Aw yeah. Tonight is the always awful group day. This… is American Idol. And this is one of the hardest to blog, because there’s too much going on, too many names flying around at once, and too much DRAMA.

We’ve got 96 contestants left.

The group that named themselves Phoenix has a girl from last year who was in a group with Danny Gokey. We also have The Mighty Rangers. No one knows what they’re doing. The Dreamers, who picked up 2 extra girls a few minutes ago, can’t find their 2 extra girls, so they’re firing them, which is probably smart, because 5 might be too many egos to rein in.

The Dreamers are the only group who haven’t started practicing, because they haven’t decided how many people are in the group, 3 or 5. So they’re running off to one of the producers to ask how many people can be in a group. Boring.

Neopolitan has 4, and they are working on Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” Across the room, Destiny’s Wild (REALLY??) is also doing Gaga, and they have to keep moving because they’re practicing way too loud and bothering all the other contestants. Natch, they’ve decided everyone else is jealous. Personally, I think they should sing a little softer so they don’t lose their voices, but whatevs. Destiny’s Wild (REALLY??) moves right next to Neopolitan, and drama ensues. Neopolitan is accusing DW (R??) of stealing their awesomely awesome dance move (where they clap their hands at a certain part–can you imagine inventing hand-clapping and someone STEALING that??). Shenanigans!

Phoenix is rehearsing in a closet, and Moorea is trying to take over arranging the song, and no one likes it. She wants to get harmonies in there, and they’re all saying that there’s no way they can do harmonies on this verse. She thinks she’s in charge because she made it to Hollywood last year, and I wonder why no one is mentioning that she didn’t get PAST Hollywood week last year. “Let’s just get all the harmonies tight and then be done for the night.” No one is on board.

Mary, the overplaying-it rocker chick, has taken over the Dreamers, and they’re gonna stick with 5. Maybe they should try practicing their song.

Meanwhile, it’s 2:30 a.m., and Big Mike, of whom I am no fan, is upstairs talking to his wife, who’s getting ready to deliver their baby without the in-person support of the baby’s father. His team (Team Awesome) finished first of all the teams, and they’ve already split for the night. I love how Idol tries to play these as great family moments, which they’re not. But I will say, this isn’t as horrible as Phil Stacey’s audition, which was the first round, before Hollywood week. I can kind of maybe see sticking around to audition if you’ve made it all the way to Hollywood week and are in the top 96. But I still don’t like him.

Some of the contestants are now in bed and others are still rehearsing or falling asleep in rehearsals. The Power Rangers or whatever they’re called are 5 people, and 3 think they’re done and the choreography will make them stand out, while the other 2 think they need to work on their choreography. The Dreamers are revamping their earlier power struggle. One of the other vocal girls besides Mary is under the impression that the opinions of every group member should count (what?!) while Mary is being kind of a jerk, saying that she’s not going to put her confidence in someone else. Because it’s not like there’s a difference between hearing another opinion and turning over the reins of your life to someone else! Oh, also? It’s group night, so you’d better get some confidence in your groupies, or you’re screwed tomorrow! “It ain’t about them carrying me to the 24, honey.” Good luck, twit.

I think the contestants were more mature back when the age limit was 26.

In rehearsal, even the keyboardist finds Mary to be pushy and tells her to get a grip.

DW (R??) rehearses while Neopolitan gets impatient. DW (R??) goes to bed, and Neopolitan is fatigued and messing up. So they’re going to bed.

So now it’s the next day, and the groups have all picked up their rehearsals. Everyone’s happy and energetic now, and everyone’s confident and ready for the day.

At 10:30, final dress rehearsals. And lots of people have forgotten their words. The keyboardist: “Do any of you guys know the lyric? It’s one verse you have to remember.” And the vocal coach tells Phoenix that they don’t know what they’re doing. And now the crowd has devolved into group day crowd. Love it!

Mary (oh please, let her go home tonight) is calling the one guy in the Dreamers the weakest link, because he stops singing when he forgets the lyrics. “I don’t care what you do, sing something.”

Big Mike’s wife is 8 cm now. I am not touched.

And now Mary is crying about how her group isn’t awesome and together like the other groups.

Just as the groups enter the auditorium, Mike gets called away, and Team Awesome stays out with him. Wife is in full labor. There’s lovely Patrick Park-ish music playing, and we are all supposed to be all kinds of emotional over this. Don’t worry, baby. You’ll meet your daddy someday. He’s obviously going to the top 24 with all this time they’ve spent on him, so it may be a while yet, but hang in there.

The first group is Faith, a group of 3 girls. They’re all very good, especially Charity Vance. The performance is simple but good. They all make it through. “Front row… and back row, you’re all through.”

Team Awesome is next. They’re ok. Big Mike and Tim Urban step forward. The other two are Nick Castro and the guy with the autistic kid. Big Mike and Tim Urban are through to the next round. The other two are out. The guy with the autistic kid is gonna go home and take care of his family. Good man. Want to bake him a pie.

Neopolitan is up now. DW (R??) is unhappy that Neopolitan is first and singing a capella, because they stole a capella from DW (R??). Did you know that DW (R??) invented a capella? Yep, true story. Simon likes Neopolitan and thinks they all came over well. LOL. Neopolitan says, “No one had chosen this song, actually, so we just decided to take it and have fun with it.” So Neopolitan is all through to the next round.

DW (R??) gets up next, and I think they’re better than Neopolitan, despite the whininess. The choreography and harmonies are better. Ellen tells them they were weird and that their outfits are Cirque du Soleil-ish. But they’re all through. Let the whining continue.

The next nameless group is all through, as is the next nameless group, and the next one, and the next.

The Power Rangers are next, and one is worried that today’s her last day, because the team hadn’t wanted to practice. First girl is really good. The worried girl isn’t very good, but the judges seem to like her. Then the next three forget their lyrics. The first 2 go through, and it’s crying for the others. One of them begs. Simon tells him begging isn’t cool.

5 p.m.

Phoenix is having issues. They’re the ones who didn’t know what they were doing, and at the last minute, one girl decides she’s leaving the competition, because she knows she would mess up, and she doesn’t want to humiliate herself. Because getting this far and ditching your group makes everyone think you’re awesome. The keyboardist comes out and tells them not to panic, that their choreography might change a bit but their vocals won’t. They look like they’re barely hanging on. So now, right away, they have to perform as a group of 4. Jermaine Sellers is really good. The other three are kind of meh and all forget at least some of their lyrics. Moorea tries to tell the judges that they’ll be happy with the results no matter what because of their struggles. Simon’s like, “The struggle was that you had 12 hours to learn a song. That’s not hardship.” Ellen mentions losing the 5th girl, and Simon says that happens in life, it’s not a hardship, it’s rubbish. Jermaine and Jeff move on, and the other two are out. Jermaine tells the cameras that he’s not meant to be in a group.

Oh dear. Next group is singing “Sweet Escape” by Gwen Stefani, and apparently groups have been struggling with this all day. Oh my. This is so awful, and I’m sad, because the black Taylor Swift is going home. Two make it through, and the other two are out.

The next group, Big Dreams, has Matt Lawrence, the ex-convict who’s turning his life around, and the drama queen from last week. Simon stops them and says it’s as bad as anything he’s ever heard before. They’re all going home.

Lots of highlighted people went home. We always do lose a lot of good talent to group night.

Middle C is up and includes Casey James. Apparently they’re all through. And Three Men & a Baby are good, too (though why they didn’t call it Three Men & a Babe, I will never know).

The Dreamers are the last group of the day. Seems like pretty much the whole group is done with Mary. Mary has some weird vocal outbursts that raise Simon’s eyebrows. Kahra says it’s like The Dream Died. The judges are not impressed at all with the harmonies. Mary, Hope, and Alex (from NRH, TX!) are through to the next round. The other two girls are out. Mary, of course, has something to say. “I love them all and I wish them all the best, but I will never work with them again. Hahahahaha.” Seriously, no one in the world likes you, Mary.

71 kids are through to the final Hollywood week round. No, wait. It looks like Haeley Vaughn (black Taylor Swift) is sticking around. And Kahra has already told a girl named Katie that she could be the potential winner.

Oh, hold up. So only 25 kids got cut on that day? WHAT?

Tuesday night, final performances by the contestants before the top 24, and I assume we get the top 24 Wednesday night.