American Idol: Ladies Tackle Hollywood Week, Group Round Not All Harmonious

Those who survived the sudden-death a cappella round then had to try to make it work with their fellow contestants

It was ladies' night on American Idol Wednesday, as the fairer sex finally got their shot at Hollywood Week glory following a week devoted to the guys.

First up, 162 ladies were put through the sudden-death a cappella round in order to win the opportunity to be assigned a group, stay up all night and try to pull off a polished, choreographed routine with Idol band accompaniment.

An opportunity that all wanted desperately, of course!

Instantly setting herself apart from the pack was Kez Ban, a husky-voiced singer with soulful leanings who more or less pleaded with her group to choose the Mamas & the Papas' "California Dreaming" as their performance song, saying she would "fight to the death" for it.

No such luck, but she was onboard with the Ronettes' similarly retro "Be My Baby," exclaiming, "I don't have to sing a song that makes me want to vomit, yay!" That didn't stop Kez Ban from ditching the group for a dinner run, though, and then informing the camera crew that they sucked for coming to her room early the next morning.

So, how did it go for—you can't make this stuff up—The Misfits?

Surprisingly well! The harmony was a little rough in places, but individually, each girl shined.

"Kez Ban, you know you're a crazy psycho, and I loved that," Nicki Minaj teased in pronouncing them the best group of the day. So, on went Kez, along with Breanna Steer, Angela Miller and Janelle Arthur.

We imagine that the four ladies from Almost Famous—Daysia Hall, Savannah Votion, Lizz Weiss and J'Leigh Chauvin—cringed when Gotye won Record of the Year at Sunday's Grammy Awards.

"That's the remix," snarked Nicki as they launched into "Somebody That I Used to Know" with a lyrics-butchering vengeance. Daysia managed to distinguish herself enough to move forward, a decision none of the other girls found fair.

Same went for the Handsome Women, from which only Liz Bills moved forward, and For You, whose only survivors were Holly Miller and Stephanie Schimel, who pushed for a last-minute song change.

So, excessive radio play is obviously no guarantee that the words will become ingrained in people's brains. "I'll admit that I was glad it was over," indeed.

Some of the stronger groups included the sassy country bells of Raisin' Cane; the Swagettes, featuring the swaggy vocal stylings of Melinda Ademi, Kamaria Ousley, Denise Jackson Candice Glover; and the Dramatics, with the fabulously named Cristabel Clack.

Other individual success stories included Shubha Vedula, Erin Christine, Zoanette Johnson, Isabelle (no last name), Britnee Kellogg, Kree Harrison, Haley Davis, Tenna Torres and Kiara Lanier.

So, the remaining girls perform solos—with or without their own instruments—on Thursday's show, after which the top 20 girls and top 20 guys will be revealed.