Unlike the previous years, the contestants don't form their own groups but producers choose which groups they are assigned to.
- Feb 7, 2013
AceShowbiz - "American Idol" separated the male from the female contestants in its first Hollywood week. The Wednesday, February 6 episode began with each contestant singing in lines of 10 and immediately being told their fates.
Around half of the guys were eliminated in the Sudden Death round. The remaining guys were moving on to the Group Night, but there's a twist. Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe announced that the contestants would not pick their own team mates, but the producers would assign the groups.
They only had a day to practice a song from a list of 20 and prepare the choreography. As it always happened in the previous years, many of them forgot the lyrics. That was the case when Johnny Keyser and his group took the stage to sing "I'll Be There". Johnny forgot the words despite the fact that he chose the song himself. Kareem Clark went home, but the rest of the group made it to the next round.
"Stop, stop, stop! Hang up the damn phone!" Randy Jackson halted one group which forgot the words of Maroon 5's "Payphone". Keith Urban chimed in, "Adam Levine is still alive and he's already turning in his grave. This is the wackiest s**t I've ever seen."
Despite the flubbed lyrics, the judges were still impressed by Gurpreet Singh Sarin and co.'s personalities. They were sent through to the next round. Jason Jones and his group of four were not that lucky as they were dismissed after forgetting the lyrics of One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful".
Devin Jones and Devin Velez sang an a cappella version of "Payphone" and made it through to the next level. Charlie Askew was feeling unwell, but he recovered just in time for his trio's performance. All members of his group went to the next round.
Cut in this stage were Kayden Stephenson, who had shared an inspiring story of him struggling with cystic fibrosis, and fireman Dustin Watts among other guys. A total of 43 male contestants who survived the group round will return tomorrow, when the judges will pick 20 male semifinalists.
