American Idol: Discussion Thread

[JER Soaps Fan]

Actually, I'm so cynical that every time I see those clips, I SERIOUSLY wonder if Sanjaya or AI themselves didn't pay off that girl to cry like that. It's not just that a girl is crying. It's THAT girl. And THAT face she makes. It's over-the-top and hilarious and annoying all at once. Not just ANY ol' psychotic tween could pull that [!@#$%^&*] off.

She is SO an actor. I'm almost 85 percent sure.

[PhoenixRising05]

I agree. I do worry about that girl and I hate how she is being exploited.

I have been worried for Kelly's voice for awhile. I always thought it was intentional but I have to wonder if her push towards rock has strained her voice. She used to sound pure and now she sounds forced. At the end of singing "Never Again" tonight, she was like "Whoa" and looked a little winded. Sure, anyone would be after singing but I had the feeling she pushed it. I went to see her in concert awhile back and I started hearing her voice crackle at the end of the night. Maybe her voice just can't handle it. She sounds fine and pop songs so maybe it is her doing. I can't be sure. It worries me because I love the girl.

I just watched the finale back and Melinda and Lakisha totally blew it out with Gladys. Wow. Reminded me of how much I missed Melinda last night. Gina and Stephanie were so much better then I remembered too. The guys sucked this year altogether IMO. I think the girls were stronger as a whole. Phil actually has the best vocals and could make a good country album. I wish he went farther in a way.

I also questioned why they used Tony Bennett and Bette Midler tonight. Bette was bad and Tony was so boring. It certainly doesn't appeal to Idol's desired demos.

Did anyone hear Simon say on the red carpet that he is leaning towards leaving after Idol Season 10? He said he will be 50 then and he thinks that the traveling is too much and by then he will be ready. Just thought it was interesting.

That ending was so tear-jerking, at least for me. The parents crying, Paula, Jordin...wow. That was actually a golden moment, much like Carrie's crowning was. It had so much more emotion then last year.

[KLN]

It's one thing to use your vocal chords and train them, but another thing altogether to push them too hard. Maybe she's screwed up her vocal chords and they'll never be the same again. Sadness! LoL

[PhoenixRising05]

Did anyone see how during the Golden Idol spot with Ryan and Simone how Simom seemed to say "***hole" to Ryan> Love that!! .

Randy and Paula dancing and flying during Bette Midler was cute but Bette swaying and her little dances were annoying. God...she sounded horrible. She is taking Celine's spot in Vegas? Wow...

Kelly sounded really good during her last song "Sergeant Pepper." I guess maybe the raspy voice is intentional. Who knows " Kelly rocks anyway.

Carrie and Haley were giving the front row of the audience free peep shows with those outfits they wore on the medley at the end

I can't express how much I love that ending. All of this season's cast looking up at Jordin from the stairs...I love that. I just remember them staying off to the side. So emotional. I wish they had more time at the end but they went over time enough I guess.

[KLN]

I just read that Blake, Jordin and Sanjaya will be on "Larry King" this Friday.

[kentville]

"Congrats to Jordin and her fans. The real shame IMHO is that Melinda didn't win. Melinda was by far the best singer of this season and one of the best singers of IDOL in all time IMHO. Melinda is by far better than Blake or Jordin. I do think all 3 will end up doing good."

I agree. IMO, the true AI should have been Melinda. She was without a doubt the best singer. Neither Blake or Jordin even came close.

[DaysFanJean]

I just watched Blake and Jordin on Fox and Friends. Blake said he got 45 minutes sleep LOL. He was beaming from ear to ear and still pumped up sky high. He is thrilled with all his idol experience. He said he considered himself a winner by making the top 10 and the rest is icing. He's happy. Jordin was later and because she is still a minor, there is a curfew for her LOL and she couldn't come on until a certain time. She said she slept two hours and she had on no makeup, looked like she just crawled out of bed and completely 17 years old. She was so fun and cute. What a great idol she will be. She was loving Taylor and Ruben spending time with her. The song she sang after she won is now available for download. It was a wonderful song for her. All of us who voted can congratulate ourselves for picking that song....and the songwriters should be very happy, too. It's a great song. Also, Brian asked her about the ring on her left hand. Jordin told him it is a purity ring, her pledge to wait for marriage.

[alwaysAMC]

Congrats to Jordin!

[Josh]

And yes I said Taylor looked yummy! I like the older guy look...said it last year and saying it this year!!

[Gray Bunny]

I wonder who decided on the winner? The audience or the producers?

I am so done with this show. This season was the worst one yet.

[JER Soaps Fan]

Jordin pledges chastity? Oh, now Ilove her even MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Although, I had a feeling, earlier today, when I learned (SHOCKER!) that, before AI, she opened for Michael W. Smith.

[KLN]

I wish they would've let the former Idol winners talk or something.

It was nice that they got to perform and everything, but they were just shuffled onto the stage and right back off.

It would've been nice, after all this time, to have Ryan Seacrest give them each a little one or two minute interview, allowing them a chance to explain what their lives have been like since winning the competition in each of their respective seasons.

Not only would it have been a nice treat for people who've been watching the show faithfully since the first season, but it also would've be a nice way for new Idol viewers to get acquainted with the previous winners.

[David_Vickers]

The show needs to be improved next year IMHO. Do away with Country Night and other poor choices for genres such as Bee Gees night. I'd also fire Randy Jackson, since he's been terrible in the last season and was all about mainly Jordin all season. Also change the voting method, to that like DANCING WITH THE STARS. The Judges would judge the contestants on a scale of 1 to 10 and their combined score would count as 1/2 of the contestansts score, while the home audience's vote would count as the other 1/2.

Maybe you didn't mean it that way, if not, I take you at your word. I may not be watching IDOL again. True. Not just because Jordin won, but also because Melinda didn't make the Final 2, and because Taylor Hicks won last year and because Chris Daughtry should've won last season and didn't. Also I'm sick of Simon & Randy, especially Randy, and tired of the show.

[DaysFanJean]

I read that Idol lost 19% of viewers this season. That is sad, but then think about the number of folks hellbent on sabotaging the show like Vote for the Worst and the huge campaign for Sanjaya. Many were totally turned off as none of the original talent was enough to keep it together in my opinion. I loved Jordin from the first and never could understand why she was always near the bottom in the Dial Idol ratings. Thankfully she lasted through that. I loved Lakisha, but she bombed early and Melinda, powerfully wonderful vocals, really doesn't have a melodious range which was very apparent last night when she sang with the Winans. In years past early favorites were from day one, such as Bo or Carrie, Chris or Taylor, but just not this year. Blake didn't even stand out until he was the last man standing. Phil really had the best voice of the guys. Apparently Sanjaya has a huge marketability as he was really featured last night and will be on Larry King live. I think he has already been offered something lucrative and Idol is proud of that .

[PhoenixRising05]

Both decided. This follows up a bit on what Jean said but this season was a weird one. Even though I pegged Jordin to win from day one (much like I did the previous 5 idols), I don't think the producers had a fave out of the gate like they have in previous seasons. It's funny because when we started this year there was alot of talent. The judges cut some pretty good singers and personalities. What little of them we had left got cut before the top 12 so we were left with some talent but bland personalities. Jordin had personality, Melinda was too nice at times so it looked fake for awhile, Blake stood out, Chris R was too generic, Chris S was so arrogant he turned people off, Haley was nothing but someone relying on sex appeal, Sanjaya who speaks for himself, and then we had Gina who had a good personality but she was hardcore rock and that may have turned off some people. Last year was an eccentric group. Now I thought last year's group was the worst simply because they were nothing but egos. This year was nice because we saw a return to the close-knit top 12 but this season lacked drama and suspence. I think not having a shocking ouster early on hurt because that usually made the competition wide open and made you have to watch every week to see what happpened, like Mandisa's ouster last year and so on. I hate to see good people go but it does stir the pot. I also think Sanjaya got them ratings but I also wonder if he turned off a large core who were watching for the right reasons, which was to see who was the best and would win. Once Sanjaya left, he took his bandwagon with him and perhaps the people who were sick of the Sanjaya circus never came back to watching. All primetime shows too a ratings dive this year. Whether it's early daylight savings time or some other reason or whatever, AI isn't the only show. They still got solid numbers for what turned out to be a predictable end.

Now, as I said, I don't think the producers had a fave until they reached the top 12. Going into that, they had Melinda and it's clear they were pimping her. They gave her the last spot at the end, known as the "pimp" spot, and everything. Howeve,r somewhere along the line, they felt she wasn't marketable as an Idol (too bad they didn't use that logic last year and try to manipulate a Taylor ouster) and Jordin began getting pimped. Jordin got the pimp slot a remarkable 4 times, more then any Idol singer has ever had it. Melinda had it twice I think. You could tell from country week on that she was their IT girl. They began hyping, giving her the pimp spot on Idol Gives Back, giving her the lead vocals in some group performances, etc. It was just like they did with Carrie. Then, it got weird because they seemed to flip back to pimping Melinda after Jordin bomed out on rock week. The only think I can think of is they wanted to try to get a Melinda/Jordin finale and rightfully so. Part of me think they never stopped the Jordin pimp train. As soon as Melinda left, I think everyone knew it would be Jordin but Blake fans. I mean, you had both Nigel and Ken Warwick coming out before the finale and saying that Jordin had it and that ahe was marketable, which she is, and so on. The predictablity may have hurt the ratings too. They hurt them in season 4 too towards the end because everyone knew Carrie would win even if Bo was closing in. The fans bought into the pimping though as Jordin seemed to never end up in the bottom, just like Carrie. That always bodes well. Even Blake ended up in the bottom and Melinda was in the bottom two with Lakisha the week she was ousted. Ryan just never came out and said it but it was pretty obvious. Whatever the case, much like every year, the producers picked their fave only this year it was later then usual (and maybe they wavered a bit) and the audience bought it. You will always have some that disagree with who the pick is but that happens every year.

I think the top 3 or 4 will all do well. Now, people think changes need to be made next year. Here is what I think:

-VFTW and other sabatoge sites and groups need to limited in impact. AI did a better job this year but they need to continue to do that.

-Don't overuse the pimp slot on one singer. Try to balance it out so that it doesn't look blatant who the favorite is.

-Pick better themes, some that are even more contemporary. Do a movie soundtrack night or something.

-Go back to half hour results shows until you reach the top 3, in which case then it can be an hour.

-Eliminate the faux Ryan/Simon verbal spars. They suck.

-Bring back the group performances full time and give the eliminated singers time to sing goodbye without getting cut off.

-During results shows, unless you are going to have the guest mentor perform, don't bring other guests on unless they are returning Idols.

Those are only a few ideas. Oh, and a few more thoughts about the finale, Clive Davis was obviously taking digs at Kelly with his speech about the importance of PROFESSIONAL songwriters. He laos took minor digs at Taylor, Katherine, and even Carrie (he bascially implied the success of her album was due to great songwriters, which is partly true but let's remember the singer too). No wonder the judges looked upset with him. Also, they need to make the finale next year about the top 12 from that season. Any returning Idols need to be focused on a bit more too. Maybe do small interviews or "Where are they now?" spots. The singing legends and guests are nice but if you are going to being former Idols back, focus on them more in relation to the top 12 finalists and, for God's sake, let each member of the top 12 have a chance to sign. Other then the top 4 and Sanjaya, the rest hardly got a chance. Oh, and dump the golden Idols. They are no longer funny. I would like maybe a judges skit with Ryan or maybe another skit like the Picker one last year or something. That would be fun. JMO.