American Idol felt more like American Gladiators this week, as Season 22's Hollywood Week commenced in some sort of in-the-round terrordome called the Idol Arena. On Sunday, 143 hunger-gaming hopefuls entered that arena, and by the evening's end, only 56 remained. It was the biggest single cut in Idol history.
"It's pretty wild," judge Katy Perry gasped, in one of the biggest understatements in Idol history.
So, here's how it all went down. Those 143 contestants (except for Platinum Ticket recipients Abi Carter, Julia Gagnon, and Odell Bunton Jr., who opened the show with a spectacular trio performance of "California Dreamin'" and then got relax for the rest of this round) were called — without any warning, and in random order to "keep them on the edge of their seats" and make them "stay ready" — to the stage. And then, each singer gave "the most important performance of their life," on the spot.
However, one presumed frontrunner never showed up to the Idol Arena. In the week leading up to Sunday's Hollywood Week kickoff — and a mere two days after her audition aired and received a ton of hype and screentime — Liliana Tovar Dalton took to Instagram to shockingly reveal that she had quit the competition. The 17-year-old former standout gave no reason for her seemingly sudden decision, but teased that she had "lots of exciting news coming up for those who continue to follow my journey."
Quitting for various (personal and often undisclosed) reasons has become increasingly common in recent Idol seasons; memorable surprise dropouts have included actual Platinum Ticket contestant Kenedi Anderson, homesick mom Sara Beth Liebe, Season 19 top 16 fan favorite Wyatt Pike, and Malcolm McDowell's son, Beckett Rex. But Liliana's cheerful announcement had many fans, pundits, and bloggers speculating that she got a much better offer — much like Season 19's Benson Boone.
Benson, a rising TikTok star, was an early Idol darling in 2021 before he unexpectedly dropped out, signed to Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds's Warner-affiliated label Night Street Records, and a few months later scored a worldwide smash with "Ghost Town." So, maybe Liliana landed her own record contract and simply decided she didn't need to put herself through the whole anxiety-inducing Idol Arena ordeal.
Regardless of Liliana's reason, what was especially eyebrow-raising about her exit — which actually wasn't as abrupt or recent as it seemed — is the fact that Idol producers so aggressively positioned her as one to watch. They compared the angsty, boy-crazy singer-songwriter to Taylor Swift (currently "in her Reputation era"), featured her in ABC promos, and even leaked the audition of her original breakup ballad "5%" days before it aired on TV. Liliana made it clear in her Instagram post that she withdrew before Hollywood Week was filmed back in December 2023, so producers had plenty of notice to re-edit her narrative — or edit her out of the season entirely (which they actually did with Beckett Rex in Season 20, even though he made it all the way to Final Judgment and the top 25).
Why would producers give such a generous edit to someone they already knew would not be moving forward? That remains a mystery (Music Times has reached out to both American Idol representatives and Liliana's camp, but has yet to hear back), but as of now, Liliana's full "5%" audition has been pulled from Idol's official YouTube and Facebook pages.
At least we know, to some extent, why Liliana didn't appear on Sunday's episode. But many other singers whose auditions had piqued my interest were inexplicably nowhere to be found. I did catch a fleeting glimpse of Santa Barbara busker Micaela McCall and sassy British lass Scarlett Lee making it to the next round. (Scarlett's one Sunday scene was her gasping incredulously in her Cockney brogue, "A girl like me don't get chances like this!" — once again failing to mention that she totally got his chance in her native England, when she was the runner-up on The X Factor.) But anyway, where the heck was Reagan Mills, the sparkly modern-day Liberace with the Leslie Jordan drawl who'd become Katy's instant new BFF? Or Lionel Richie's mini-me, Garrison Bennett? Or Dave Fio, the guy who took control of his health and underwent a pre-audition glow-up? Or Athena Jett, who made it through after her little sister boldly advocated for her? Or "Lemonz" showman Alto Moon, Brit everyman (and X Factor veteran) Michael Rice, returning Season 21 contestant Jayna Elise, or Australian balladeer Jordan Anthony? And it was especially odd that Amari, the jazzy trans woman who so movingly covered Sara Bareilles's "She to Be Mine," wasn't shown when Sunday was International Transgender Day of Visibility.
I even wanted to find out what happened to Alyssa Raghu — hoping she'd get the karmic comeuppance for so cruelly hijacking her supposed best friend Julia Davo's audition — but Alyssa's fate also remained unknown. Let's just assume all of these singers are still in the running and didn't pull a Liliana and mysteriously quit.
Other previous standouts — like indie troubadour Conall Gorman, singing barber Noah Peters, Meggie Iyer (one of the many more than 10 contestants that the judges had called "top 10 material"), Kosovo immigrant Kimi, five-time auditioner Kyra Waits, the "butterfly" Bethany Teague, and one of my favorites of the season, free-spirited Jazz Wagon nomad CJ Rislove (whose original "The Astronaut & the Rock Star" was so out-of-this-world that I'd declared him this season's Alejandro Aranda) — were briefly shown before being eliminated. But we didn't even get to see them perform. A Ryan Seacrest voiceover simply rattled off this list of surprise rejects, almost as an afterthought, as they exited the Idol Arena.
Other eliminations made more sense. Many of these nervous kids couldn't hack it under Sunday's sudden-death pressure, like Bachelor star Juan Pablo's not-ready-for-prime-time 14-year-old daughter, Camila Galavis, or vapid, obnoxious, and just generally unlikable wannabe diva Madaí Chakell, who repeatedly blamed her performance snafus on Idol's pianist and was appallingly ungrateful when producers actually gave her a second chance. Since those contestants' performances did make it to air, it was clear why were among Sunday's 87 brutal but necessary cuts.
Even with many singers' Idol Arena performances ending up on the Fremantle cutting-room floor, Sunday's two-hour show was action-packed. This was a testament, of course, to the fact that Season 22 is simply brimming with talent (to be perfectly honest, Liliana would've had stiff competition and might not have made it very far anyway). "We need to have emergency meeting of the ABC network, because we have a problem!" Lionel Richie proclaimed, as he witnessed one amazing performance after another. "There's no way on Earth that half of this class can go. It's just impossible. This is just stellar, professional, right-down-the-road-pro!"
Among the stellar, professional, right-down-the-road-pro Easter Sunday singers who survived this cutthroat round were some religious soul-stirrers whose performances took American Idol to church, like worship leader Quintavious's "Help Me," 15-year-old Triston Harper's "Wrapped Up in Jesus" (an original written 20 years ago by an 86-year-old church lady in his hometown), and Tammy Faye-like mortician Kennedy Reid's surprisingly great "How Great Thou Art."
There was also some classic country, like Will Mosely's "Whiskey and You" (which was so gruff and growly that Kart said she was "scared" of him), and Jack Blocker, whose whimsical and charming "Your Cheatin' Heart" proved that Lionel had been correct to change his initial no to a yes when the Idol crew staged a "coup" on Jack's behalf during the auditions.
There were also some passionate, paint-peeling belters, like "top 10 material" Hailey Mia, who Lionel said "came out swinging" with "Love in the Dark"; Justice Murphy, whose ferocious and fierce rendition of the Color Purple empowerment anthem "I'm Here" made it abundantly clear that she had arrived; and Nya, whose intensely felt "Natural Woman" was described as "tonal gold" by Luke Bryan.
Among my personal favorite power-singers was the Bronx tough guy with the heart of gold, Ajii, whose "Simple Man" was so simple but effective, such a remarkable display of pure and raw talent, that Lionel was honored to "be there when it happened" and believed Idol history was being made right before his eyes. I also adored McKenna Faith Breinholt's torchy, resonant, very Cat Power/Fiona Apple-esque take on Adele's "When We Were Young," which was one of Luke's favorite performances of the season so far.
But the biggest revelations were KB Richins and KBlocks, who had similar names but were different in every other way, carving out their own lanes for themselves in this competition. Teenage KB, who reminded me of a young Allison Iraheta or Bea Miller, sang Jessie Murph's agonized "How Could You" like she wrote it herself. It was so personal and pained that her performance was actually squirmingly uncomfortable to watch; it felt invasive and voyeuristic to see her choke back sobs and fight through the song while the entire audience of her peers and even the judges were in tears themselves. "I know where you were singing from. I'm very proud of what you're doing," Lionel told KB, to which she stoically explained that her triumphant performance made her realize, "I'm stronger than what happened to me." This was so powerful.
KBlocks, on the other hand, brought the comic relief, which she explained is how she processes her own trauma. Her spirited and irresistibly quirky cover of the Amy Winehouse version of "Valerie" had all of the judges grinning broadly, and I was loving her character-filled voice, which had a Nina Simone/Billie Holiday/Fantasia vibe to it. Lionel called her a "good weird" and told her, "Your unpredictability is your strength." Katy said KBlocks had "all the elements of a star" and told her, "I just wanna have more fun with you!" And I do too; KBlocks is my new Season 22 favorite. I believe there are many layers to this lady and that she can inspire tears as well as laughs, so I am intrigued. It baffles me that the producers would air the audition of a kid who'd already chosen to go home, but never gave an obvious star like KBlocks any screentime until now.
We also heard some spectacular originals to make up for Liliana's absence, like Loretta Lynn's shy granddaughter Emmy Russell's raw confessional "Like That" — the perfect companion piece to Emmy's earlier original, the autobiographical anorexia song "Skinny." But the real highlight was 17-year-old Jennifer Jefferies's even more emotional "You Were a Child." The ethereal, Joanna Newsom-esque ballad, inspired by Jennifer's siblings' mental health struggles, was "a little rough and a little dirty and not perfect," according to Katy, but Katy then quickly clarified, "And it's awesome! I don't know if you're gonna win this thing, but I think you're gonna be a star."
There was also Kayko, a budding star who just might win this show by "accident." The indie-pop pianist gave an impromptu audition upon the judges' request when he initially accompanied his friend Abby Blake at her audition, and his Hollywood Week original, "What If," was all about his imposter syndrome and guilt over taking a spot from "people who want it so bad" — and, in his mind, people who have a better chance. Receiving a sympathy-stirring underdog edit, Kayko confessed that he'd always assumed "Idol wouldn't want me" before delivering a Ben Folds/Andrew McMahon-reminiscent tour de force that of course proved he's a legitimate contender. "You're not the accident — you're the opportunity," Katy assured him.
Abby ended up getting sent home while Kayko sailed through to the next round, and they weren't the only duo that was split asunder Sunday. Sisters Jacy and Mia Matthews, who regular reality-watchers might recognize as two-thirds of The Voice family trio Worth the Wait, both performed, with Mia's feisty cover of Miranda Lambert's "Mama's Broken Heart" earning her a spot in the next round and younger sis Jacy's more timid attempt failing to impress. (I'm still not entirely convinced that either sister should go solo just yet; I think they'd be better off sticking with their mama and their band.) Two other siblings, Max and Leila Dasher, both advanced, but they received the same ruthless edit as many of the top 56 and their performances didn't air.
However, Easter Sunday's episode saved the best — and literally brightest — for last. Ziggy, the Dutch boy with the Easter-egg pastel hair, arrived at the last minute from Amsterdam due to visa issues, racing straight from LAX and sashaying through the Idol Arena doors with the sassy catchphrase, "Did you really think Hollywood Week would start without me?" But he got serious when he dug deep into the pain stemming from his fraught relationship with rock-star father. "I know he's watching me right now," Ziggy declared, as he dedicated Kodaline's "All I Want" to his dad, who died in September 2023. Ziggy's European accent, dramatic flair, androgyny, and total vulnerability was giving me Hedwig vibes in the best possible way, as he proclaimed, "I want to show the world that it's OK to be different." Katy noted that while some doubters might have a "fixed idea" about Ziggy based on his campy persona, a performance like the one he pulled off tonight would "break down all of their judgments" and make America relate to him. I hope she was right, because conservative Idol viewers don't tend to vote for foreigners or for anyone who's too "flamboyant." But I am rooting for this superstar showstopper.
Speaking of which... Season 22's Showstoppers Round takes place Monday with the remaining 56 singers (incuding those three Platinum Ticket contestants). More than half of those singers will go home by the night's end, leaving us with the top 24 who'll compete for America's votes. The episode promises to be just as brutal as Sunday's, if not more so, so Lionel better call that ABC emergency meeting now. We have a problem, indeed. See you then.
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