Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Shi Scott performs during American Idol’s Hollywood Week. (FOX Photo)

But where was the drama?

Sure, we ended with a cliffhanger of sorts as a gal named Alexis nearly collapsed on stage from a presumed panic attack.

But where were the meddling moms? Where were slackers who refused to rehearse while their teammates struggled to perfect their choreography? Where were the dysfunctional groups whose members just couldn’t get along?

American Idol, don’t you remember that Nigel Lythgoe once served up an entire hour of group night drama, without letting us hear a single note of singing?

Fortunately, those days are gone.

Trouble is, Hollywood Week is so jam-packed with contestants and performances are cut up into such tiny sound bites that you: a) don’t learn much about the contestants; b) feel manipulated by producers by what you do learn.

What do I think I learned from Thursday’s episode?

1. Easily the best group performance so far was provided by Team Dimples, which included one of the youngest contestants in Jaq MacKenzie, 15, and one of the oldest in Nick Fradiani, 29. It also included Hunter Larsen and Michael Simeon. They sang “Rude” and they were fabulous.

2. The gal who’s known as Shi (officially Shaina Scott) shows tons of star power without coming off as overconfident and has a really nice soulful voice.

3. David Oliver Willis performed with a very talented group of four guys — all of whom advanced — and still managed to stand out with his sterling vocals.

4. Before Idol transitioned to the group rounds, we got a reminder of how talented Katherine Winston and Rayvon Owen are when they covered “Wild Horses” and “Ordinary People,” respectively.

And after an hour of viewing, that’s about it.

Yep, I can’t wait til the Hollywood Week episodes are over.