Faculty members Tiana Brown, Montre Burton and Rob Adler show up to surprise several kids who have no idea they've been submitted for consideration by parents or teachers. They also hold a massive open call audition at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The top performers advance to the semifinals.
The 30 Eastern semifinalists sing and dance for the faculty and are narrowed down to a group of 10 finalists, who then perform duets at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. Anthony, Bailey, Briana, Isaiah, James, and Tierney are chosen to move on to Utah.
The celebrity talent scouts hold surprise regional auditions across the western half of the United States, as well as a massive open casting call in Long Beach, California.
The semi-finalists must work together on a performance to determine which six contestants will move on to the finals.
The 12 finalists from the East and West Coast auditions, now hard at work in the series' summer music program at Murray High School in Utah, get the surprise of their lives with a visit to the film set of "High School Musical 3: Senior Year," where they audition for director Kenny Ortega and meet "HSM" cast members Lucas Grabeel ("Ryan"), Olesya Rulin ("Kelsi") and Kaycee Stroh ("Martha").
Unsuspecting customers at a department store are in for a big surprise when the 12 finalists break into song and dance and perform an impromptu concert for them. Meanwhile, the finalists break off into trios and have their first big performance. Later they face the first elimination, where Briana and Christie are relegated to the chorus.
The contestants learn to communicate without words in a silent scavenge for emotion, and then break off into couples to perform duets. At the end of the day, Andrew and Ether are are relegated to the chorus.
The kids roll with the punches and perform "Get'cha Head in the Game," a popular single from "High School Musical," in four different languages as they prepare for their first performance as a group. Later, they face elimination where Bailey and Shana are sent to the chorus.
Zac Efron visits the contestants to wish them luck and answer their questions. The six finalists interview for jobs that require a range of performances as they attempt to learn TV theme songs from the 70s and 80s. After the performance, TJ is sent to the chorus.
The contestants choose which musical genre is the opposite of each person and then the contestants perform "A Whole New World" in the style of their assigned genre. The contestants perform an '80s medley. James joins the chorus.
The four finalists are Tierney, Isaiah, Christina, and Stan. The perform a group number with the chorus for a live audience as well the judges. After the first performance, Christina is sent to the chorus.