Hollywood Week, Round 3: The Best Talent Ever?

“Baby lock them doors and turn the lights down low…”

Sorry, that song is so stuck in my head right now…

Every year, we hear the same thing. This season is the best talent we’ve ever seen. But there’s one difference this year. It may very well be true…

The show did something a little different this year. Usually we see the contestants divided in the rooms and then get flashbacks of how they did on their last audition. But tonight, we got to see several of the performances and the rooms were pretty much an afterthought.

And that format paid off with the most really strong final audition performances I’ve ever seen on the show…

Haley Rinehart was strong on Day 1, but choked during Group Day—so much that JLo actually told her she made it through by the skin of her teeth. So she knew she had to bring it on the final Hollywood Day. I thought her voice sounded really good on “God Bless the Child,” but I thought she tried just a little too much. Of course, she was singing for her life, so I guess I can’t really blame her. The performance prompted JLo to marvel, “We almost sent her home yesterday.”

Ashthon Jones was a memorable member of The Hits with Ashley Sullivan. She did a very strong version of “And I Am Telling You”…

15-year-old Thia Megia did a great version of “What a Wonderful World”…

But then the clashes with the band started. Adrian Michael, one of the people I said to keep an eye on, committed a huge no-no by blaming the band for his mess-up that forced him to start over. Caleb Johnson sang in the wrong key, as did Francis Coontz, which made Steven stop her version of “Hey Soul Sister” to let her find her key…

Clint Jun Gamboa, who will probably be best known for kicking Jacee out of his group, nailed “Georgia On My Mind”…

Kendra Chantelle and Sophia Shorai did good versions of “Georgia” too, but they paled a little in comparison to Clint…

Chris Medina and Carson Higgins both did “My Prerogative,” but Chris did an acoustic version with his guitar, while Carson went full blown with the band. We heard very little of Chris’, but Carson’s came off a little angry…

Since this was the first opportunity for the contestants to play instruments, many took advantage. Julie Zorrila did “Love Song” with the keyboard, Caleb Hawley did “Make You Feel It All Over” with the guitar, Colton Dixon rocked “What About Now” at the piano, Brett Lowenstern played the guitar and Robbie Rosen did a really strong song at the keyboard…

Casey Abrams did a very unique version of “Georgia On My Mind” with the stand-up bass. It was really good…

When Casey left the stage, he found an upset Chelsee Oaks in the hallway. Her roommate, Jacqueline Dunford, became very ill and bowed out of the competition before she went to the hospital. Chelsee started out “Because of You” pretty weak, but rallied a little before the end. No word on what was wrong with Jacqueline…

The judges’ fave, 15-year-old Lauren Alaina, did “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing.” It was good, but I’m still not crazy about her…

I knew when Ryan declared him a new star last night that we were going to see something from Jacob Lusk. And boy did we ever. His version of “God Bless the Child” was crazy good and was rewarded with a standing ovation from the judges. He has a very interesting tone to his voice that I really like…

We finally saw John Wayne Schulz again. He did “Landslide” with his guitar and JLo sang along…

Ryan called Ashley Sullivan an “emotional time bomb” and the bomb went off during her performance of Michael Buble’s “Everything.” She dedicated the song to her boyfriend and then proceeded to forget the words and start over. But then she forgot the words again and started freaking out. Randy told her to go to the chorus and she did with some success until she broke down again…

Stefano Langone did “You Can Feel It All Over,” hottie Jovany Barreto did an a capella version of “You Sang to Me” (Why didn’t they show a reaction from JLo?) and Jacee Badeaux did “Time of My Life”…

Scotty McCreery completely bombed the words to “I Hope You Dance,” but at least he sounded good. Tatynisa Wilson also bombed the words to “Dance,” but she did not sound good…

Finally, the 100 contestants were split into four rooms…

In Room 1 were Ashley Sullivan, Brett Lowenstern and Jacee Badeaux. I was a little nervous for Brett because he was in the same room with Brett and Jacee and came off a little weak in his performance, but I stopped worrying when I saw Lauren in there with him. And sure enough Room 1 went through with Ashley, Brett, Jacee, Lauren, Robbie Rosen, James Durbin and Casey Abrams…

In Room 2 were Brielle Von Hugel and Corey Levoy. They were sent home and JLo ended up comforting one of the contestants…

In Room 3 were Marc Gutierrez and Chelsee Oaks. They were also sent home, but received numerous hugs and words of encouragement from the judges…

That left Room 4 as the other room going through. Going on were Carson Higgins, Julie Zarrila, Jovan Barretto, Rachel Sevida and Scotty McCreery…

The two rooms began to celebrate as the scene cut away to a preview of next week and a quick explanation of what is going to happen…

Basically, the remaining contestants will take the stage in Las Vegas to sing the songs of The Beatles. Ryan said they had only 24 hours to learn the music and it appeared from the previews that there will be also be duets and group numbers. Then on Thursday, we’ll find out the Top 24…

And then we vote! WOO-HOO!

My eye is still on Brett Lowenstern, Casey Abrams and Jacob Lusk, but now I’m also watching Ashthon Jones and Colton Dixon…

And I’m sure there’ll be some debate over why the judges chose to keep Ashley Sullivan. I think she has a great voice and we even heard it a little despite her breakdown. But I think she will definitely crack again before the Top 24…

What about you guys? Who are your faves? And what do you think of this added hurdle in the competition?

Sing it with me now! “Baby lock them doors and turn the lights down low…”

Photo Credit: Michael Becker/FOX