Idol Chatter & Voice Views

American Idol heads off to Hollywood this week for a two-week excursion that will be unlike any other Hollywood Week we’ve seen.

That’s because the guys were separated from the gals for the first time ever.

Apparently, the focus will be on the guys tonight (8 to 10 p.m.) and tomorrow night (8 ot 9 p.m.) with the gals taking center stage next Wednesday.

Next Thursday, Idol will reveal the 40 contestants who advance to the Las Vegas round.

Some observations as the Hollywood Week drama begins …

Gals vs. Guys

Everyone keeps saying it will be a girl’s year on American Idol.

If so, they’ll have to overcome stiffer odds than the guys, yet again.

By my unofficial count, Idol advanced about 270 contestants to Hollywood. Of that number, just over 100 are guys.

That means a male contestant has about a 1-in-5 shot at making Vegas. For females, the odds are more like 1-in-8.

Bottom line: Some very talented gals are going to be left behind.

The hidden talent

Last year, Idol took 70 singers to Vegas. Of course, 17 are back for Season 12.

And we still haven’t seen most of them.

Among the 17, the only ones featured during the audition shows were Tenna Torres, Candice Glover, Janelle Arthur and Johnny Keyser.

Other returning guys to watch out for: Cortez Shaw, Curtis Finch Jr., David Leathers Jr., Devan Jones, Mathenee Treco and Nick Boddington.

Returning gals to watch out for: Amber Holcomb, Ariel Sprague, Aubrey Cleland, Britnee Kellogg, Courtney Williams, Schyler Dixon and Shelby Lynn Tweten.

Sibling rivals

You’ll notice the name of Schyler Dixon in the list above. Yep, she’s the sister of Colton, and she’s Hollywood bound for at least the third straight year.

Idol has milked lots of drama out of contestants who are siblings in the past. Remember the Malakars? Sanjaya and Shyamali? They were getting lots of Hollywood airtime even before Sanjaya’s unexpectedly long run in the Season 6 finals.

This year, at least three sets of siblings went to Hollywood — Taylor and Monet Monkohuniuk from the Oklahoma City auditions, Amaris and Joel Wayman from the Chicago auditions and Selena and Sierra Moreno from the Long Beach auditions.

In fact, the Moreno sisters are twins. We haven’t been introduced to any of the siblings yet, but you can learn more about them and nearly every other Hollywood-bound Idol contestant by heading here.

In the meantime, here’s a video of Selena and Sierra singing together.

Check back after tonight’s show for my recap of the night’s highlights and lowlights.

Sierra and Selena Moreno singing “We Found Love”