American Idol 1 - Hollywood Week

Hollywood Week

The Hollywood week rounds were held in Pasadena Civic Center where 121 contestants competed for a place in the finals. The contestants first emerged on stage in groups of 9 or 10 but performed solo unaccompanied, and those who did not impress the judges were cut after the group finished their individual performances. 65 were selected to proceed on to the next round. The singers were expected to learn their songs that night and perform the next day in groups of three. The girls and boys were separated and given crash course to learn their song, which was Dionne Warwick's "I Say a Little Prayer" for the girls and "For Once in My Life" for the boys. Many however frequently forgot the lyrics. Again those who failed to impress were cut immediately after their performance. 45 made it to the next round, and the 20 cut were given their last chance to voice their opinion to the judges before leaving.

In the final round, the remaining 45 were given new songs to learn and each performed solo and a cappella. 30 contestants would be chosen after this round. In this round Justin Guarini impressed the judges and his fellow contestants alike. The Top 15 were first announced, the judges then select 15 more out of the remaining 30. The 30 were split into two groups and the judges then go to each group to announce the chosen group.

Delano Cagnolatti was initially amongst those announced as the Top 30, but he was later disqualified for falsifying his age, and became the first person to be disqualified on American Idol. He was replaced by EJay Day.