Hollywood Week continues, but first things first: Symone Black is OK! The 16-year-old did not sustain any serious injuries even though she lost consciousness and hit her head after falling from the stage. And she got the good news that she's among the 185 hopefuls who made it to the second round
Sadly, Lauren Mink and Ethan Jones did not make the cut, but the show must go on. As group round began (aka "the most infamous night of Hollywood Week"), the claws started to come out. The contestants (including Jeremy Rosado, who also advanced), had to form themselves into groups of four and five, but here's the catch: they had to include a mix of people from Day 1 and Day 2, meaning that they couldn't just stick with their buddies. Dozens of contestants were left searching for partners, including police officer Alisha Bernhardt, who insisted that nobody wanted to pair with a cop, and Amy Brumfield, the contestant who lives in a tent in the woods.
Amy came down with some kind of flu-like illness that nobody wanted to catch, and she barely had enough energy to search for a team. "I don't want to get eliminated because I'm sick," said the weak and pale Amy.
Alisha really wanted to perform Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World," and she almost got into a fight when someone suggested that it's a Christmas song. Finally, she found a group that loves cops (though she still had trouble getting her song down).
As Symone Black dealt with her stage dad (she was lucky enough to find a group that needed a fifth member after she returned from the hospital), second-time contestant Brielle Von Hugel's mother was acting like a stage mom, questioning whether Kyle Crews was good enough to open for her daughter's group.
Meanwhile, the Idol bug started spreading around, with Gabrielle Cavassa of The Betties puking in a bag. Korean native Heejun Han's group, M.I.T. (the "Most International Team"), was also suffering. One of the members, Phillip Phillips, had been sick with kidney stones. And Heejun complained that the "freakin' cowboy" in his group, Richie Lawson, seemed to have a "brain stone." As M.I.T. battled over dance moves and other issues, Heejun realized that he can't stand cowboys. "I might go home tomorrow; this is not working out," he said. "All my friends are gonna laugh at me because of this cowboy kid."
Around midnight on the day of performances, some groups were feeling good enough to call it a wrap. Others, including Alisha's Those Girls and That Guy, had sick members (poor Christian Lopez was throwing up in his room for two hours!). But Amy — now known as Patient Zero — refused to let her illness get the best of her. "I'm not letting the devil play with me like that. He wants to play hardball? I'll play. Guess who's on my team? Jesus," she said confidently, pointing to the sky.
By early morning, most groups were dialed in on their harmonies, but some, such as The Betties, were still crying and fighting. Jennifer M of The Betties called home, upset that the other girls wanted to sleep rather than work, but after a little tiff, she and team member Brianna-Marie Bell agreed to work together on their lyrics and dance moves.
Finally, it was time perform, and The Betties were up first after a harrowing night. Did they pull it together? We'll find out next week as Hell Week continues!
EPISODE RECAPS
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Hollywood Week - Day 2
Thursday, Feb 9th 2012
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May 2012
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April 2012
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March 2012
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February 2012
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January 2012