The Hollywood Week group round is replaced by duets on season 18 of ‘American Idol,’ and the singers feel the pressure as they sing to move onto the next round of competition.
Hollywood Week continues like never before on the March 22 episode of American Idol. The remaining contestants think they’re going to the dreaded group round next, but the judges have a curveball in store. This season, the singers will partake in DUETS instead. Everyone will get to pick their duet partner, and the results will be different for each pairing — both singers could move on, only one could move on, or both could be eliminated!
Louis Knight and Francisco Martin are the first pair. They sing “Breakeven” by The Script, but before the performance, Francisco begins freaking out and forgetting some of the lyrics. He struggles a bit through the song, but gets encouragement from the judges and help with the words from Louis while onstage. Luckily, it doesn’t affect his chances, as Katy Perry announces that both guys are moving onto the next round.
Hannah Prestridge and Grace Leer are another duet pair, and they sing “Mama’s Broken Heart” by Miranda Lambert. Grace is announced as safe, but unfortunately, it’s the end of the road for Hannah. Next, Jimmy Levy and Nick Merico go head-to-head with a performance of “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi, and the judges decide that they’re both moving on. Isa Pena and Olivia Ximines are up next. They perform a powerful rendition of Pink’s “Try,” which brings the judges to their feet. Unsurprisingly, they both move onto the next round.
Up next is Madison Paige and Peyton Aldridge. The night before the performance, Madison can’t find Peyton anywhere, and she enlists Bobby Bones’ help to find him. They eventually find him eating chicken wings in his hotel room, and Madison is a good sport, but there’s clearly not much chemistry between them. Peyton makes a last minute change to the performance, and the pair’s stress levels are even higher. Then, Peyton forgets the words onstage. Afterward, he apologizes to Madison in front of everyone and asks the judges to give her another chance, and they agree to let BOTH singers move on.
Zack Dobbins and Courtney Timmons are quite different, and they struggle to pick a song to sing. With just hours to go, they change their song choice to the very difficult “Dangerous Woman” by Ariana Grande. It’s definitely out of Zach’s wheelhouse. The performance is pretty much a mess, and the judges send both Zack and Courtney home.
Travis Finlay and returning contestant, Genavieve Linkowski, are up next. Genavieve performed during Hollywood Week two seasons ago. Since then, her sister passed away, and she struggles with
