Idol fans weigh in


I'm a big fan of the show and this season has been amazing.The collective talent this year far exceeds any other season IMHO. Jessica...phenomonal at any age and she's SIXTEEN!Other favorites: Elise, Skylar.Joshua is amazing as well, although I'm turned off when he screams the songs which he does too often. He was amazing last night.Phillip is not my cup of tea,although his ballad last night gave me 'goozies' and for once his face was not contorted which I find to be a big distraction.Holly will probably leave tonight but good lord she's 15!
128x128bander
Performance is good IMHO when I feel I would buy a record. The only one I would consider buying is Joshua. He is already great singer. Jessica is very good but might end up the way Maria Carey did - some early signs of it. Phillip sang Volcano almost exactly the same as Damien Rice - why would I be interested - I already have Damien Rice CD. At least he got rid of annoying movements and gestures imitating Dave Matthews. What really annoys me are judges. To them everything is "beautiful, man, just beautiful", but when Jennifer Lopez named Jessica the best singer she has ever heard it was too much. She gets furious when other judges disagree with her plus lack of experience (she doesn't know very popular standards) suggest that judging requires different skills than singing or good looks. The only one I respect is Randy Jackson but even he is overly positive - possibly by design of the show.
I think the show is a joke. A place for would be artists who are not good enough to become artists. Regardless of what Tyler might say on the show about how great they are, if any one of these performers auditioned for him and Tyler had nothing to do with the show, he would laugh them out of the room.
Chayro
I think the show is a joke.

+1
With zero criticism, how can you take it seriously? Sure, there are some decent "singers," but they can be found anywhere.
My wife is into Idol way too deep. Joshua does scream too much but Jennifer Hudson wins the prize for screaming. I'd buy a Phil Phillips CD but the rest of the Idol crew are of no interest to me.
After 10 years, the show has produced only 3 artists worth anything ... Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Jennifer Hudson (who didn't win). That should pretty much sum it up. As for this year, the final five are ok singers. But face it, the ones that go on to record professionally will not be singing already established songs, but rather the drivel written by 19 Entertainment.

Rich
I'm a big fan of the show but I don't watch to decide what my next CD purchase will be. I think it is great TV entertainment. I grew up watching music and variety shows with my parents. Bobby Goldsboro (except for that stupid frog), Glen Campbell, Ed Sullivan, Smothers Brothers-there were a bunch on primetime then so I'm missing a bunch of others. AI is like those for me-entertaining. It is the one show I watch with my wife. Other than that we have separate TVs because I don't want to watch weight loss contest shows and she doesn't want to watch American Chopper or find out how "something is made" or a show about a pawn shop. (I may be Mr. Stuffy with my classical and jazz music but I prefer lowest common denominator trashy TV)
I agree that most contestants/winners fade away. And yes the cds that are subsequently produced are not what I would listen to. There's a lot of talent out there and AI showcases some of those people who would otherwise not have a venue.If I wasn't able to record and skip the commercials and other chessy stuff, I'd never be able to watch.IMHO these singers have given more than a few amazing performances.
The show is an entrepreneurial and capitalistic (not a dirty word) marvel and a lesson for all. Simon Cowell is a genius. As a record promoter he was constantly looking for new talent to sign and promote, which was a drag. So he created a show, basically another business, to feed his record business where acts run to HIM! And oh what a business he created! No more guess work about who would sell because the audience, aka the record buying public, will tell HIM which acts to sign! This creates instant demand when the first record is released. The constant exposure and adverting for an entire season invests the audience so that even if their favorite contestant loses, they will line up to buy tickets when the tour come to their town! When the judges are voting, they strategically select singers that represent a wide variety of styles. You got your soul singer, you got your country bumpkin, got your rocker…they are appealing to as wide an audience as possible. They are usually all young, the younger the better to ensure a long selling career. You never hear harsh criticism after a point in the show because that would be criticizing their product, mostly just praise…yes it’s good, buy it! Just from the show sponsors alone Simon is making a fortune and just to be sure he breaks even, he has the audience call or text their votes at a small charge - as many times as they want! He is just raking it in on every angle! Great example of entrepreneurship! For that reason only I think the show is great.
Bander,

Yes, there were few amazing performances but measure of good artist is consistency. Some of the previous winner coming back as established artist to perform at American Idol are just horrible. Taylor Hicks performance last season was below level of any amateurish contest I've ever seen. I just cannot imagine why anybody would pay money to listen to him.
OK, I'll say it. I cannot stand the style of singing voice that is admired on American Idol, to say nothing of the cheesy music they all play. I know taste is personal, but that stuff would sound grating to me even on the nicest audiophile system. yuck.

Flame away.
The only one with REAL talent and soul is Joshua, though he overdoes it. The others are cliches, though the Dave Matthews clone guy has charisma. Jessica? Sure, she's good...for 16. She's not good by any other standard. She has a "light" voice, not that great intonation, and no real soul. What the current industry needs is people with soul, who are REAL, and who have something new to say.
NOT a fan of the show! It's just a form of entertainment for people that don't take music seriously. The media has tried to make it important when it's just a rehash of Star Search or previous amateur talent shows.
Can sing with some of the best female singers that have graced this planet your deaf.
At 16 years old she is more polished than 85% of the singers making records today. In 5 years she will be the biggest thing since sliced bread and I for one will be carb-ing up.
I always watch with my family. Good clean entertainment.

Good talent this year. Joshua is very good but Hollie may be the only one
that fits the pop music mold these days.

I think the judges and format the lasf two years is geared towards
providing more consistent and constructive feedback to the singers. Less
interesting perhaps but probably more effective. There could be more
constructive criticism on many performances than there is. There has
also been many very good performances. Song choices could be much
better and less bland. Elise nailed the Zeppelin tune earlier this year! .

I fear philip will win this year due to viewer demographics. That would be
a shame. Bland!
I like Jessica and Joshua, Philip makes me gag, also I am sick of the judges,they are so full of themselves and are selling the show with every word (IMO)

It is interesting that these people often seem to go nowhere with their careers after being on Idol or other shows.

Does anyone remember Charice? She is from the Philippines and can really belt it out but I never hear her name mentioned anywhere these days. She was originally on Oprah.
JESSICA SANCHEZ....If you listen to her sing, you will know that Jessica Sanchez has a simply fantastic voice, range and control. She's only 16!. Not been watching the show much. But a coworker talked about a performance of a Whitney Houston song that Jessica performed on the show the night before. I had the show DVR'd. She performed that song just about as well as Whitney did in her prime. I realized then that she is probably the best pure singer they've ever had will be a star in the industry sooner or later. She's only a baby at 16 and looks like it too!!!! The show is not that great but that girl is a special and natural talent.
Yes, jessica is exceptional and has lots of potential.

My song pick for Elise would have been "Queen of the Highway" by The
Doors. She'd be sniffing the title still with some more song choices like
that. Follow that up with "Roadhouse Blues".

Still time for Jessica to pull that one out of her hat....
I bet my wife $50 that joshua would go, not philip.

She loves philip but knew joshua was the real tning.

Its now a demographic rerun of the year taylor hicks won.
Kijanki,

agreed the show is a joke

a popularity contest not singing contest

I still watch just to see the singing and do not listen to much else
Next you guys are going to start talking about ,The Bad Girls Club,Housewives of Atlanta,Oprah,,I thought this was a hard core Hifi Club! Gotta go,,, Dr Phil is starting!
"I thought this was a hard core Hifi Club!"

I get tired of talking about fuses and such sometimes.

I'm a big Julianna Hough fan actually. I keep hoping she'll make another cameo appearance!

Plus, hey it is live music of a sort that many watch, listen to and talk about.

Unlike most anything else audio related.

At least most of the world probably knows what a fuse is! They may even think they know what its purpose is. To tune the sound, of course! :-)
Joshua is a screamer nothing more, justice has been served...Jessica is next.

My rig is down due to construction so Idol is my music fix...arrgghhh!
I agree with the posters here who like Jessica. I think she exhibits strength, intonation, and control like someone twice her age. Dave Mathews, I mean Philips, sounds (and looks) like nails scratching a chalkboard. Joshua over sings and chose a bad tune with 'Imagine".

But does anyone agree how pathetic Lisa Marie Presley's performance was? I think she thinks she's so cool. Her style and her voice are so gray and dull that is makes me mad. She's riding on her legendary father, for sure.

And Adam Lambart? He seemed very uncomfortable. He seemed nervous.

American Idol is fun and I love watching it. But if the Mathews clone wins, I'm not watching next season.
Funny how everyone has different tastes, I feel the same way about Jessica, if she wins I am out - her voice is too undeveloped. She will great great as she matures

Phillip is not a Matthews clone, he has a little Matthews, Cocker, Lamontagne, etc...

I would pay to see Phillip sing, I would pay to not have to hear Jessica and Joshua sing.
I wonder how Jackie Ivanchko would do on Idol. Except for Jennifer Hudson (sometimes), I have yet to hear a really good voice on Idol. And I would love to bitch-slap the panel, in its entirety. What a bunch of has-beens and poseurs they are...

-RW-
Philips gig with John Fogerty yesterday evening softened my position regarding him.

I'm willing to give him a chance and see where he goes.

At least he seems to have some unique artistic driving force and styling compared to the mainstream these days.

He's kinda the anti-Adam Lambert who is another former idol finalist that tends to march somewhat to his own drum and has talent.

My wife loves them both. My daughter likes Philip as well. She says "he has a sparkle in his eyes".
With Philips winning, I will watch the auditions next year, because they're the most entertaining part of the show, but I won't spend time watching the competition. I didn't watch much anyway. Jessica was clearly the top discovery the judges made this year. She earned a victory. The voters however, do not know how to judge a singer. Just look at how the judges used the one "save" they had to save Jessica from elimination by the incompetent voting viewers. But, with good writing and production, success, fortune and fame are to come for Jessica.
The effort I've put into my system just to get the audio reproduction "OK" on this program over cable is way out of balance with quality of music.