American Idol 2007
 

Figured I would start the thread now since the premiere is on Tuesday. Here's the early season schedule, FYI:

Jan. 16 (premiere, 8-10pm): Minneapolis
Jan. 17 (8-10): Seattle, WA
Jan. 23 (8-9): Memphis, TN
Jan. 24 (9-10): New York, NY
Jan. 30 (8-9): Birmingham, AL
Jan. 31 (9-10): San Antonio, TX
Feb. 6 (8-9): Los Angeles, CA
Feb. 7 (9-10): “Rest of the Best” Special Audition Show
Feb. 13 (8-9) Hollywood Round
Feb. 14 (9-10): Hollywood Round - Top 24 Chosen


Oh, and Olivia Newton-John (obvious Grease reality show tie-in), Jewel, and songwriter Carol Bayer-Sager are the scheduled guest judges this year.

The Grease reality show is on another network, so I wonder if it really is a tie-in. If both shows are produced by the same people, then I guess it could happen. Just out of curiosity, is that the case?

You're right. I have no idea if they are produced by the same people. I was thinking of the tie-in from DoND and Grease that first night. Nevermind.

At least there's no Barry Manilow, although - after his performance on that celeb singing show - I'm sorely disappointed Little Richard isn't on the schedule. I think he'd steal the spotlight, though, and the 3 "stars" can't have that.

So, is this American Idol thing a new show? Is it anything like Deal or No Deal?

I have a major infatuation with Jewel, or at least I did before she decided to go trashy. Anyway, Mrs. Eaglesfan and I are looking forward to this season as much as any of them.

I always get hooked on the auditions. Every season I say I am just gonna watch the auditions then get hooked on it.

Why won't this show just go away...and why does it always have to run during 24 so all I ever see is previews for it during 24...

I'm actually the opposite, I miss the auditions, or if I do catch them, I turn them off right away. But I usually watch the last few episodes.

I'm opposite of many people in a different way. I love the auditions, but for spotting the talent. Most people love it because they get to see the awful auditions. I like to pick a favorite from the beginning.

The awful auditions are getting to be pretty obviously faked. Watching the audition for that Grease show, there was only one truly bad one, and it looked like an old man dressed in drag. All of these idiots are ruining the auditions for those of us who love seeing legitimately untalented people who honestly believe they are worthy of appearing on the show.

Correction, the producers are ruining the auditions by airing all the idiots rather than the unknowingly untalented.

I like them for this reason as well

I agree last season it got a little stupid ( remember the kid dressed like the statue of liberty?) I am curious to see if they tighten up the reigns this season.

dola- this must be some kind of record, 13 posts into an American Idol thread and not one by JBMagic

That is my main reason for enjoying the auditions as well. Mrs. Eaglesfan likes them more to laugh at the bad acts. I think I picked Katharine McPhee to win it all from her audition last year.

I agree with EF, something about Jewel awhile back infactuated me. Haven't seen her in quite some time though.

Just so people know, the final 12 are announced march 8.

Funny, I was thinking the same thing, except after she went "trashy". ;)

As far as I have read, no, it remains mostly bad auditions sprinkled in with the good.

Here's some general info on the upcoming season to whet the appetite for tonight (taken from MJ's Big Blog, which is hands-down the best spoiler info on the net):


USA Today reports that American Idol producers have finally secured permission to perform songs from the Beatles catalog–a big coup for the show. Says executive producer, Ken Warwick, “We’ve got the permission. [from Sony, which owns the publishing rights] Certain songs are still off limits.” But, ”They said, ‘Tell us what songs you want and we will do our best.’ ”

They should get enough songs cleared to do a theme week. Warwick thinks the Beatles theme may be performed by the Top 12 finalists.

Ideally, Paul McCartney or George Martin would appear on the show to mentor the kids, but that’s still merely an item on the producer’s wish list.

A couple more items from the USA Today article:

• The online competition to write the “coronation” song for the next Idol is in the final stages of being put into place. A group of “experts” would choose around 100 songs that fans could listen to and vote for online. During the season, Idol would hold a special in which former Idol singers would perform “10 or so” of the favorites, with viewers voting to pick two songs for the Top 12.
• During Top 6 week, according to Warwick, “…we’re going to have a big special, with lots of stars. It might be an extra day [during the week].”

This will be a few weeks where I watch it if my TiVO catches it, but if something is higher priority, i don't care..

Up until last season I only watched for the joke people, then stopped watching.. last season I kept on through the whole season and imagine the joke people will drive me crazy.. as it is such a large majority of them are obviously just looking to get on tv... the fun ones are the ones you can tell actually think they're good, but there are less and less of them..

it is fun to pick out people early, buty it seemed to me last season that a lot of the finalists you didn't see or barely saw early on..

Last year I stopped watching the auditions and started when the Hollywood episodes began. Enjoyed it much more that way for some reason.

Dunno if I can get into it this year. If there is not another McPhee then I just won't watch.

How does this show continue to survive? It's not like any of the winners have done ANYTHING with their careers outside of Clarkson.

and, oh, carrie underwood?

by the way, can i wear the colombian girl as a hat?

Dating a guy who can't hold a snap on a chip-shot field goal in the playoffs doesn't count.

That girl should have acted like a Lion and ate Seacrest. The show would be better off.

does winning country music newcomer of the year count?

Hasn't Fantasia sold a buttload of records? I don't listen to that kind of music but most of my students like her

And who the hell gave that big blonde girl a degree in vocal peformance? She had to be lying

My wife called her a whore.

Translation - "You probably find her attractive so, I'm letting you know right now that you best not say anything because you've already made your Jewel comments for the night"

First album was 1.7m, second album 230k

Daughtry's album seems to be doing ok. Still at #3 after being out for 7 weeks.

Taylor Hicks's album dropped to #47 after 2 weeks. Still don't know how Hicks won...

The last I saw Daughtry was at almost 1.2m units and Hicks was cracking 500k

Didn't like the Colombian girl when I had my back to the TV. After turning around, I like her a bit more. ;)

One brunette who went through looked a *little* like Alyssa Milano to me. Enough to remind me of her anyway.

Am I a horrible person because I thought the crack baby sucked?

Somebody please post pics of the Columbian piece.

I thought she was awefull but my fiance informed me I just don't appreciate her style.

I thoroughly enjoyed the brunette with curly hair. She's my early favorite.

BTW, you know you've been married long enough when you can make comments about how good some of the contestants look and your wife doesn't get upset, she just laughs and shakes her head. Ten years ago, I'd have bruises up and down my arm.

That Columbian chick was half-cute, half-Charo, all annoying. Yet another reason to avoid Miami.

I made it through the first 45 minutes and decided this show wasn't for me anymore. I fell asleep, bored of all the actors and overdramatization.

I guess it is good I got a punch in the arm when I commented on Jewel looking good ;)


Did anyone else think they showed less of the purposefully bad last night? I think a few of them were acts (such as the Urban Amish guy or whatever he was calling himself) but it seemed like more people who really thought they had a chance but just sucked.

As far as the Columbian chick, she was cute, but I think she has very little chance of advancing far. I think the 16 year old self proclaimed crack baby has a good chance of advancing to at least the final 24, but I didn't really like her vocally.


Oh yeah, the brunette with curly hair was my favorite of the night too.

The Colombian chick did absolutely nothing for me. I mean absolutely nothing. She can do a decent vocal impression of Shakira, which I guess is OK, but she doesn't have Shakira's, er, physical attributes. That's not good. Bleagh.

Dola

The rocker guy near the end was great. The gravelly Barry Manilow bit was hilarious.

Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised, although I would have liked more emphasis on the successful ones. I guess that comes during Hollywood Week, though. And I'm sure that I'll get sick of most of them early on, so maybe it's a good thing I don't see too much of them right now.

The Amish guy was clearly an actor, but I enjoyed the clueless people, especially the last couple. The AI Biggest Fan and the dork who juggled while doing some sort of singing...those two were real. I blame their family and friends for not giving them a dose of reality - it's one thing to encourage a loved one to take chances, reach for the stars, etc., but it's another to sit there idly (no pun intended) while they make a fool of themselves on national TV and are so unprepared for a negative reaction that they get angry, indignant, or are just in a state of disbelief. I guess there's a fine line between being supportive and being a realist, and these people missed the boat by a wide margin.

I guess I was in the mood but that show cracked me up last night.

Anyone notice that Paula Abdul looked totally whacked out. At least more than usual. She couldn't sit still or form coherent words.

I've read that Seattle was considered by all the judges to be the worst auditions ever. I think I laughed more in the 1 minute preview at the end of last night's show than I did for last night's show.

Oh, and Paula has promised to be less forgiving/making excuses for the contestants this year and more "real" and harsh. Of course, she made no promises about whether she'd be whacked out or not.

BTW, for those who like spoilers, I highly recommend hxxp://mjsbigblog.com/categories/americanidol.

She recaps every episode, giving detailed info about what happened, and as we get nearer to the top 24, she'll have pics, bios, back stories of hopefuls that are not told on the show, and possible spoiler info about who makes it (she, or people she knows, scan URL registration sites and insider info for tips on who makes it). Reading her blog in conjunction with watching the auditions/Hollywood Week was the most interesting part of the season last year for me.

Oh, and here's the chick eaglefan27 and I enjoyed the most from last night...

Sarah Krueger, 19 Eau Claire, WI is the 7th and final contestant to advance to Hollywood tonight. And she makes it through because…are you ready? She can sing. That’s it. No backstory, just a great voice. She performs a confident, soaring version of “Over the Rainbow” and the judges put her through. Who’da thunk it.

I was almost reduced to tears during the preview for seattle. The best line ever has to be and I don't even have it right I don't think: "What are you something that lives in the jungle." or words to that effect to the guy that looked a little like brian peppers who is apparantly buddies with the fat kid.

The show was worth it for Jewel alone. I'm hoping she's on tonight's episode as well.

I'm looking forward to the San Antonio audition. There's a guy from the rockets board who tried out and made it in front of the judges...he thinks he might have a chance of making it on-air.

I'm hoping somebody mentions Marty Feldman during Bug Eyes' audition.

I'm not too worried about the talent level so far. It seems that with AI, just like with football, most of the talent seems to come from the south.

there's a reason it took 6 seasons to hold auditions in minnesota

Hey!!!! I get to watch it, it's currently on. Not really big on the Columbian girl, granted she had a nice little body but the face isn't really much in my opinion.

Good lord, what is with Paula. I think she is having trouble just saying the words yes or no.

Jewel..... drool...... don't know what it is but she does it for me.

Never has the phrase "looking California but feeling Minnesota" been so appropriate.

Thinking back to last night's show, I think I laughed hardest at Randy saying "That song don't even go like that." I can't even remember who he said it to, but it was somebody he really hated. And remember the girl whose boss flew with her to Minnesota? I was really hoping that Simon and Randy would ask the boss to sing. Another favorite was the girl near the beginning who forgot the words to "You Don't Have to Be Rich", and the panel just let her struggle for several minutes while she tried to squeeze the song out. I nearly fell off my chair over that one.

Even though a lot of people were told about their bad singing, I really only felt bad for the guy who was a vocal teacher. Randy completely ripped into him, and I didn't think the guy deserved all that. I don't know why I felt bad about that guy and not any of the others, but I did.

I can't wait for Seattle tonight. This "ex-strange-aganza" will probably be as awesome as a dancing William Shatner.

The vocal teacher guy was terrible and thought he deserved to make it. That's the worst combination of traits when you are a judge.

The problem with the vocal teacher was that he oversang, did a C- version of a musical number, and was terrible, even though he had a decent voice. I think he got ripped because he's supposed to know the difference between how he sang and what was appropriate for this type of show, not be one of the bad ones.

The one I thought they shouldn't have let through was the chick who started really good, then fell completely off a cliff. Anyone who misses that many notes by that much - no matter how well they sang for the first 10 seconds - just doesn't have what it takes. I was surprised they let her through.

that show was really well put together last night. whoever edited it hit a homerun when they showed the juggling guy come out swearing and then they pan to the goth girl staring into the camera with a terrified look as she was next. brilliant, it was.

Simon: "You've sang 3 songs"

contestant: "laaaa"

Simon: "4"


And that Columbian girl has to be about 4'10" because Seacrest is like 5'5"..

Actually, I thought they did a poorer job than usual putting together the clips toward the end that showed the night's jokes singing that Prince song. None of those are actually in front of the judges - after their auditions, they ask those people to perform again and they just splice clips of the people singing horribly with completely separate shots of the judges looking confused/stunned as if they are in the same room. I thought that last night, it was obvious that was a splice job.

But yeah, the shot of the frightened goth chick was great. I wish someone had pressed her about her vocal lessons or degree or whatever it was she claimed she had, but I think she scared them and they just wanted her gone.

And she called him short to which he took great offense...classic!

I am always amazed at how people think they are good, like the first girl/ Don't they have family and friends who tell them they suck? I take a sick pleasure in laughing at the people who suck and don't know it. Then they insist they were born to sing and the judges are clueless and should be fired

I can't tell you how many times I've seen people that have never been told they are horrible. It is often a combination of people around them having no idea what actual good singing sounds like and/or hearing what they want to hear. It is so sad to see someone who has gone a long way only to have that facade ripped away so harshly.

I have a niece whose early life was affected this way. My sister kept calling me when her daughter was in elementary school telling me that Star Search was beating down her door to get my niece on the show. I was told she can sing like I wouldn't believe. Well, there is kind of a hit and miss musical talent thing in my family so I thought ok, I need to hear this. I was invited to hear her at a local talent contest/audition type of program. Needless to say, yikes. Nobody had ever told her she couldn't sing, so there she was on stage, and the audience was clutching their armrests until it was over.

I have no problem believing that these people have been convinced by others around them they are good.

You figure out of 10,000 people at each location you are bound to find a handful of interesting and delusional people.

I thought a very minor, but nice, touch was the locked left door on the way out. I also thought the single funniest moment on the show was when the gravelly-voiced 'rocker' did ABBA and Manilow the same way he did his first song.

i loved the locked door...i thought it was the best running gag i have seen in a while as all the people stormed off the stage and into the locked door, just to hear simon say, "other door" over and over again.

Who walks out of the left side of a door? That's what I asked my wife over and over. Where was this audition - Minneapolis, Great Britain? Always assume the road rules of the country you are in apply to the sidewalks, hallways, and doors. It infuriates me to no end when people walk the wrong way in a mall. That's a sign of low intelligence, IMO.

Maybe because they came in through the door now on their right so they figure they MUST have to go out through the other one?

A couple times you could also tell the people going in tried to use the locked door as well. It was much funnier on the way out though. I started saying "other door" before they even showed them trying a door.

I love to hear my wife sing and I think she does a great job at it. Of course, she's the one with musical training (she's a former Cellist) and she tells me that no, she's bad. So I can imagine lots of folks out there with friends and family with no musical training/education rooting them on and telling them to give it a shot...

From what I could tell, the lone dude (I think he was the only one, the 16 year old kid) they let through ran to the left door but the cut away right when he hit it and then they showed him bursting out of the right hand side from the waiting room camera. I guess they don't wanna embarass the talent, eh?

Edit: It may have been the sailor...all I really remember is that it was a guy.

I distinctly remember one person leaving who got the right door. I just don't remember which one it was. It may have been the rock singer who left and came back to sing ABBA, or maybe it was the other guy who abruptly left and then came back on his own.

C'mon.. downloading ring tones doesn't count as musical training.... ;)

bah... If someone is THAT bad it is impossible not to know it.

Unfortunately, that is not true at all.

Jennifer Hudson just won a Golden Globe for her performance in Dreamgirls. She was a contestant (last year?) and my wife said that she liked her for the win but got voted off to the surprise/chagrin of many people.

However, I too am a little amazed that AI has been as popular for as long as it has been, although the pitiful singers who think that have a chance are really funny (in a sad kind of way).

For people like me, the entertainment is in the show itself, and really has nothing to do with the winners. In fact, as the show goes on, the show is less entertaining, to the point where the finale is not even worth watching (although this year they're at least throwing a curve by having a song-writing contest for the winning single). It's the journey from faceless thousands of unknowns to the chosen few and watching them develop and change over the 4 or 5 months the show is on.

I simply find the process of it all very entertaining as a TV show. But that has nothing to do with the legitimacy of the contestants, since I have never seen an AI contestant who I think is talented enough (or who plays to my musical tastes) that I would consider buying their CD.

Jennifer Hudson was 2 years ago. The year Fantasia won, I think she got knocked out as the #5 contestant.

It's a brilliant idea though to base the winner on audience votes. You get yourself a built in audience in the short term for the winner.

As far as the show, it's way too long which ruins the later rounds for me. There's only so many times I can get pumped and jacked to hear the same people sing.

It works so what do I know but after a couple weeks into the final 10 or so I've seen enough and will casually follow who is left but rarely watch the actual show.

Yeah, there was an article the other day about how AI was ahead of the internet participation curve in having the audience vote for the winners, which came with the added benefit of building an audience for their product.

And on the flipside...here's a site dedicated to further humiliating the idiots from the show by linking to their myspace.com sites, along with some of the legit candidate's sites (including the hot curly-haired brunette).

hxxp://deathbycamera.com/?p=30

EDIT: Due to a bikini shot of the Cuban chick, I'm labeling that site NSFW!

Oh crap...Glamour Shots chick that was Jewel's biggest fan and couldn't sing. She lists the following:

Notable Music Interest: She likes some band called “the Google Dolls”

LOL! And they're from Minneapolis, aren't they? I guess they were ahead of their time in naming their band.

And the Amish guy's got a myspace site, but he doesn't own a TV, yet knew enough to appear at the AI auditions.

...and even after seeing the pic, she still does nothing for me. Maybe I'm broken.

Maybe it's because she looks like a petite, Latino version of Jessie Spano? I don't know.

LOL @ this brash girl telling Simon he doesn't know anything about music.

Same for Jewel for me and her cardboard personality. Any chick who looks like she got hit in the mouth with a baseball bat just isn't that hot.

Was that John Madden's son?

I've never seen a basketball attempt to sing before.

One of the Seattle girls that was selected and was pretty good. She was from Arizona.She said she was related to an NFL player. Did anybody catch who she said it was?

Philippi Sparks...former CB for the Giants.

Is anyone else noticing a disturbing tendency in the types of people being exploited this year? I'm all for making fun of people who willingly put themselves on national TV to compete on a show for which they have no traceable talent, but I also see a difference between exploiting someone who is clueless AND obviously not a well-adjusted individual in our society, and making an embarrassing example out of someone who is clueless AND out of touch with reality about their talent only (but otherwise appears to be able to function in society without getting stares). Last night was a prime example of a Maury Povich-llike tendency to harp on the freaks - Fatty and Monkey Boy, the President of the Future Serial Killers of America, Big Red, the ugliest mom/daughter combo in America, etc. All of these were societal fringe types for whom I almost began to feel sorry (especially the fat kid).

It just seems like this year, they have been too willing to go after the Spawn of Marty Feldman and Future Serial Killers of America types instead of the tone deaf assholes willing to throw down like they're on Jerry Springer about how talented they are. I'd much prefer to laugh at the latter.

They intentially took it easy on the fat kid since he obviously was "slow" or at least not all there. Monkey Boy deserved what he got I thought. And he didn't call him a monkey. Bush baby I think was the term.

I found myself wondering how fat kid got there. Tell me he doesn't drive and if not who is dropping him off? Did he take the bus? Walk? Fascinating.

Mom and daughter deserved it too. Give me a break.


I will say though that last night was not as funny as the first night. I think the type of auditions they show have a short shelf life and while initial they get big yucks long term you'd grow weary of a steady parade of freaks. I'd guess you'll start seeing some different auditions in the coming weeks.

The monkey boy thing was too much - that's the first time I ever felt that like watching this show. And after I realized that, ya, I agree with you that the whole show became a little uncomfortable.

I know what you mean Ksyrup. I enjoy the crappy auditions, but they seem to be just killing the "clueless AND obviously not a well-adjusted individual in our society."

If these two cities were so bad talent-wise, you'd think they can find some more "clueless AND out of touch with reality about their talent only (but otherwise appears to be able to function in society without getting stares)."

Even though I made a comment about the John Madden guy, I felt sorry for both of them there. Making fun of physical appearance isn't cool.

The willingness to go back to the well once too often is what is kiilling the show this year. Featuring the "I Shot the Sheriff" cop again as much as they did was not necessary, and the Taylor Hicks wannabe was just like the freaky Clay Aiken wannabe from last season that they brought back for the finale. And Fatty and Monkey Boy as new best friends was the same shtick they've used for other bizarro combinations they've found in previous years.

Seriously, it appears the show is going with the "go with what has worked" mantra a little to much right now.

I can't see feeling sorry for any of them. 6 years in and presumably the majority who show up have a clue as to what the show is yet still show up.

The judges could say or do anything short of physically injuring folks and 15,000 will still show up next year.

It's like feeling sorry for someone who weighs 400 lbs, with no athletic talent who shows up for an open NFL tryout. Because they are shocked they don't rate doesn't mean they aren't utterly ridiculous.

But some of these people appear not to understand what the hell is going on, or are so anti-social and bizarre that they can't possibly see that they're the joke. That Zitsman guy said his co-workers encouraged him to come, and the first thing I thought was, "I'm sure they did, so you'd unwittingly make an ass out of yourself and they could crucify you like 5th graders for years to come. Before you chop them all to pieces, boil their intestines, and drink their blood." Either that guy was a great actor and played his part so he could be on TV knowing full-well that he was making an ass of himself, or he was so clueless that it bordered on cruel to keep it going. Just in his interactions with Ryan you could see how socially inept and uncomfortable he was. It started to get painful to watch.

That's different than the deluded but otherwise well-adjusted person who thinks too highly of themselves or has unrealistic expectations. That's the person you're describing. They have really toned down those types for the freaks this year.

So what. I think when you make the decision, in whatever form you make it, that you are auditioning for the show AMERICAN IDOL that you open yourself up for ridicule. Same with any other endeavor so ill suited to the individual. You think if he went to a club on the urging of his coworkers and cut the rug the result would be differnet?

It's not the job of the judges or producers to psycoanalyze people. He'd be laughed out of a non filmed broadway audition as well.

Now you can question the wisdom of airing the footage but I'd submit that the popularity of Idol has been built on this concept of making fun of people and without that element it's not the hit it is. People love watching train wrecks, right or wrong. Face it, without Simon the show would be a bore for many people.

I guess. I just know that I feel uncomfortable watching it at times. I'd much rather see Jerry Springer than Maury Povich/Jenny Jones is the bottom line. I'd prefer confrontation from an asshole who refuses to accept reality than making fun of oblivious freaks, even if both types of people are there of their own volition.

And I think the whole issue is that some of these people are oblivious to the ridicule thing. And when it appears they are as intellectually and socially inept as some of these people are, it changes the equation somewhat.

I think you feeling uncomfortable at times is a desired effect and been a consistent theme throughout the Idol run. I've heard Simon talk about this from time to time and I believe it's what they want.

Can't argue with the numbers but I will agree that you need balance in the show between the dyfunctional, delusional, and talented. We'll see what they do with the other auditions to bring a little more balance.

I totally agree with the comment about making fun of people. Have all the segments you want showing people singing horribly. Point out their ignorance when they can't believe that they aren't very good. But making fun of physical appearance is really over the top. I commented to my wife that I actually felt uncomfortable when they made fun of 'Monkey Boy'. She agreed. He had it coming as far as the comments about his talent, but no need for the appearance comments.

They should have handled his tryout like they handled it when his friend came in immediately after that. It was obvious that both of them were not socially well-adjusted. That doesn't mean they aren't good people or that they deserve being chastise for their appearance. My guess is that they aren't well-adjusted to some degree because people in the past had made fun of them and their appearance.

Yeah, I was surprised Simon's first comment about why Monkey Boy's audition was bad was his appearance. Or specifically, that he didn't just say "Your appearance" or Your look" and leave it at that. Pointing out his physical shortcoming was wrong. The judges and the audience understood why the guy never had a chance the minute he walked in. No need to spell it out.

I just think they are trying to make clear the thing the fact that in order to be the "American Idol" to Simon you need to be good looking. The 'Idol' is about singing and being attractive. They'll sell more records that way.