just the black keys. A very good performance.
Nate Walker
A very good performer on stage and he can sing with a cool range. Deserves to do well but gets ill.
Nick Townsend
lost his brothers. Another excellent and heartfelt audition - quite modern sounding unlike many this year.
Lauren Engle
She does the Jesus Take The Wheel number but is dreadfully off key. Pity as she looks great and could otherwise have been good.
Wade Coda
The big gravelly bloke whose dad used to beat him up. Good solid chap and he can sing well.
Dimiteus Graham
The Wind Beneath My Wings is always a good audition track and he does it a capella which is pretty impressive. The mother on FaceTime in hospital is a bit weird, to be honest.

A few spin out next and then we see a few more through, like Juan Pablo, Evelyn Cormier, Clay page and Shayy.

Next is Group Night which is not easy to watch and even more difficult to report on as I can never be sure who is who in all the groups! I also find this round a disaster area that is unnecessarily stressful where seasoned performers will not be affected but new talent may well suffer unfairly. There is also the problem of choosing who you work with. Some people are easy-going, others are a pain in the backside. Juan Pablo showed his true colours, for example and may well have been kicked out because of that, despite being all good and making Katy gooey earlier in the auditions.

Finally we get to the more useful guides to stardom - the Solo Round.

Walter Burroughs
Your Song goes down very well. He's a nice singer. 'Harry Potter can sing' says Katy. Now I am confused about who is the Harry Potter look-a-like as I'd thought it was Eddie Island.

Juan Pablo
A Million Reasons is a passionate but OTT performance as if he was trying far to hard. He's pretty talented but i am not sure that worked and I think his behaviour in the Group Round has let him down.

Ryan Hammond
A strong singer - he could be quite appealing and ought to make it through but there are several similar who are as good.

Kai The Singer
Here's a reminder of the differences between the contestants. Kai says this was her first time ever on a plane, even on an escalator! She had never expected to be able to have seen the 'Hollywood' sign on the hills either. This was a nice audition. Very controlled but she is talented and her performance drew us in. This is a contender for the prize.

Riley Thompson
Ring Of Fire A typical Country Girl performance. None the worse for that, though!

Raquel Trinidad
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face Lovely

Evelyn Cormier
Wonderwall Splendid, another contender.

Eddie Island
Did his own track called 1974 which was risky as it was not a good song but his voice is interesting and he may still get through.

Alejandro Aranda
So far he's been the leader and tries an original song too. 10 Years  succeeded where Eddie Island didn't.

Margie Mays
Appealing and sweet girl. She works hard and the panel remark that she simply 'doesn't know how good she is'.

Wade Cota tries his own song too. Quite different with his big gravel voice. He's not so good this time, though, with a poor song.

Nate Walker
Still suffering from a poor voice. He tries always On My Mind but he's all over the place.

Tyler Mitchell
Here's a country lad who is well used to working hard but not the stress that this place produces. He has been one of the best Country boys - he looks good and sounds strong with some passion. He forgets some words but may still make it.

Courtney
We see her fly through very briefly

Drake McCain
He's the one with the weird orange vertical Afro. He has a nice tone but I don't know that he's that different really. He gets lots of applause. Not sure why. A memorable appearance, for sure.

Bumbly
I must have missed her before. She's a subway singer so well used to having to survive in difficult circumstances. I like her - she's very different and original. She deserves a place.

Nick Townsend
In My Blood is an interesting song and performance. I like this guy and he's got unexpected talent.

Gaba
An excellent singer but how current is she really?

Jeremiah
The gay guy that the church have turned their back on at home. I still can't see how the panel can keep banging on about how cool God and Jesus are and also have this guy's story coming out each week. He does The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and reminds me of our 2004 Pop Idol winner. Nice job. One of the best male singers. A bit dated but still one of the best auditions.

Kate Barnette
She could appeal to the kids.

Myra Tran
Sexy little girl look this time. Put A Spell On You is a good song but she seems to try too hard with her performance. That skirt stays in the memory, though.

Shayy
A very nice production from this popular girl.

Laci Kay Booth
She's so much an American Idol girl. Although I am not sure that she could be over-manufacturing herself and image, I am quite impressed. Nice. You have to smile at the two men's comments 'she looks great!'

Uché
He sings Stars So Beautiful and looks like a star already. He is one of the best performers and has a great character on screen, at least. Plenty of talent there and a real contender.

Madison Vandenberg
She changed from doing an original number at the very last moment. Instead she starts an Adele number and the backing is more or less non-existent at the beginning. Nevertheless she gets on with it and eventually everyone catches up with her. One of the best singers in this competition.

Austin Michael Robinson
He's the pretty 15 year old Country lad that Lionel reckons could sell just on his looks. Literally minutes before his audition he changes too and there is no rehearsal time. No-one accompanies him at the start but he keeps going. I'm impressed with him but the panel's not sure.

Shawn Robinson
Nice guy and another relaxed and star-like audition

Alyssa Raghu
What About Us? A natural pop star but she is trying a bit to hard here.

Johanna Jones
Wicked Game This girl is in love. Talent for sure. I love her too at first but there's an edge to her voice which isn't always that great. Katy cries a lot as the boyfriend proposes.

I now have the details of who made the Top 40 and you can find these on the tab on the menu bar.