'American Idol' Season 11, Episode 11 Recap - 'Performance Challenge'

The trip to Vegas opens up on Heejun, so at least "Idol" realizes that he is the only person here worth paying any attention to. The contestants are headed out to Vegas to perform in groups again, which is the perfect way to judge them in this solo competition. Well done!

But the real point, of course, is to make all of these horrible, egocentric, self-absorbed people (except for Heejun!) work with each other. The theme is music from the 1950's, and Randy makes a big deal of the fact that they'll be performing on the Viva Elvis stage, as if it's some kind of historical landmark. It's not. It's in the Aria.

The contestants were made to group up again, and we have to hope that the producers didn't force Richie and Heejun to work together again. Poor Skylar Laine was the last person to find a group, a la Alisha a couple of days ago. She does nothing to make up for the shunning either, as she proceeds to screw up repeatedly in rehearsal.

Thankfully, we get right to the action, and Skylar's group is up first. It includes Colton Dixon (whose sister is, in fact, still here), Cari Quoyeser and Chase Likens. The harmonies are a little shaky, but Skylar and Colton sound good in solo. Chase is a little off, and Cari is fine but insists on this warbling dip thing that makes me feel like I'm listening to a broken saxophone. The performance is fine, but Colton looks like he has a surprised skunk on his head so I'm distracted.

Everyone but Cari makes it through, which is a bit surprising. She sounded better than Chase did.

Jeremy Rosado, Ariel Sprague, Gabi Carubba and David Leathers Jr. are next up, and singing "Rockin' Robin." Gabi complains that she's not getting enough of a chance to shine, and David does a pretty good impression of her. David is right at home in this song, and you'll all be thrilled to know that Gabi gets to sing plenty, including the little extra line at the end that she asked for. The whole thing is cute, and they have some adorable choreography. They all get the go-ahead for the next round.

Adam Brock, Shelby, Angie and Erika Van Pelt do "Great Balls of Fire." Adam and Erika are strong. Angie is still dressed like a mix between Lady Gaga and a peacock, which is saying something because Lady Gaga is pretty much already a peacock. Shelby doesn't seem to understand how microphones work. Randy makes the results very dramatic, ready names one by one and making Angie sweat, but eventually revealing that all four are going through. Wow, those tough cuts are really really happening guys. One out of 12. Brutal. Just brutal. How much time is left? Oh, an hour and 40 minutes? Great.

Schyler Dixon, Molly and the awful Brielle (remember her? With the horrible mom?) have a WWII USO thing going on. Molly doesn't even sing on camera, but apparently her vocals were shaky, and she gets sent home.

That's followed by a montage of people going home, maybe 80% of whom I swear we haven't met before. Ashley Robles is one of them though, and I liked her.

Reed Grimm's group is up next, so they're protected by the golden aura that Reed projects. He's joined by Eban, Hailey and Elise, who barely get to sing because of Reed's extended solo. I'm pretty sure that in Reed's head, he's the only one on the show anyway. About halfway through the song, there is beatboxing. Eban is pretty clearly nervous, and steps on Elise's lines a bit. Reed may be having a seizure. Of course they all make it through.

Looks like the loser in this group lottery is Jermaine Jones, who is the sole contestant who was paired up with Richie the Cowboy. The prospect of two low voices singing together is interesting, but you have to feel for poor Jermaine, who has to deal with this idiot.

Debra Byrd, the vocal coach, is disappointed to see that the duo doesn't have the proper melody prepared. When they come back later, Richie ACTUALLY DISAGREES WITH THE VOCAL COACH. How old are you, dude? 19? Do you think that maybe, just this once, you might be wrong?

Jermaine is nice to listen to, but I don't know what it is that the judges keep hearing in Richie. He sounds like a baritone Kermit the Frog. This song goes on way too long. But when they finish, they're both through, and Jermaine is very diplomatic... until they get backstage and Richie keeps clapping him on the back too hard, and then nearly clotheslines him when they do their "run out the door really excited" moment. I hope Jermaine snaps and crushes Richie's skull.

Hallie, who continues to not impress me but seems to have nothing but support from the judges, gets through. Baylie also goes through, and so does Chelsie. Who's Chelsie, you ask? Yeah, I don't know either.

Jessica Sanchez, Deandre Brackensick and Candice Glover all do a very modernized version of a Buddy Holly song. It's barely recognizable, and a big deal is made out of whether or not the judges will like it. Of course they do. Randy makes that face like he ate a lemon, but you know, in a good way. It's good, but really not deserving of the full five minutes of screen time they give it, especially since I have no idea who these people are. They're all through to the next round.

Everyone who went through, though, is told that after the day two performers do their thing, they will be re-evaluated in comparison, so they might not REALLY be through to the next round. So... why didn't they just wait to give them the news until tomorrow? It's like that stupid commercial with the bike that comes during the break, where the guy says "you can have this bike for free," and the lady is like "shut up!" and he's like "no actually you can't." That's the logic here.

Back from break, we get a shot of a guy who looks like The Dude from The Big Lebowski. Who the hell is this?!

One of the contestants from the next group fell victim to Randy's overplaying of the whole Viva Elvis stage thing. "We're going to sing an Elvis song on the stage where Elvis performed," he says. Nope. No you're not. And that's not really the Eiffel Tower over there on the strip, either.

The group is Clayton, Adam, Curtis and... I dunno, Rodney or something? Seriously, who are these people? They get some feedback on pitch after their performance of "Jailhouse Rock." They all look like they could be in prison. All of them make it through except for Curtis, who I think is the only person we saw at the auditions, or since.

Okay, Joshua Sanders is the guy with the ridiculous beard. I still don't care about him. He and his three group members all go through to the next round.

Joshua Ledet impresses along with Shannon Magrane, but their other two group members go home. We didn't know them anyway. The stakes have never been higher, or something. Johnny Keyser's group certainly looks relaxed, as they're all chilling in the pool.

Britnee, Courtney and Jessica do a very Vegas-y, sparkly performance. I can't tell if it's good or not anymore because there's been so much flashy singing, desperate crying, and inane comments over the last hour and a half that all sounds are starting to blend together for me. My phone rang and I thought it was a cat.

Britnee made it through. Courtney made it through, despite the judges ripping into her. Jessica goes home. I'm confused. Jessica says "I don't think they're looking for real artists," says Jessica. NO KIDDING. JLo says "I hate this. It's giving me a headache." ME TOO.

Peggi Blu has had it up to here with Lauren Gray, who is apparently a pain in the ass. She keeps screwing up her harmony and, when she breaks into tears, Peggi says "there's no crying in music!" Clearly that was a reference to "A League of Their Own," but an ill-advised one. There's nothing BUT crying in music, especially if this show is any indication.

They sound better once they get to the stage, but Mathenee is the flashiest mess ever. Lauren and Wendi go through, but Mathenee goes home.

Heejun is afraid of Peggi because he looked her up on YouTube. He actually backs away from her, but she gives him a hug so it's okay. HEEJUN 4 LYFE! Heejun is paired up with Neco and the rest of MIT (Jairon and Phillip) after the booting of Richie. The difference is noticeable. It's as if they had a big, malignant tumor removed from their collective prostate, and that tumor wore a large cowboy hat.

Randy does the "please step forward" thing, but has all four of them step forward. At that point, dude, there's no need to pause dramatically. We know they're all going through. Heejun is crying and says he's happy he can give his family at home good news, and for the first time in the history of this show, I actually FEEL EMOTION for a contestant! There's no bullshit with Heejun. I hope the rest of the voting audience likes him too.

Groovesauce, minus Reed, is now Lady and the Spectacles. Jen, Creighton, Aaron and Nick do a great job of blending on the song, but Nick doesn't make it through with the other three. They clearly needed the invincible Reed Grimm.

On to the final cuts, and very quickly Gabi is axed. Quick and efficient. She says she's embarrassed because she was the only one in her group not to make it. Children are crying. Great television.

Colton makes it through, but his sister Schyler doesn't. Not surprising, considering her lack of screen time. Colton is visibly pissed. A rapid-fire montage shows Jermaine and Archie (dammit!) going through, but Angie Ziederman going home.

Shockingly, Johnny Keyser doesn't make it either. He seemed a golden boy in the judges' eyes. Aaron from MIT doesn't make it either, which is a bummer. But at least Heejun is still here.

So we're down to 42, and next week it looks like they're all be performing on a platform in the middle of a pool of molten lava. Fun!