Welcome to Hollywood! Round 1 kicked off last night with individual performances in ‘line form’, usually 6-8 folks each. The contestants came out single file and got a chance to perform either a cappella or with their own instrumentation. It was sudden death; if the judges don't like them, they were GONE. Hard to recap many of the contestants as we got brief glimpses of them in many cases, but here’s a recap of the best performances and of those thru to the next round, as best as I can come up with, short on some and long on others….

· Katie Stevens- 17-year-old whose grandmother has Alzheimer's, chose Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life," and while it started out a bit rough, it got better. She has the spirit, a great voice, and a great look. I had her in the TOP 24 from previous audition in Boston….she re-confirmed that belief last night!

· Andrew Garcia- Latino version of Danny Gokey, OH NO!!!....not another Danny Gokey!!??....but with BIGGER eyeglasses and way more talent! He did a slowed-down, soulful version of Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" on the guitar, and it was awesome! I would actually buy that single off I-Tunes in a heartbeat. Kara compared his interpretation to some of Adam's work last season, but I thought it was way more like Kris Allen’s work. This kid surprised me….Top 24 material for sure!

· Janell Wheeler –24, from Tampa , FL made another great impression with an acoustic-guitar ramble through Estelle's "American Boy". Thought it was a very solid performance and have had her from the start sneaking into the ‘Top 24’.

· Haeley Vaughn—16 year old wannabe country-pop star, who did a fairly nice take on Taylor Swift's "Change,"….hell, she may have sounded better than Taylor Swift! I’ll be surprised if we see her in the TOP 24, but she does have a ‘niche’ that none of the others have, so she could be a long shot!

· Mary Powers- 28-year-old rocker mom from CA, who sang Pink’s "Sober" and did a nice job with it. She’s the only real ‘rocker’ chick in the group, so I think she has a chance to crack the TOP 24!

· Also making it through to the next round on Day #1 of Hollywood Week was: Fantasia co-star Todrick Hall (surprising!), Chicago's Charity Vance (Top 24 Dark Horse) and Boston's Ashley Rodriguez (possible Season 9 Winner IMHO!), for a total of 46 to make it through on day one

· Lilly Scott- 20 year old sandwich maker/musician from Denver; She went with an acoustic-guitar version of Ella Fitzgerald's "Lullaby of Birdland," which Kara DioGuardi loved. "Everything about you is refreshing," said Kara. First time I’ve seen this girl, didn’t see her in earlier auditions, so based on this performance, I’d say very original and Top 24 material!

· Michael Lynch- stepped to the mic as his wife was about to give birth to their first child, warning all that he had to make it or else he'd be in big trouble. The massive bodybuilder nailed it with a gospel-like take on John Mayer's "Waiting for the World to Change." But hang on….rumor has it he reportedly has been dropped from the show because his father is alleged to have blabbed about his son's Hollywood trip to a local FL paper about making the cut to the TOP 24,….stay tuned!

· Tim Urban- New contestant for me, didn’t see him in earlier auditions….performed with a ‘not so strong’ take on David Cook's "Come Back to Me", but the judges put him through anyway. I though he was weak at best, esp in comparison to David Cook!

· Casey James—Mr. ‘Take Your Shirt Off’ from the Denver, CO auditions, made it through with his gnarly acoustic-blues cover of Ray Charles' "I Don't Need No Doctor." Surprisingly did way better than his initial audition…..I was impressed, but not sure he’ll be consistent enough to get to the TOP 24, but Kara’s in love with this kid.

· Didi Bename- 22 year-old waitress out of Hollywood, CA, sang a touching take on DioGuardi's own song "Terrified" that sounded like it was ready for airplay on radio. Simon really liked it and added that he also liked the idea of a folksy waitress making it big. I really like this girl, and As I’ve said from her first audition….She’s TOP 24 material for sure!

· Crystal Bowersox- 23 year-old single mom from Ohio with a great voice! She brought some amazing rock & soul to Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman," getting the rest of the Idol contestants in the audience so hyped they threw in some impromptu backing vocals and gave her a standing ovation! I had her as a Dark horse for TOP 24 before….but put her near the lead in the race for the TOP 24 now!

The bottom line….Lots of talent in last night’s show, it’s too bad we didn’t see more than what we did. Due to the time constraint of an hour, less than 20 performances were actually shown to the television audience. These should be two hour shows! And tonight is Group Round Night, where the contestants sing in groups. Never have been a big fan at all of this process, too many personalities clash, and I really think some talented folks always get screwed on this night. FYI….tonight’s show is at 9-10PM….so set those DVR’s!

Fast Facts: Hollywood Week started with 181 contestants, and 96 folks were put through to Round 2…..which meant 85 were sent home early. Hope they packed a light bag! Personally….I was very surprised when they didn’t send Justin Williams or Maddy Curtis to the group round. I thought they both sang well enough to move on and let’s face it, how can you not love Maddy?

Idol Chatter: We had our first sampling of the Ellen DeGeneres experiment, and frankly, I thought she was refreshing and was a nice balance next to Simon. She was tough but fair, so for someone who wasn’t sure she’d bring much to the panel of judges, she gets a passing grade for her debut. (Kim: Ruh-Roh, Eddie are you fallin' for Ellen?)

More ‘Eddie Idol’ chatter to come after tonight’s ‘Group Round Night’ in Hollywood, but you’ll have to wait until…….after the break!