Now that a new season of AI is under way, and the other AI thread was such a big hit, I thought I would start another one. I didn't watch the last season, but I have been watching the first round of this season. So, is anyone esle watching American Idol?

Now that a new season of AI is under way, and the other AI thread was such a big hit, I thought I would start another one. I didn't watch the last season, but I have been watching the first round of this season. So, is anyone esle watching American Idol?

I watched two hours of the 4 or so they have broadcast. The judges have become extermely nasty and rude this year making it impossible to watch for more than about an hour at a time. This was not required to make the show appealing. In fact Simon, who is the worst of course, didn't matter last night when he showed up late. Interesting.

My favorite wannabe so far is the woman who admitted she coudln't sing a note but was trying to convince them that an American Idol who couldn't sing would be a great idea... or something like that. It was hard to tell as she seemed somewhat incoherent to me.

The appeal has gone down for me, I don't know, maybe its just getting too "been there, done that" now. We will see.

I've been watching...and yeah, that girl was unusual, to say the least...lol. Are the judges really nastier than they have been? I don't really notice a difference...I thought they'd always been pretty harsh with the beginning shows.

I'm looking forward to seeing the final 24 or so, however many there are. So far I've liked the guy that said he gets compared to Castro (lol) and then a couple of the girls who went last night. The girl who looked about 12 (she was an opera singer too) seems like she's going to be pretty awesome.

Emily

The judges were nasty. I saw the night when they were in Seattle, and I was horrified by some of the comments. Simon said one guy looked like a monkey, and the minute he walked out of the room, all three laughed about it.

I don't watch the show much, but my wife's family does. I've always wondered if there is any bodyguards in the room, or at least right outside the door incase anyone tries to beat on Simon for any comments he makes. The guy with the red hair I thought for a moment was gonna go after Simon.

I don't watch the show much, but my wife's family does. I've always wondered if there is any bodyguards in the room, or at least right outside the door incase anyone tries to beat on Simon for any comments he makes. The guy with the red hair I thought for a moment was gonna go after Simon.


Yes, they do have security in the room with them. That guy with the red hair was creepy! You can see him here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVT2RW60jBs) if you didn't see the show.

There was a hair dresser who auditioned last week, who dressed up like last years winner, Taylor Hicks. When he was done embarising himself with his singing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a small container of hair gel, or something. He started to walk towards Simon, to fix his hair, and security was right on top of things to make sure he didn't get too close.

I read an article about this. They aren't any nastier than they've been, they are just showing more of the nasty comments than they used to. Plus, the contestants are getting worse. Everyone who's really bad and knows it is looking for their 15 minutes since William Hung did so well a few years back.

Yeah, ideally they'd get decent contestants and the judges would be civil, but let's face it, the sucky-ness of the early contestants and the harshness of the judges is a huge part of why the show is successful.

And given what you'd need to endure should you actually become a celebrity, the stuff the judges dish out is extremely mild.

But I don't watch religiously, only will catch a few minutes here and there if I'm flipping, but we don't watch a whole lot of tv.

If there were a Sex and the City thread, I'd have lots to contribute....

I have no desire to see a bunch of has been judges insulting a bunch of no hoper contestants.
<insert your name here> Idol and Big Brother are the lowest of the low in TV entertainment.
Though any "reality" show is only slightly better than the dog poo I tread in on the pavement.

this thread pushed one of my buttons :)

I have no desire to see a bunch of has been judges insulting a bunch of no hoper contestants.
<insert your name here> Idol and Big Brother are the lowest of the low in TV entertainment.
Though any "reality" show is only slightly better than the dog poo I tread in on the pavement.

this thread pushed one of my buttons :)

So are you saying you don't like the show?

:D

<insert your name here> Idol and Big Brother are the lowest of the low in TV entertainment...

Well, I understand how you feel. For the most part, I hate reality tv. Still, I would never put these two shows in the same category.

Idol is basically a talent search, sure melodramatic and over-the-top in a quest for ratings, but relatively harmless compared to obnoxiously placing people in highly confrontational living situations, then turning up the heat and sticking cameras in their faces 24/7.

This is what shows like BB and MTV's Real World are all about: a circus side show. I can't stand them. It is the ultimate in hipocrisy and as far from "reality" as you can get...

"Idol", on the other hand, does not bother me at all (although I don't really watch it much). Again, just a talent search. And say what you want about their methods, when all is said and done, the finalists and certainly the winner show true star talent and (so far) have gone on to pretty successful music careers.

Hey, just check out Dreamgirls...

Tell me when they're down to the top 12 :)

I keep looking for teh thing to hit the gong with when watching lol. Some of the people should not have gotten out of bed ....let alone try to audition. I can understand the pre-screeners letting a few of them through for entertainment sake but do they even listen to them before they get to the Televised judges?

The very first guy on the very first show this year was a complete flaming idiot who thought there was nothing better than him...then this past week the guy that seemed to think he was half cougar and half moron.... But the guy I heard that I like the best was one form 2 weeks ago I think. He had character. Heavier set guy, curly hair, mentioned in his pre-audition blurb that he has seen a lot of people on the show that just suck... then says "Gee I hope I don't suck". Then he walked in and sang some soulfull ballad type of song that had Paula melting and the guess judge in awe.

But mostly I watch it for the pretty girls lol.

Are they going to use "Had a bad day" again? Tell me there's a different song coming on this year?

I saw that guy with the curly hair. He was awsome! His singing was pretty good, but his attitude, and sense of humor were great.

Tell me when they're down to the top 12 :)

That's exactly how I feel. I watch a bit of the auditions, but it gets old and redundant after awhile....

Why it the one door in the audition room locked? People keep walking into the locked door when they leave. You would think they would put a sign on it, but it seems to bring the judges extra pleasure to see someone walk into a locked door, after they crush their dreams by telling them they can't sing.

Bump.

Has anyone been watching the show as it has progressed this season? I must admit, that I havent seen it in at all in the last month.

I saw the girls sing last week. There were a few good ones. Jesus, I didn't see the guys except sitting there but are the girls like all HOTT this year and the guys are all dorks??

What day is the show on?

tuesdays, wednesdays for guys and then girls singing...results on thursdays.
Will probably only be two days after this week as it will then be final 12.

I think the bad singers and nasty comments lessened after first two weeks as the editors got the hint that people weren't liking it anymore.

The girls are going to run away with it this year. Has to be Lakisha Jones, Melinda Doolittle, or maybe Stephanie Edwards in my book.

Thanks Frog,

I did see the girls sing on Wednesday night. I wasn't overly impressed with anyone, but I was only half watching it as I was on the phone, and on the computer at the same time. The judges seemed to be very impressed with the last girl who sang, but I don't remember her name.

The American public is as good at voting for idols as they are at voting for politicians.

I heard something on the radio about the American Idol results not being very popular? Anyone have the back story?

I heard something on the radio about the American Idol results not being very popular? Anyone have the back story?

Well, I read in the paper that they got over 36 million votes in two hours last week and they are wiping out the competition in the ratings. How unpopular can the show be?

I haven't watched it after the first two this year, but the backstory on that is dull :-)

The voting system is pretty bad as anyone can vote as many times as they want. I'd guess those least qualified to vote, vote the most as they don't have anything better to do.
How else can you explain Sanjiah still being there?

Heard about Howard Stern urging people to vote for the worst singer and also this site
http://votefortheworst.com/

Its the only explanation I can think of to explain Sanjiah still being there.

Is anyone still watching? I haven't seen it in a long time, but according to CNN, they are still kicking butt in the ratings.

My wife watches the show religiously so I therefore am forced to watch it. I must say that the girls are by far the better singers this year. That said however Blake and Chris Richardson do have a shot at making it fairly far... but they will not be the winners this year. I would honestly love to see Blake and Chris go off and do a duet thing as they have very complimentary styles.

Now if only Sanjayah would be sent home then I could watch the show with my earplugs out for a change and might actually enjoy it for once.

I have not been watching it this year. I keep hearing stories about how the show has peaked, it is sliding down now, about how Sanjayah is keeping the season alive because he is so bad, etc.

I was thinking about this this morning actually and I realized, the viewers have been killing the show these last few seasons by not voting for the best singers but instead their "favorite" singer. This creates a sense of frustration among the general viewing public that this is no longer a talent show, but a popularity contest. This sense of disenchantment will be the demise of the show, imo. Watch for them next season to start introducing "new" twists into the show to get the ratings back up again.

Best singer vs. most popular is an interesting thought as the best singers seldom become the most popular in the industry.

Anyone watch the show last night? Me either. :) I did read a blog that said that Sanjaya was at his "absolute worst" last night, and tonight could very likely be his last night on the show.

Anyone watch the show last night? Me either. :) I did read a blog that said that Sanjaya was at his "absolute worst" last night, and tonight could very likely be his last night on the show.

We can only hope! He was really bad.

Four beautiful words.
"Sanjiah, you're going home"!

Four beautiful words.
"Sanjiah, you're going home"!

Do you think this will have a negative impact on the ratings? I haven't followed the show, but to be honest, Sanjaya was the only reason I was even remotely interested in it this season. Now that he's gone, they could take the show off the air for all I care.

Speaking of American Idol, does anyone even care that Taylor Hicks is running around touring to support his album? It seems like no one cares for him after they voted for him last year.

In fact, second place Catherine McPhee is getting more attention than he is.

Speaking of American Idol, does anyone even care that Taylor Hicks is running around touring to support his album? It seems like no one cares for him after they voted for him last year.

In fact, second place Catherine McPhee is getting more attention than he is.


You could say the same thing about Ruben Stoddard, and Clay Aiken. I don't know if he's touring or has a new album, but Clay has been much more visible than Ruben. Did Ruben ever release an album?

Speaking of American Idol, does anyone even care that Taylor Hicks is running around touring to support his album? It seems like no one cares for him after they voted for him last year.

In fact, second place Catherine McPhee is getting more attention than he is.

There was an article in the NYT a few weeks back talking about the success of American Idol contestants. Hicks is the worst of the winners, not even selling a million copies of his first album. I predicted that: without seeing his on-stage antics, who really cares?

Ruben has gone AWOL, Clay has a loyal but very small audience. What ever happened to Fantasia after the initial burst of activity? In fact, the "losers" have done substantially better. In a recent NYT article (free copies at the school!) the country-western types have been substantially more successful.

So, who do I see these days? Clarkson, Underwood are true successes. Bo, Daughtery, McPhee are working hard. Pickler and Bucky have entered the fray. Let's not forget about Jennifer Hudson's movie success. Who else has done anything that qualifies as a career?

American Idol is a reality TV show, not a true predictor of musical success.

Did anyone see Pres. and Mrs. Bush on AI last night? Me either, but I heard about it on the radio this morning. Does anyone else find it interesting that they were on FOX? FOX has long been cirtizied as being a puppet for the Rebublican party. Is Bush's appearance on the show confirmation of that?

Hey, I was wondering, what song are they playing this year when people get voted off??

I can't believe it has taken me this long to chime in on this subject. I guess that's what I get for going back to work after 15 years. No time for the fun things in life.
Anyway, I have been watching for most of the season. As usual with AI, the american public has proven that they are all tone deaf and non-musically educated.
As frog mentioned, Sanjay deserved a shot, but should have been voted off before they ever got to the final 12. I think his family probably has about 4 million strong and everyone voted more than 4 times each. But thank goodness...he's finally gone.
This years final 6 are pretty good, especially in my opinion, Melissa Dolittle. But, I don't think any of the guys deserve to beat any of the girls, even though many of them have improved over the past few weeks.
So, my vote for #1 is Melissa. She's a consistent, strong, well disciplined, topnotch singer and entertainer who constantly blows everyone away with her talent and skills. IMHO, she doesn't need AI and will probably be more popular than any of the other AI's this year whether she wins it or not. I only hope she isn't cheated out of #1 like Clay Aiken was, even though Ruben was a strong contender.

I think Melinda is far and away the best. She pulled off the rock category last night when its not her thing. I love her humility.
Blake might be the one. He's unique and good.
Personally I loved Taylor and did buy his cd.

I haven't been following, but I know Jordan is in the final 2 and is going to win! You go girl! Represent the Phx! :wink:

Is this show still on?

Heheh yeah this is the last week though. I'm still betting that they alter something significant next year to try and get their viewership back up.

I saw on CNN.com that Paula fell down and broke her nose. Sounds like a ratings stunt to me. :D

Jordan or Blake?

I don't care now that Melinda is gone. Wife wants Blake.

Paula makes a good case for not owning chihuahuas.
At least she didn't appear to be drunk on any of the shows this year.