'American Idol' recap: Giant Holding Room On My Mind

Tensions ran high at the end of Hollywood Week's solo day. The kids who knew how to play instruments could breathe a little easier, but not if they knew what was good for them: a few more solid hours of gut-busting anxiety. Even the judges felt the pressure as they traipsed around to four different American Idol-branded jail cells. "This is the worst part for me so far," whined J. Lo, and considering the ridonkulous black sparkly shorts she was wearing, I had no choice but to believe her.

The episode was mostly short snippets of people's solos, so I'll at least attempt to be brief.

MADE IT THROUGH

I remember Haley Reinhart from the Milwaukee auditions, but she hadn't been featured in Hollywood Week so far. Turns out she botched the lyrics during the group round, but her guttural cover of "God Bless the Child" had Steven Tyler leaning back in his chair in either ecstasy or a brief nap. His contribution to the end of the song -- "Yeahhhhhhhhh" -- confirmed it: ecstasy! It's a wonderful drug. All-natural. We certainly hadn't seen enough of Ashton Jones, the standout performer in Ashley Sullivan's girl group from Wednesday's show. Steven liked the way the 24-year-old retail manager attacked "And I Am Telling You," and I liked how spirited and un-self-conscious she was onstage.

Clint Junebuggeroff Gamboa was treated to a "redemption edit" of sorts with his overblown cover of "Georgia On My MInd." He came down with a severe case of runs at the end -- and if you think that sounded needlessly gastrointestinal, that is exactly what I was going for. Two new faces -- not bodies, just their faces -- chose the same song as Clint, so they finally got the spotlight, too: Kendra Chantelle, 22, and Sophia Shorai, a 28-year-old vocalist with blonde bangs and an aversion to shoes. Pretty funky, that one. There are so many people we've never seen! What are they like?!

NEXT: Casey Abrams and Jacob Lusk own the stage