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It’s time for another edition of He Said, She Said – American Idol Week 3! Wait…something’s wrong. Oh right, we’re still missing “She Said”. I encourage you to send hate tweets to Stephanie. But alas, the show must go on.

Guys, we’ve made it through all the auditions! Is anyone as excited as I am? Normally, I start watching the show during Hollywood Week. It’s just plain cruel to show people who can’t sing during the auditions. That said, they’ve definitely done a better job cutting that down in later seasons. Anyway, here are my thoughts from the final round of auditions:

Golden Tickets

Is there a quota on how many golden tickets the judges are allowed to give out? Seriously, if we didn’t see contestants who didn’t get through, I would have bet my life they were giving them to everyone. Judges! You can’t give out golden tickets like candy. This is the final season and I have high hopes. I was starting to think I should have auditioned (note: I can’t sing).

Haven’t I Seen You Before?

I have mixed feelings about seeing contestants coming from other reality singing competitions. Sometimes I’m like nope, hard pass, but then other times I’m in awe. Below are two perfect examples:

Mackenzie Bourg, 23, from Lafayette, LA – Who didn’t love Mackenzie Bourg on The Voice? His time definitely got cut short there but I’m glad he’s on Idol. His judges’ medley was brilliant and emphasized how great his voice is.

Mario Bonds, 27, Washington D.C. – You know you watch too much reality television when you can spot a contestant from The Glee Project. Yup, The Glee Project! Mario was very much the villain on his season of The Glee Project. He got into confrontations with fellow contestants and just seemed to have a poor attitude (evident by how he reacted when he got a no).

On to Hollywood Week

It’s time for Hollywood Week, where we separate the good from the great. And who doesn’t love the dreaded group rounds? Here are my tips for surviving Hollywood Week:

• If you see a stage parent, run!
• Don’t pick a song you’ve never heard.
• Sing an original song, who knows, you might have an Angie Miller moment.
• Stay away from people with colds, you’re going to catch it.
• If you can shake your tail feather, add some choreography to your group number. It could distract the judges enough to put you through.

What are your tips for surviving Hollywood Week?