So another season of American Idol is in the can. Every year I try and post a thread where we can list what was good, what was bad, what was ugly, wishes and ideas for the future, and anything else. I'll start things off.

Overall, I think AI 9 started off great, ended pretty good, but what happened in the middle wasn't all that hot. Let me break it down this way.

Audition Phase
I always want less audition episodes. I find it the most boring part of the show. I think we got one week less this year. I want even less. Ideally I would like two nights of auditions where all the top 24 are shown, and then on to Hollywood.

Hollywood Week
Every year I also complain that there isn't enough of Hollywood week. I want to see the drama, the fights, the tears, the breakdowns, the successes, etc. We did get a little more this week, but I think it could have been edited a lot better. Less of Big Mike's story, and more of the top contenders.

The Top 24
I think we had great potential this season with teh Top 24. It was a quirky, mixed bag of styles - some which we've never seen on Idol. Unfortunately, a lot of the contestants in which I and others saw great potential were voted out early. Alex Lambert, Lily Allen, Jose Munoz, Katelyn Epperly. They didn't make the top 24 but Tim Urban did, along with Paige, Lacey, and others. Bizarre.

The Top 12
Going from the top 12 down to the top 2 was overall disappointing when you look back at other years. It was obvious that Crystal would make it - she was the only real standout in terms of raw talent and consistency. What I thikn was the most disappointing this season was the judging, and we'll get to that later, but I tihnk it affected voting immensely this season. Case in point - why was Casey in the final three, but Siobhan was voted out three weeks earlier? Siobhan demonstrated uniqueness and variety. Casey is a killer guitarist, but Siobhan out sang him week after week.

The Judging
I think for me the biggest disappointment was the judging this year. It was obvious Simon was rolling on fumes. Kara was more full of herself then ever. Randy seemed to be taking Paula's drugs, and Ellen was the only one who really made sense this season. Ellen is America on the judging panel and I think she deserves to stay there. I think they should can Kara and Randy and bring in two new judges to sit with Ellen. I honestly believe the judges completely messed with the contestants minds this season by giving them completely inconsistant critiques week after week. One week they say they sang a song Karaoke'ish and they had to put their own spin on it, and the next week when they do that they say 'But you shouldn't change up that song at all. Just sing it.' That would drive me insane, and it happened week after week. One week they praise Siobhan's scream, and the next they say she overdid it. I believe the judges confused the contestants along with America this season.

My Wishlist For Idol 10
* Fire Randy & Kara, bring in two new judges with Ellen
* Keep Ryan.
* Two nights of auditions. Period.
* More Hollywood Drama
* Pick the most talented Top 24, not necessarily 12 guys and 12 girls. The top 24 contenders.
* Switch up the weeks taking the top 24 to the top 12 somehow. I don't know how, but we lose too many good people that way. Why should one girl and guy leave?? Again, who cares if we have 6 girls and 6 guys in the top 12????
* NO.MORE.THEME.WEEKS.EVER. Just let them pick the songs they want to sing.
* Can the judge's save.
* Pony up the dough to expand your library of songs.
* Pony up the dough to get decent, CONTEMPORARY bands to perform on finale night. You should be ashamed of this year's finale.

geekboy

"I think what Randy Travis was trying to say was 'What the hell was that?!'" - S. Cowell

• RE: AI 9 - Looking Back, and Forward,zazzy, 09:48 PM, 06-01-10
• RE: AI 9 - Looking Back, and Forward,DoodleBug, 05:50 PM, 06-02-10
  • RE: AI 9 - Looking Back, and Forward,vince3, 07:49 PM, 06-02-10
  • RE: AI 9 - Looking Back, and Forward,geekboy, 08:39 PM, 06-02-10
    • RE: AI 9 - Looking Back, and Forward,DoodleBug, 04:26 PM, 06-10-10
• RE: AI 9 - Looking Back, and Forward,kingfish, 08:26 AM, 06-03-10
  • RE: AI 9 - Looking Back, and Forward,geekboy, 09:18 AM, 06-03-10
    • RE: AI 9 - Looking Back, and Forward,kingfish, 11:38 AM, 06-03-10
• RE: AI 9 - Looking Back, and Forward,Belle Book, 04:21 PM, 06-03-10
• THE SOPRANOS is a nice show,I love it.,shirleylike, 11:11 PM, 08-08-10

Nice list. I'm catching up on Idolatry segments before commenting. They are a nice refresher on the season.

I didn't post much this season here because I was under-whelmed by the whole mess. However, I do feel compelled to post my feelings on the season as a whole.

1. 4 nights of auditions should be plenty. If they go to 8 places, for instance, then showcase 2 per night. Done.
2. Show me ALL top 24 in Hollywood - more than once - and not during a group number.
3. I agree that there shouldn't have to be an even split male/female. Pick the best talent.
4. a free for all would be scary as far as choosing their song. That's what the top 24 shows are like. They need some direction - but make it broad.
5. I agree on keeping Ellen and firing the rest. I think Jamie Foxx would be a good judge. Not sure who the third would be. No more than THREE judges!!

Well, there is a possibility that Bret Michaels could be Simon's replacement...;)

http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/bret-michaels-fox-asked-me-possibly-be-an-american-idol-judge-11058.php

>4. a free for all would
>be scary as far as
>choosing their song. That's
>what the top 24 shows
>are like. They need
>some direction - but make
>it broad.

I have to disagree with this. Again, I go back to the contradictory comments the judges have been making the last couple years. They always say something like "We want to see who you are as an artist." and then they give them "Disco Night" or "Big Band Night". How the hell does a country artist, or a rock star, or an R&B singer show "who they are as an artist" while being forced to sing "Shake Your Groove Thang" or "Moon River"?????

Is it any wonder that the early rounds in the past w/ the Top 24 picking whatever they wanted were my favorite nights?? Just go to YouTube and search for Nadia Turner doing "Power Of Love". THAT shows you who she wanted to be as an artist. One of my all-time favorite performances on Idol.

geekboy

"I think what Randy Travis was trying to say was 'What the hell was that?!'" - S. Cowell

I guess if they allowed them to sing more songs, it wouldn't be much of an issue. Apparently (rumor), they are very limited to what they can sing. And I think you made this point also - fork out the cash so they can sing more songs.

Agree with you about Ellen. In fact, I think that the local audition judging panels should be no-name industry insiders experienced in promoting young talents, and the show judges should be reserved for Hollywood. Agents, studio musicians, and all would be prohibited from approaching the contestants with contracts till after AI is over for that year to avoid shenanigans.

But the biggest problem I see are the voting blocs that are out to cause mischief, or affect the voting based on something other than talent. I wish something could be done about public voting blocs that have agendas. I think that a large panel (say, 100 or so?) of unnamed people selected randomly from the public that pass a vetting process and seem to be willing to vote based on their judgment of the contestants talent might create a more balanced outcome that either a public voting scheme (as at present) or allowing a small panel of 3 or 4 judges to determine the outcome.

I agree and disagree with you on the voting issue. I think you have to keep it open to everyone otherwise you can no longer say that "America picks the winner". Everyone has an opinion, and therefore everyone has their own agenda.

With that being said, I would not be opposed to Idol limiting every phone number to one single vote only. This has been done by other shows, so we know Idol could do it. It may mean not allowing text votes, but who cares. I think one vote per phone number would be a very good thing.

geekboy

"I think what Randy Travis was trying to say was 'What the hell was that?!'" - S. Cowell

Although huge, the voting pool size is still limited, and a smaller pool could still be "America". If a smaller pool were picked at random from the public (random telephone based selection? Or like the Arbitron pool selection process?) so that mischievous groups could be filtered out, it would still be "America Voting". Just not "All" of America, which it isn't anyway.

I think the single biggest negative that affects AI is the influence of the groups whose goal is to skewer the overall results, like VFTW, hometown voting blocks, and others. And I think that the biggest improvement AI could do would be to show that they are working on solutions to this problem.

Here's my wish list:

I don't mind many audition episodes -- but I want fewer bad auditions and more good ones -- kind of like So You Think You Can Dance does.

Agreed with you on Hollywood week -- more of it should be shown and not only that, I think you should feature the people in the Top 24 who weren't featured in the auditions.

Something from Dancing with the Stars: twelve votes per singer in the Top 24 (guys and girls) and Top 12, and fewer votes every week until you get to 5, whereupon you get 5 votes per singer in the Final 4, Final 3 and in the finals.

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