American Idol Season 9
 

Back this week. Enjoy it because with Simon leaving, might be the end of the road.

A replacement name I'd throw in the ring is Gene Simmons. He is in the industry, speaks his mind, has been a guest judge before and does reality TV already.

I'm pretty sure this is the last one. He's bringing X-Factor to the US next year, there's not much room for both.

The show has run its course and is starting to mock itself, hiring Ellen Degeneres as a judge of some sort. I like Ellen just fine, but there are too many canned quips and not enough time in the format as it is.

i cant imagine theyd end the #1 show on tv just because a judge left. admittedly a huge part of the show, but come on

that said, possibly the best thing they could do would be end it for a bit, let people miss it, and bring it back in 2 years to a huge return. but i think instead theyll keep it on and milk it

10 Print "no"
20 Goto 10

The Cowell news is unfortunate imo. I wasn't sure if I could handle the show with Ellen, but with Ellen and no Cowell is pretty brutal.

I'd throw Ben Folds out there. He was a very, very good judge on "The Sing-Off". He wasn't afraid to speak his mind and had a lot of legit feedback.

There's a good chance this is my last season watching though. I'll have to read up on X-Factor, but if it's just another version of "America's Got Talent" I just don't think I'm interested.

Huh.

Looks like it is just a modified version of Idol.

Main difference appear to be:

A) Groups are allowed
B) People are split into Categories and then mentored by the judges.

Ok, I could get behind this.

lol...so i guess this was like...foreshadowed by what happened in the UK hmm? Pretty amusing (although not when i think that 2x as much tv will now end up being taken up by this schlock).

I dunno, Simon is a lot more than just a judge, he is akin to the main character on a very popular show. For me it will be like watching the X-Files without Duchovney, not nearly as interesting.

There was no X-Files without Duchovney, and I will punch anyone who says differently in the mouth. It was a great 7 season run...after which, it ended.

And there was only one X-Files movie.

Well that's kind of my point

I was just making sure we agreed on that critical cultural point.

On topic: Since we're talking about judges, I'm disappointed they chose Ellen over bringing Jewel back. I really enjoyed her stint as a celeb judge in whichever season that was. I thought her comments were insightful.

Simon is the only judge whose opinion really matters. Without him, the show would be useless.

Agreed. Without Simon, I wouldn't watch it.

Maybe as a trade-off they'll set some sort of minimum boobies threshold for each episode. Then I'd watch.

Might have something to do with her becoming a full-time judge on Nashville Star (which as far as I know, is dead)


Yup. Especially with X-Factor being a singing show, I'm not sure that I will watch Idol after this season.

Yep, it was definitely her comments. Both of them.

my point though is theyll try. just because a judge is leaving doesnt mean you fold up shop. you let it die ungracefully, by failing miserably for a few more seasons first

You guys don't think that Randy Jackson can carry the show? :)

I think they should just call it quits, at least for a couple of years, after this season. But, I completely expect them to milk it for several more years. Other than the on-air talent, I wonder if there are many other major expenses? Maybe song acquisation, but that seems to be a good proposition for both sides, as popularity, downloads and album sales usually skyrocket when one of the contestants does a great performance.

where the eff is ellen

I'm baffled that pretty much everyone in America must have clued in that Andrew/Blunt Guy had Asperger Syndrome except the judges.

Last night's episode reminded me just how lousy this show will be without Simon as a judge. He makes everything click.

They started off with a bunch of guest judges before they finalized Ellen.


Who?

The guy in the clip embedded in this article:

'American Idol': Andrew Fenlon annoys Kara DioGuardi in Boston - From Inside the Box - Zap2it

Yup.



Um... no?

I've felt many awkward moments where they were clearly mocking someone that had "issues", this wasn't one of them. I didn't pick up on anything.

Agreed. Guy was just annoyed. If he had an obvious tell that he had other issues, I didn't notice.

I didn't buy the guy from before he went into the audition room. I thought he was clearly a put-on. My opinion didn't change throughout the audition. Though, I did laugh at Kara ripping him a new one.

Yeah, that was closer to my take than Asperger's.

The very first audition (woman in the pink tank top) seemed she might have some issues, otherwise it just seemed like annoying people.

I blame the developers. They should have improved the judge AI on their Wii game. If they would have done that, the audition would have never happened.

haha yeah I was thinking this is a pretty terrible commercial for that game

+9999999

I don't see why you would want to show that audition for that exact reason.

Side note - did the producers or something change this year? There were quite a few subtle things different about the show this year from a production standpoint.

What the other said -- I did not get any vibe that he had aspergers.

loooking like a fool with your pants on the ground

Pants on the Ground = Probably the best moment in Idol auditions over the past few seasons.

I honestly wonder how in the world they let him through to the audition room. He must have been hilarious during the pre-audition.

What stupidity.

My roommate was watching the show so I by default was hearing some of it. I'm actually surprised they keep doing this part of the auditions. Nine seasons of listening to people sing horribly just comes across as a very old gimmick now.

Agreed. Can we please stop with the stupid auditions. Show us the good and borderline people. We know that these people are prescreened -- it is embarrassing to both the individuals and the show (and perhaps America for eating it up) to continue to parade them around.

I agree with 99% of that. But we definitely need to see more of the good ones like the pants on the ground guy.

Yeah, it was hard not to have a smile on your face. Nice that they put that at the end of that episode.

I think in recent years that they have put some contestants in the early episodes where you weren't sure whether they'd be good or not. It's kind of fun to guess based on their early interview whether they'd be good or not. The girl with the guitar outfit and the girl who lived in a trailer with her mom in Tennessee were a couple good surprises. In the earlier seasons, those two girls would have almost universally been horrible. At least they keep you guessing now.

I ran a clinic for Autistic Spectrum disorders and I don't think the guy had Asperger or any PDD syndrome disorder. I think he was just being an ass.

Our thoughts as well.


Agreed. I think Simon is right and that could be a hit. I want to show videos of it to some of my patients ;)

I'm completely willing to accept your judgment on this as gold and retire from the field. :D

Can you give that as a diagnosis?

"Sir, after 8 weeks of sessions, I've determined that your issues are a direct result of you being an asshole"

Katy Perry

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
:devil::devil::devil::devil::devil::devil::devil::devil::devil::devil:

I think last night was the first time I saw Katy Perry wearing a top. I enjoyed.

Proof positive of the crazy/hot theory. She could start a senseless argument with a dead body. It would be entertaining, to say the least, to have her as a permanent judge.

Agreed - she'd be what Kara was supposed to be.

I am in love with the Barney singing domanatrix.

No post in the last couple weeks? Thread definitely isn't as popular as the previous seasons.

I can see why though, there really aren't that many contestants that have jumped out at me thus far. Usually by now there is at least one that jumped out at me as 'great' or just that I really like, or at the very least one that I hope goes really far because she's really hot.

Nobody really stands out, to me, in any of those categories so far.

Except maybe Big Mike, I kind of like him.

I comment more when the actual competition starts. There really hasn't been enough singing to get a gauge on anyone.

For me, on the guy side I like Andrew Garcia, Casey James and Michael Lynche. On the female side I like Lilly Scott, Crystal Bowersox, Didi Benami and Siobhan.

How did the rocker chick do? Did she get through?

I think Casey will do well in the competition, I expect to see him in the final twelve. Andrew Garcia could be good too, not sure how good though, but he's quite alright. Crystal is good, too. I completely forget who the other ladies you listed are, though.


Mary Powers, iirc, no. And honestly, I'm happy, I didn't like her at all. Annoyed me.

The winner will be the girl with a last name of I believe Rodriguez. Not sure about first name. Called it the first time I heard her sing.

No. Probably best as she was awfully high on herself.

how come so many dudes sang "man in the mirror".....

is that a coincidence...?

They usually give people a list of approved songs, so not really. You can't have the band learning 50 new songs in a day with unique arrangements to boot.

I like Didi Benami a lot .. she's cute too!

Crystal Bowersox (sp?) will go a long way...

That sucks. Only saw her first tryout and thought maybe she had a chance to be the rocker this season. Glad that she didn't if she was stuck on herself, can't stand contestants that act like they ae already someone special.

She was a total beast during the group day

Then you are not going to like Sideshow Bob.

If you are referring to Golighty, he was removed from the show.

They sure are treading lightly around this issue. Did you notice he was in the Seacrest "this is your top 12 men" shot? Urban wasn't.

Poor Didi's going to cry after every performance. Crystal's going to march up on stage after her and punch her in the stomach.

Those wooden teeth of hers are hot. It will be interesting to see them magically whiten the further she goes....

Seriously....those things would prevent her from winning all on their own.

I'm not terribly interested in the show from this point forward (I'm one of the few FOFC people who admits to enjoying the shitty auditions most), but I hope the winner of the competition gets to sing "Pants on the Ground" at the finale. I would give Fox everything I own if that was the victory song.

Nope. I'm talking about this monster who scares my children:

Tyler Grady - Contestants - American Idol

He's like a mutant version of Vinne Chase

Idol has set up Twitter accounts for all the semi-finalists. I assume they did so all at once, as they are all "verified" accounts.

All have a range of about 250 to 900 followers. Except Andrew Garcia, who is already over 4,500 followers.

So we have an overwhelming favorite coming out of the gate.

Andrew is quite good so I can see why, I think I might be ready to peg him as my early favorite. Or at least the one I like most. I like Big Mike too, but I don't see him winning.

I haven't paid any attention to the season yet but I just watched Andrew Garcia's version of Straight Up and damn... I can see why he has the early lead.

Jim, are you going to be doing your contestant rankings after each show again this year? That's one of my favorite parts of Idol season.

Especially since he was kicked off the show a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks. Yes, I intend to recap weekly. This will be the sixth year of the ratings.

Last I read Big Mike was still in, if he has been booted do you have a link?

<3 <3 Janell



edit: oh and KATIE

Sounds like things might have changed...definitely up in the air.

Orlando Sentinel – Knights Notepad

Katie Stevens and Andrew Garcia are the betting favorites.

I could see the 16 year old dude making a lot of money in this industry athough he wont get much further in this competition.(too many mistakes)

I like the Didi story but her emotion is going to turn the voters off down the road.

The Tim Urban kid proves why this is such a joke "competition", especially the top 24 selection. The kid's voice is mediocre, he can't remember lyrics, but he goes in over much more talented people. Why? Well, he looks like a Jonas brother. But even that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, considering there were other lookers who performed better than he did. Sometimes, I suspect it comes down to who puts out.

It has to do with star quality, ratings, and storylines. They passed up better voices that they knew had no chance to win for people that will bring ratings. They know what draws ratings otherwise there wouldnt be a storyline with half the remaining performers.

The 16 year old may have messed up his fair share but I'm not seeing where you think his voice is "mediocre." He has very wide range of songs he could sing if you ask me.

Tim Urban is the 20 year old that replaced Golightly.

Although, I would not doubt that Angela Martin was pulled because I think she had TOO much storyline with her mom missing, dad dying, child with issues. I believe Ellen and Kara gave her a recording contract so, glad things worked out for her.

If I had to put money down, I'd say Andrew Gokey-Garcia for the win.

My bad. Sorry!

I actually didn't think she was that great.

Agreed! I was amazed he made it through group round with Big Mike when Seth (the other big guy) went home. He was mediocre while Thaddeus is sent home. Granted I'm glad Thaddeus went home more than the other guy it could have been.

Somebody needs to impress me soon or I'm going to consider this whole night a waste.

Lily, Katelynn, Haley (sp?), Didi, Siobhan, Crystal, and Katie. Please insta-eliminate everyone else, thanks.

Maybe Haley, too, honestly, but that was really entertaining for some reason.

way to go out on a limb and pick 7 of 12

If there are thousands of Crystal Bowersoxes on the street corners where Cowell lives, I need to live there. I feel culturally deprived if that's everyone else's normal street musician.

Of course, I live in a college town with a world famous music school for classical musicians, so when I think "street musician", it usually means brass and/or woodwinds playing music I've never heard of.

ETA: I think I might also enjoy Didi as the competition goes along, though I didn't much like this song. She seems interesting (when she's not bawling), sort of a more polished/soulful version of the arm-tattooed Joy(?) or whatever the hell her name was from last season.

On the other hand, if the womenz are the talented group in this competition, I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy Idol 9 unless somebody starts making some dramatic strides.

I picked the 7 that shouldn't be insta-eliminated. I wasn't trying to pick the final 6. If I had to do that, I'd take Haley out.

Megan Joy (aka Megan Corkery or some spelling like that)

way to go out on a limb and take me seriously

Yes, Megan Joy! Thanks for the assist MJ4H. That would've driven me insane trying to remember her name.

There's nothing more serious than a Pumpy charging your ass.

Didi reminds me of Brooke.

I like Lily and Crystal however.. if it is the same type of song after 7 weeks, it might grow stale.

I agree with MJ4H though, those are my top 6/7 girls. I'd like to see Haeley stick around though.

If possible, I'd bring back 11 girls next week and vote Lacey Brown off twice.

way to esad

Haeley was absolutely awful.

To paraphrase the robotic Katie Stevens, it's a new day, a new year, a new American Idol.

This is the beginning of my sixth year writing recaps of each evening's performances. That's somewhere around 750 song choices rated, ranked, evaluated, mocked and criticized. I've been writing these about half as long as I've been working on Front Office Football.

The ninth season of American Idol began today. It began with one of its signature additions to the modern music scene: a diva wannabe adding trills and pitchy screams to a song that didn't deserve such cacophonous treatment. I had a moment when I wondered if I was willing to return to the master spreadsheet and begin this year's rankings.

My doubts continued as two more Idol hopefuls butchered songs made famous by two of the more talented voices in recent memory. I glowered at my television. Was this really the most talented arrangement of women ever assembled on Idol, as Simon Cowell himself has recently crowed to anyone who would listen?

Then came tonight's best performance. It was something I've never heard before, a voice I can see myself looking forward to hearing for many weeks to come. And I was hooked all over again.

No, it wasn't a great night in the Kodak Theater. In fact, it might have been the worst night Idol has ever put together, judging by the average score in my rankings. There were four clunkers more than worthy of banishment to the bad karaoke Hall of Shame. But, energy renewed, here I am. And here I will remain until the final curtain falls about three months from today.

Without further rambling, here are the Solecismic American Idol Rankings for the women's half of the round of 24:

1. Lilly Scott. From the first bar of her jazzy and thoroughly original rendition of a relatively obscure Beatles tune, I knew this was something different. Idol has never had a polished female crooner before. Last season's "quirky" choice, Megan of the ever-changing last name, was somewhat similar, but had a little too much Bjork in her to resonate with fans. Still, she made it to ninth place. Lilly has top-three potential. The only question being whether she will continue to sound original, or the voice will break in certain genres and sound affected or cloying. Kara DioGuardi told her to go back onto the streets and beg for money. Bad advice. Lilly has already learned how to sing, and she sounds quite polished and aware of her strengths. What she needs is training and the right arrangements, so she can show it off. She also needs to be quite careful not to tick off Seacrest. Making fun of his lack of height is not going to help during those all-important post-performance interviews. Score of 89.

2. Siobhan Magnus. She was pleasant surprise number two tonight. With a distinctly feminine voice, she started out Chris Isaak's Wicked Game in as low a register as I've ever heard from a woman. And she stayed on key. The problem with her song choice was that the chorus is meant for a power voice. And in her arrangement, the chorus was repeated four times. She does not have enough power to pull that off. She started out memorable, and wound up a little ordinary. She also has a bad habit of speaking very slowly when interviewed, which makes her appear a little challenged. That could hurt her unless she can pull off the quiet-shy-rebel artifice that worked so well for the horribly mediocre Jason Castro a couple of years back. Score of 80.

3. Katie Stevens. With endless features, extra interviews and the coveted last-song spot in the season opener, Idol has placed considerable hope in the 17-year-old New Englander. She is absolutely guaranteed a top five spot based on background pimping alone. She seems very well coached, choosing a song that shows off her range and unusual tone for someone so young. However, Katie is the Teen Robot. There was no emotion conveyed in her Michael Bublé song. It was very much like a robot was trained to win singing contests - a female version of David Archuleta. I thought she had better tone than the judges did. But I remembered that the judges can't always hear all that well and often go with their impressions of the rehearsal show. As we saw from the recap at the end of the show, which is filmed from the rehearsal, Katie was far more animated. That might have hurt her pitch. She did miss a note early when she started to dance. Then thought better of it. So this is a pre-flash memory Teen Robot, in that the speakers can't handle any movement during playback. Score of 76.

4. Crystal Bowersox. Even money she walks off the stage and kicks Simon in the kneecap before this season is done. Simon was right, though. You can hear that sort of Alanis Morissette knockoff in every college bar north of the Mason-Dixon line. The harmonica was indulgent. There was nothing particularly special about what she did tonight, but she was quite competent and practiced. She was right to stay in her comfort zone, because she will build a following. The judges will start criticizing her heavily for it once the finals begin. Score of 71.

5. Didi Benami. Oh, you know me. I am a true sucker for this type of performer. Of everything performed in the history of Idol, very little of it would ever appear on my MP3 player. Ingrid Michaelson, though? Absolutely. I love this stuff. So when Didi appeared in the audition shows, she had my full attention. I love her voice, and that's obviously going to affect my scoring of her singing. Why then the fifth place? Well, she started off wonderfully. I was psyched. And then she had trouble with the chorus. The arrangement was a bit repetitive, and she looked confused and missed the final note badly. I was looking forward to Didi perhaps having a chance of winning Idol. Now I'll just be happy if she survives the semifinals. The judges, who all seem to prefer the diva tunes, were right to criticize her. Score of 68.

6. Michelle Delamor. Picking Alicia Keys was a bad mistake. She ended up sounding like a backup singer. Her voice simply isn't strong enough for a big song like that. Her runs were tuneless, and she wound up the performance with a scream that was incongruous to the rest of the song. She will benefit greatly from following the horrendous mess that called itself Lacey Brown. That's fine for this week. Next week, she needs to bring more game. Score of 64.

7. Katelyn Epperly. Imagine, if you will, Shirley Temple as a teenager, trying desperately to be sexy by lowering her voice. Katelyn was trying to be something she's not. Sultry does not work for her. The result was precocious and dull and I would imagine made the remaining Beatles giggle more than a little. Score of 62.

8. Paige Myles. Some would put her at the top tonight. The judges probably would. I don't think she was terrible - there's a huge drop from eight to nine this week. But she tried to do the diva runs, and her pitch wasn't right and she sounded consistently out of synch with her backup singers. Her song was more a rock standard, and not conducive to that kind of treatment. I know she was trying to "make it her own," but it sounded derivative instead. I think she will do much, much better if she keeps it more simple. Score of 58.

9. Janell Wheeler. I normally don't focus so much on appearance early on, since there's plenty of opportunity to do so later on when the critiques become a little more repetitive on many singers. But I was shocked such a pretty girl came out in an outfit that made her look positively schlumpy. She also took on Heart, which has been a winner for the best of Idol candidates. She doesn't have a big voice, however, and wound up winning the bad karaoke award for the evening. The song simply beat her up and spit her out. She was actually shaking by the time she finished, and is likely in considerable danger of an early exit. Score of 38.

10. Ashley Rodriguez. This is a true surprise. Ashley was considered a threat to win the entire competition. I'd like to chalk this up to bad advice. She sang "Happy", by Leona Lewis. I guess she knows she isn't very loud, so she held the microphone too close and wound up sounding breathy. She struggled mightily with the lower register. She had severe pitch problems. I was not happy at all. Leona Lewis was not happy. I'm doubting even Ashley's family and friends were happy. Score of 29.

11. Haeley Vaughn. Haeley put out a very unusual arrangement of I Wanna Hold Your Hand, from the Beatles. It was bizarre - a carnival version complete with screaming and awkward runs. I wanted to hold my ears. But for the sake of you, dear reader, I persevered. Haeley probably has the talent to do well in this competition, but she has no idea what to sing. This is what elevator music would sound like if it were designed by ten-year-old boys. Score of 27.

12. Lacey Brown. What to say? Yes, she has unusual light-colored eyes. Simon nailed that. She is a horrible singer, though. I don't know how she made it through to the semifinals. Her phrasing is affected and slurred. She chose a song that requires rich, low tones. That's something absent in her repertoire. She even put up the wrong number of fingers when Seacrest told people to vote for her. Easily the worst performance on Idol in the last couple of seasons. She was so bad it was memorable, and that might save her for another week. Score of 10.

Overall: A very weak opening week for such a promising group of women. I was disappointed.

Who Should Go: Lacey and Ashley.

Who Will Go: Ashley and Janell.

This is always the worst week of idol (well, the first three weeks are the worst weeks). The performers aren't used to the pressure and don't put on the best performances. There may be something about the sound in the smaller stage set up as well. How may times over the 9 years have we watched these first group shows and asked "What happened to the talent?" I think it is there, but the first few performances are going to be very hard to get through for the contestants.