‘American Idol’ Fans Disappointed by ‘Rushed’ Hollywood Week in Season 24
What To Know
- American Idol debuted a new format for Hollywood Week in Season 24.
- The show will be making its biggest cut ever after the Hollywood Week performances.
- Fans online are complaining that this new format seems ‘rushed.’
For years, Hollywood Week on American Idol was known to be the most grueling week of competition. The artists were put through an intense bootcamp that included multiple performances in front of the judges. With such little time to prepare, the contestants often stayed up until all hours of the night working on their songs, resulting in major stress and burnout.
For Season 24, though, things have changed up a bit. For starters, Hollywood Week is taking place in Nashville instead of Los Angeles. There will just be one major cut in Hollywood Week, bringing the number of contestants down from 127 to just 30 who will move onto the Ohana Round.
As host Ryan Seacrest explained in the February 23 episode, the artists performed individually, and after each block of performances, the judges deliberated and made cuts. Those who were chosen to move on were transferred into the Golden Room where they awaited what would come next. Seacrest noted that there would be another cut before the Top 30 is revealed, but the specifics of how those eliminations will be made was not revealed.
March 2 will be the final night of Hollywood Week programming, which means that the round will only air across two episodes total. Fans took to Reddit after this week’s episode aired and expressed frustration over how few performances viewers are getting to see because of this format and schedule.
“This isn’t Hollywood Week. It is Hollywood Day,” the original poster wrote. “One performance to determine the top 30? This ‘big cut’ is a disservice to the contestants, judges, and voting audience.” The Redditor noted that past Hollywood Weeks included rounds like duets, groups, and the cutthroat Idol Arena, all of which are no longer part of the format.
Another fan agreed, writing, “it’s so hard to invest when things move so quickly,” and someone else commented, “It’s way too rushed.” Another user said, “Hollywood week was already pretty rushed before this and it’s even moreso now,” and someone else added, “I agree. It’s not fair that a lot of singers who nailed their audition got sent home. I feel like when they change things up too much it could cost them ratings and people will lose interest.”
What did you think of Hollywood Week so far? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
American Idol, Season 24, Mondays, 8/7c, ABC
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W
Hollywood Week was always the most entertaining part of American Idol. Now, it's awful. It's not in Hollywood, there's little drama, and it's full of filler, including rerunning audition clips. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I think AI got lazy and cheap. Just hate it.
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S
My husband and I have been watching the show from the get go . We’ve even attended some of the concerts. However, cutting out the journey of the singer is very disappointing. Seeing these kids go through their journeys is inspiring. There is no inspiration now in this show and we probably aren’t going watch anymore.
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D
Miss the older format, this season is one performance and they are cut. If the judges are too busy for a longer format, get new judges
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D
This did not feel like the AI I have come to love getting to know everybody. It feels so impersonal and if future seasons are like this I might wait till America votes or quit watching altogether. I understand budgetary cuts reducing auditions to one night a week but Hollywood week was a disaster.
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R
My wife and kids always liked the show. It’s not worth watching anymore when it’s a rushed show. They only tell life stories and show the ones that are moving forward to the top ten or twenty. Pointless
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S
It feels like the show is a recap of the experience you missed. So rushed it’s like you missed the actual show. Great judges. So much potential. Botched production based on new format. Lost its magic.
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B
Hollywood Week has always been this rushed. I stopped watching the audition weeks.
I hate that it was moved to Nashville. This show has been moving more and more towards country instead of the original pop leanings.
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E
American idol has the worst candidates ever. Really bad singers and the judges have no idea what they are doing. I will go back to watching The Voice.
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H
I absolutely miss the old format. Last season and so far this season has been such a big disappointment! I miss the groups especially, where the contestant were really put through the proverbially ringer to see who could hold up under pressure. I don't understand why they put so many through just to make such a drastic cut first day of competition? I predict if they keep going like this American Idol will come to an end and no longer be!!! On another note adding to the demise of the show is the addition of Carrie Underwood as a judge. Imo she need to leave!!! Show was so much more ''personable' without her!!!
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