Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Lionel Richie meets with American Idol Hollywood contestants. (ABC Photo)

American Idol kicks off Hollywood Week on Sunday.

It’s the phase of the competition known as much for the drama it creates as the singing it produces.

Judging from Idol’s Hollywood Week promo clip, that won’t change in Season 17.

Someone gets a marriage proposal. Someone gets carted off to the hospital. Katy Perry gets a cold. And lots and lots of tears are shed.

But this is a show about singing, so here’s a look at the contestants to keep on eye on during Hollywood Week.

The returnees: The judges seemed thrilled with the increased confidence Alyssa Raghu showed after making the Top 24 in Season 16. Laine Hardy, another Top 24 contestant from Season 16, showed up as sideman for fellow French Settlement High School grad Ashton Gill. She made it to Hollywood, but the judges convinced Laine to go along and he’s amassed something of a social media army since last spring.

The favorites: Katy Perry declared that Evelyn Cormier has one of her all-time favorite voices after she dazzled the judges with a performance of “Wicked Games.” She’s the gal from “90 Day Fiance.” And the judges seemed ready to shut down the process and declare Alejandro Aranda the Season 17 winner after he auditioned with “Out Loud.” Idol even billed it as the “best audition ever.”

Country and charisma: Texan Laci Kaye Booth showed us her potential back the season premiere, singing “Mama Tried.” She looks marketable with a capital M. And she’s been front and center in lots of Idol promos. That doesn’t happen if you’re eliminated on the first day of Hollywood. Also keep an eye on Riley Thompson. Just 16 when she auditioned, she’s fresh off an appearance on “Real Country” and sounds like the real deal.

A bounty of talented ladies: During the audition episodes, I was more impressed by the ladies than the guys. Among the other Hollywood-bound standouts I’ll be keeping an eye on are Ashley Hess, Madison VanDenburg and Johanna Jones, who you might remember as the lover of potato chips from the season premiere.

On the male side: But don’t forget, male singers won eight of the show’s last nine seasons on FOX, and the second audition episode was especially heavy on male talent. That’s when we met Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon, Shawn Robinson and Wade Cota. The latter’s been fronting his own band back home in Arizona and displayed one of the more distinct voices we heard among the guys who auditioned.

The backstories: And, of course, we’ll want to keep an eye out for Shayy Winn, who’s legally blind and wowed the coaches with her voice and her courage. And for Kai the Singer, who’s been homeless in the past and whose church financed her trip to the celebrity audition. And for Nick Townsend, who lost two brothers to suicide. And for Lauren Engle, who was widowed at 27 and sang an original dedicated to her late husband to close last Sunday’s show.