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I have been a fool. For 10 episodes, I have been focusing on the guys competing on “American Idol’s” 17th season. Laine Hardy is the cute one, Alejandro Aranda is the cool alt-dude, Walker Burroughs is the boy wizard and Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon is the choir master.

But now that there are only three females left, I finally realized something on Episode 14: Madison VanDenburg is Incredible! What did it for me? When I heard her pick on Disney Night was “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana,” I suddenly had a Ptsd music moment when I remembered what happened when a previous highly praised contestant attempted the deceptively tricky song — Myra Tran, who did Ok initially but way over-sang the last note to the point of being shrill and off-key. The winner of “The X Factor Vietnam” was duly dismissed during the Top 40 Showcase Round after initially being overpraised during her “Idol” audition.

Hi, ho(es)! American Idol‘s Top 10 borrowed from the Disney song book on Sunday for a (mostly) magical night that sent a pair of singers home.

First things first: Can Rebel Wilson guest mentor every week? The contestants may not have taken all of her suggestions to heart, but she made the episode 10 times more entertaining than it would have been otherwise. I also loved Lea Michele’s performance of “Part of Your World,” though I will never — for as long as I live! — understand why Idol decided to turn it into a group number.

Sunday’s episode also...

This may come as no surprise to fans of “American Idol” Season 17, but Alejandro Aranda‘s audition video has officially gone viral on social media. Alejandro’s original song “Out Loud,” which he debuted in Los Angeles in front of judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, has now been viewed a whopping 13.5 million times on Facebook and 6.3 million times at YouTube. While those numbers top all of the other Top 14 finalists, they’re actually just a drop in the water compared to those of two eliminated singers: Shayy and Myra Tran.

See‘American Idol’ female finalists: Fans rooting for Laci Kaye Booth and Madison VanDenburg to win [Poll Results]

Shayy’s audition of Andra Day‘s “Rise Up” has amassed 40.7 million views on Facebook and 3.8 million views on YouTube, making her the most viral artist of the year. This 18-year-old high school student from Midlothian, Virginia recently lost her vision due to a brain tumor,...

After previously winning “The X Factor Vietnam” at age 16, Myra Tran tried her luck on Season 17 of “American Idol” where her audition of “One Night Only” from “Dreamgirls” quickly went viral. Unfortunately, the 19-year-old’s journey came to an end during Sunday’s Top 40 showcase episode in Hawaii following her cover of “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana” (watch above). “This is the greatest chance I’ve ever had,” Myra said after her shocking elimination. “I did not sing good. And now [my] ‘American Idol’ dream is done.”

See‘American Idol’ recap: Top 40 become Top 20 on Night 8 of Season 17 [Updating Live Blog]

Of the three judges — Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan and Katy Perry — Lionel was the one designated to give Myra the bad news. “We watched you last night and for whatever reason the song you did last night was not 100% compared to the competition,” he told her. “Unfortunately, it will not take...

Sunday’s (three-hour!) American Idol narrowed down the competition considerably, selecting only 20 singers to return to Los Angeles for yet another round of cuts ahead of the season’s first live show. As for the singers who did not make it through, I imagine they… just stayed in Hawaii, I guess? That’s what I’d do.

Ok, let’s begin by discussing the the singers who did make it through to the Top 20, a list that includes most of TVLine readers’ 10 favorite contestants:

Alyssa Raghu, 16 | Katy’s “sauce” returned this season more committed than ever, having filled her post-Season 1 calendar with voice lessons,...

On the March 31 episode of “American Idol,” the 40 contestants to make it through Hollywood Week will be winnowed down to half that when Ryan Seacrest reveals the Top 20 As with the Fox version that ran for 15 seasons, this revival on ABC gave a slew of those who auditioned golden tickets to Hollywood. Upwards of 150 contestants made the trip to sing again for the three judges – pop princess Katy Perry, country superstar Luke Bryan and Oscar-winning singer/songwriter Lionel Richie .

At the end of the March 25 episode we learned which 40 would get one more chance to impress. These two score were flown to Hawaii at the end of January to audition again at Disney’s Aulani Resort in Honolulu. Over the course of three hours on Sunday, we will see highlights from their performances At the end of the evening, we will know the Top 20 who will move forward in the competition.

Hollywood Week — or “Hell Week,” according to that little devil Ryan Seacrest — continued on Monday’s American Idol, which ended with one contestant threatening (nay, promising!) to pee on the floor. And after sitting through this episode, I could relate.

These poor children were put through the wringer, forced to sing and dance and smile on mere minutes of sleep. They were treated like… like… well, like children in Hollywood, to be honest.

But unlike the episode, which forced the contestants to wait until the last possible moment to learn their fates, we’re going straight to the results:

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The fact that Sunday’s American Idol ended with a contestant being rushed to the hospital feels on par with the vibe of Hollywood Week thus far. As we saw tonight, not even our favorites are immune to the occasional misstep — and the pressure is on.

Read on for a breakdown of how 38 memorable contestants fared in the first night of Hollywood Week:

Still In The Competition:

* Laci Kaye Booth (Katy’s little “diamond in the rough”) breezed through to the Group Rounds with a stunning solo performance of Aretha Franklin’s “Natural Woman,” putting her own country twist on the classic song.

A whopping 87% of ‘American Idol’ fans wish that the judges took their chumminess towards potential contestants down a notch during the audition rounds. They agreed that Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan should stop fawning so much over the contenders. Instead, they should simply tell it like it is and not declare every other female singer to be the second coming of Kelly Clarkson or tell the guys they are top 10 material after just one song.

A mere 8% said that the world is filled with too much hate and not enough love these days. They give nice “Idol” a thumbs up. And only 5% were glad that the era of Simon Cowell nastiness was over.

The question is, of course, which is crueler? Speaking the truth and telling an “Idol” wanna-be, as Simon once did, that “If I were you, I’d phone up the War Department and volunteer your...

Myra Tran made quite an impression on the first audition episode of 17th season of “American Idol.” The 19-year-old petite Vietnamese powerhouse carried herself with a poise beyond her years and exuded a diva-is-born presence. She might have gone overboard with her vocal run at the end of “One Night Only” from “Dreamgirls” — a tie to ‘Idol’ alum and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson.

But judge Luke Bryan was on to something when he said after hearing her rendition, “You’re up there with the Kelly Clarksons of the world.”

Lionel Richie was equally observant when he noted, “There’s nothing to compare you to .. you have stepped into a zone that’s yours.”She dressed like a star in black pant suit with a spangled collar, glittery pant seams and sparkly black bra. She even wore heels and a high ponytail.

That zone, it turns out, is more like a winner’s circle.

“There is only one resemblance you have to Mariah Carey and that is your hair. You have one of the worst voices I’ve ever heard truthfully. It is absolutely terrible you can’t sing.”

“If I were you, I’d phone up the War Department and volunteer your services because you just invented a new form of torture.”

“Are you taking singing lessons? Who is your teacher? Do you have a lawyer? Get a lawyer and sue her.”

Sigh. Anyone who watched “American Idol” in its early glory days will recall the explosive reactions when Simon Cowell would throw verbal napalm on delusional so-called singers who thought they were the second coming of Whitney Houston or Marvin Gaye. Randy Jackson would say “dawg” a lot and Paula Adbul would mumble some random words that added up to a “no.” But Cowell scathingly came through loud and clear.

A truly...

Bring out the tissues, folks - this one is going to hit you hard. There were many outstanding performances during the season 17 premiere of American Idol on Sunday night, including 19-year-old Vietnamese singer Myra Tran, but one particular songstress turned things to the emotional during her audition. A 19-year-old musician who goes by the name Kai the Singer brought judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan to tears with her emotional backstory and powerful voice.

"I grew up kinda rough, but I wouldn't consider it rough," Kai revealed in her audition. A pretaped package showed Kai explaining her family's financial struggles. "My whole childhood, we were in and out of shelters and hotels, we were even homeless once and living in the car," she said. "It still is tough financially. There's eight people in the house right now, and only two of my brothers have beds, and it's like a bunk bed.

A familiar face shows up during Wednesday’s episode of American Idol (ABC, 8/7c), but we wouldn’t blame you for not recognizing her. (Ryan Seacrest sure doesn’t.)

The young woman in question is Courtney. She doesn’t provide a last name, so like all the greats before her — Madonna, Cher, Sanjaya — we’ll just assume she doesn’t need one. She also doesn’t need a new man, as you’ll see in TVLine’s exclusive sneak peek, because she just got engaged!

Katy Perry immediately shares in Courtney’s excitement, commending her for picking out her own ring,...

American Idol was back Sunday night on ABC for its second season premiere, and what a night it was. Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan all returned to judge a bunch of star-making performances. The biggest breakout star of the night was Myra Tran, a 19-year-old from Vietnam who’s only been in the country for a year. She sang […]...