A Twin Cities band member and a southern Minnesota teenager survived the tense and at times physically challenging group round of FOX-TV's "American Idol."
While grabbing a significant amount of air time Wednesday night on television's leading reality show, Reed Grimm of The Shoeless Revolution and the rest of his contestant ensemble, "Group Sauce," won over the "Idol" judges with a tightly choreographed and high-energy rendition of Sam and Dave's "Hold On I'm Comin'. "
From there, Grimm survived his solo performance later in the show, even after finding out 30 minutes before taking the stage that he could not perform a cappella. After an emotional phone call to Mom, Grimm picked up the sticks and sang "Georgia" from behind a set of drums.
North Mankato teenager Shelby Tweten also was shown Wednesday among other contestants in a room being told that they would move on to the next round Thursday night in Las Vegas with 50 or so others.
Wednesday's episode was dominated by contestants fainting and falling ill, either behind the scenes or while singing.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
