AMERICAN IDOL: Hollywood: Over 300 contestants made it to Hollywood and only 70 will survive. CR: Michael Becker / FOX

Let the fainting begin.

“Idol” amped up more of the dehydrated/sick crew, most of whom didn’t make it past the group round. But you can’t blame them. This is what you’ll likely remember the most from the Hollywood rounds.

Besides, trying to recap the “group”/”solo” rounds is an exercise in painful reading because there are so many names, so much happening.

Hour one, there are 42 groups featuring more than 170 singers. We see and hear seven groups more or less in full and just a handful of others in passing. Hour two, when there are 98 singers left, we hear nine of them, most of them quite good. Nearly all make it to the top 70 and I anticipate most of those eight will end up in the top 42 and even the top 24 (Else, why feature them to us now?)

There is clearly some talent but it’s quite a blur. Reed Grimm officially gets the most airtime and his deceptively easy-going style belies some real musical skills. I’m still a fan of Johnny Keyser.

Two teams stood out in a good way: Group Sauce and Hollywood Five.

During the solos, I especially enjoyed Joshua Ledet.

And go figure: both Richie Law and Heejun Han made it through despite their perpetual arguments.

Anyway, here’s the recap:

Some people oversleep. Some feel ill prepared, as always. First up is Betty and the Boops. Jennifer Malsch is passable. Cherie Tucker is way off key. Cari Quoyeser is better. Gabrielle Cavassa is almost as bad as Cherie. Brianna Bell is a bit better but overly showy. Overall, it was “really bleak,” as Randy Jackson said. Jennifer and Gabrielle make it through. Cherie is really sick and that didn’t help her any.

Group sauce, another crew, had no drama doing Sam & Dave’s “Hold On.” They merely shone with a serious blues vibe. Reed Grimm, the goofball, channels a bit of Taylor Hicks. Nick Boddington isn’t bad either. Creighton Fraker has an interesting soprano tone. Atlanta’s Aaron Marcellus (Sanders) shows plenty of soul. Jen Hirsh, the lone girl, holds up well. As a groupo, they do an extraordinary job, which is probably why “Idol’ showed the song in its entirety.

679 is next. Kyle Crews is awful. Brielle Von Hugel is better. Joshua Ledet brought it, too. Shannon Magrane gets the big last note. Then there was some poor fifth gal who wasn’t identified until later: Amber. Four go forward. Kyle is out.

The Make You Believers featured Patient Zero, Amy Brumfield. Jackie may have caught Amy’s bug and faints in the crowd. Dustin Cundiff forgets his words. Ill Amy sounds horrible and forgets her words, too. Mathenee Treco oversings it big time. Jacquier Cera screams a note very poorly. “A little rough there,” J. Lo. “Some lyrics weren’t here. Choreography wasn’t there.” Mathenee survives because he at least stayed in tune and didn’t forget lyrics. Tent Girl is back to the tent.”I pushed myself for nothin’ ” Brumfield said.

Watch more people screw up: Crystal Duffield muffs words. Jasmine Antonine follows Crystal. “Why weren’t you helping each other out,” J. Lo said. “You’ve got to say to yourself, ‘You deserve this!’ ”

“Verbal amnesia ran rampant,” Ryan Seacrest said. “Some mumbled. Some went with oh ohs and yah yahs. Some a combination of both. When in doubt, they made up their own lyrics.”

Those Girls and That Guy. Christian Lopez isn’t bad (if he’d only open his eyes). Cop Alisha Bernhardt is godawful. Editors show people yawning. (Who knows if they match what is actually happening on stage.). “A little rough,” Randy said. They all go home. All that drama for … nothing.

We’re back and someone in Area 451 passes out. Yup, another one. Her name is Imani Handy. Hollywood Five are next. They are all young. Ariel Sprague sounds sharp with “Mercy.” Eben Franckewitz keeps it up. Cabi Carrubba is good, though not as good. David Leathers and Jeremy Rosado get the judges swaying. Jeremy works the falsetto and the quintet are through, easily.

Imani wants to join them but faints yet again. She seems like she’s barely functioning. Somehow, she ends up on stage. This is not going to go well. Bryce Gracia bombs out. Johnny Keyser, one of the early favorites, is great again. Kristi Krause misses some notes. Make that a lot of notes. Imani now gives it a try. She starts reasonably strong, then wavers and falls. I love how one dude tries to keep singing even as she’s crumpled on the ground. Ryan Seacrest is seen running to the stage.

She is really really ill but gets up and steps off the stage to sit down. Bryce and Kristi are going home. Imani begs to get into solos but J. Lo said she’s going home. That’s the right decision. Johnny, of course, makes it through.

Folks we had seen earlier are out: Reis Kloeckner. Symone Baker (who fainted in the initial round). Expected father W.T. Thompson.

Then we get to see one more group: M.I.T., which has been the battle between Richie Law and Heejun Han. Heejun brings plenty emotional heft. Jairon Jackson has a beautifully clean voice. Richie Law’s falsetto is pretty poor. Phillip Phillips does his best Joe Cocker imitation. Then they show the fifth guy and don’t introduce him.  It was not a good group performance but all make it through.

Others who make it through: Erika Van Pelt.  Adam Brock. Hallie Day, Elise Testone.

Now onto: hour 2!

The remaining 98 contestants now get to do solos with the band. First, they jam with Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson and the “Idol” band. They will get no results until the end of the day.

Joshua Ledet gets some airtime for his flight anxiety. We saw him earlier during group rounds. Ledet does a lovely, honest version of Christina Perri’s “Jar of Hearts.” He’s less showy than Jacob Lusk but I like him more.

Colton Dixon is back again. He should have made the top 24 last year and looks like a shoe-in to do it this time around. He does a pretty, intense version of Daughtry’s “What About Now.” Phillip Phillips from Leesburg, the man who seems like an amalgam of Lee DeWyze and Dave Matthews, has a style I’m not too keen on but can appreciate. Jen Hirsh has a pure, sultry lounge-like voice and gets a standing ovation.

Creighton Fraker, another likely top 24 singer, is yet another soulful white boy. (They have an awful lot of them this year, don’t they?)  He also gets a standing o.

The thunder outside distracts three unnamed singers. Reed Grimm wanted to sing a capella so he didn’t rehearse with the band. Now he has 30 minutes to prepare with the vocal coach.

I’ve never been a fan of Shannon Magrane up this point but we sure are seeing her a lot. Top 24? Probably. She’s a good singer but I’m not feeling her. Maybe it’s because she looks a bit like Kristy Lee Cook or her stringy hair or that outfit. She’s just 16!

Then we go back to Reed. They’re giving him a ridiculous amount of airtime so he must be a top 24 finisher. He doesn’t like the vocal arrangement and switches to… the drums??? This is a first!

He is Mr. Jazz. As Randy said, “Another Casey.” And he means Casey Abrams, not Casey James. I am enjoying this. He has less cheese in him than Casey Abrams. But he shares Casey’s pure love of music and musicianship.

Skylar Laine had to go to the hospital and rehydrate. (Is it really that dry there while it’s raining outside?). But she makes it back for the solo round. Her Band Perry seems a bit overbaked to me but Steven felt it was the best he’d seen all day. Mom Rachelle Lamb, another country singer, opts for Miranda Lambert. She messed up the lyrics and has to start over. “No reason to be nervous,” J. Lo said nonsensically. I prefer her voice over Skylar’s. It’s warmer.

Adam Brock is next for some “white chocolate.” Yes, more white soul. He has absolutely no star looks. His “Georgia on My Mind” isn’t half bad.

The 98 singers are split into four rooms. Randy goes through the charade of giving bad news in room one when in fact he gives good news. Jermaine Jones, Lauren Gray, Adam Brock and Joshua Ledet are through.

Room 2 includes Reed Grimm, Phillip Phillips, Skylar Laine, Shannon Magraine and Jessica Phillips.

Room 3 contestants features Rachelle Lamb, who sang hard jamming with Steven but didn’t do as well in his solo. One gal is annoyed that others are laughing, including Rachelle. They are told the bad news: the 28 in the room are out. J. Rod Gibson is gone. NBA dancer Brittany Kerr is gone, too.

Room 4 isn’t sure if they are going through or not. The trio do a “play act” where they pretend to make it seem like they’re not moving on. Well, they are. Baylie Brown, Cabi Carrubba, Heejun Han, Angie Zeiderman, Brittany Kellogg are mentioned.

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By Rodney Ho, Radio & TV Talk