In a brutal round that saw the “American Idol” field pared from 144 to 66, one Alabama contender had a showcase moment Monday night.

That was Crews Wright, a 17-year-old country singer from Samson, Ala., who brings a lot of personality to the stage. His portion of Monday’s episode opened with a callback to his Nashville audition, when celebrity judge Luke Bryan asked him, “Have you ever been to Hollywood?”

“Well, it’s been on my bucket list,” replied Wright.

“Do you ever just say ‘yes’ or ‘no?‘” asked Bryan.

“I love you,” said Carrie Underwood, which led to some flirting. “I can be single,” said Wright. “I cannot,” said Underwood, flashing her ring. “I guess I just blowed that one,” said Wright, amid laughter.

On Monday, Wright compared the “Idol Arena” to the rodeo arenas he was more familiar with. Then he delivered on his claim to being a champion of traditional country with a rendition of Conway Twitty’s “Time to Go.”

It was an unusual choice for “Idol,” and Wright did it justice, measuring up to Twitty’s ability to shift from conversational delivery to effortless, soaring flourishes. “Do you swear you’re 17?” Bryan asked afterward. “I need a birth certificate,” seconded Underwood.

“I mean, to pick a Conway Twitty song, I grew up on that and lived it, and the fact that you’re 17 and that’s where your brain is with music … Where you’re at at this point, you’re going to grow so fast and have so much to offer, that was great,” said Bryan. “Just watching you kind of win the room was pretty cool stuff.”

The performance was good enough to get Wright over a high bar: near the beginning of the “Idol Arena” episode, Bryan told the field, “At the end of tonight, more than half of you will be going home.”

At least six contenders from Alabama had earned their Golden Tickets to Hollywood during auditions, and the format of the episode left some of their fates uncertain.

At the end of it, the candidates were separated into four rooms. The people in two rooms were told this was the end of the line, while the ones in the other two rooms got the news they had made the cut.

Wright definitely was in one of the winning rooms, and Isaiah Moore, a worship leader from Oneonta, could be seen among the others present. But with no list of winners and losers, it was harder to say how the other Alabamians had fared.

By Monday morning one of them, Janae Patterson of Birmingham, had posted that “My time on American Idol has come to an end”.

“While this is unfortunate, I am so thankful for the chances, lessons, friends, experiences, and blessings that I’ve formed and so excited to see what’s next,” she told supporters on Facebook. “This is only the beginning and I truly believe that.”

Patterson said she planned to go live on Facebook and Instagram at 6 p.m. Central time Tuesday to talk about her experience.

With Wright and Moore moving forward and Patterson eliminated, that left at least three others unaccounted for: Anna McElroy of Mobile, Dawson Slade of Moulton and Tyler Nichols of Pell City.

“American Idol’s” Hollywood Round continues through two more episodes airing at 7 p.m. Sunday and Monday, April 6-7, on ABC. Previously aired episodes can be seen on Hulu.