http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/latest/2008/08/24/x-factor-simon-cowell-says-stop-all-the-sobbing-115875-20710175/

The thing that I love about Idol is something that even Simon canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t control. I love the unexpected. The contestant that comes out of nowhere. The contestant that Idol is not expecting and there is absolutely nothing they can do to stop them. The contestant that causes such a sweeping wave of support across the nation that it is a beautiful thing to watch. I LOVE when Idol is outsmarted, outplayed and does not get the winner it wants to fufill their current marketing strategy.

Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a good thing, lol.

Season 5: Taylor Hicks! :clap_tb: :wub_tb: :thumbup_tb:

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m remembering JD in the bottom 3 at the very beginning of the show, and the Farrisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s making a big show of giving him a reprieve. No? Maybe he was almost the first person the Farrisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ eliminated?

Ohhhhhh, my bad, totally forgot about that. I think that was the first show, and the procedure was different? Wracking my brain and coming up blank, but I do remember he didn’t have to sing an INXS tune until fairly late in the game.

And to segue back to the original topic, as long as there’s talk of improvements, can they get the House Band from Rock Star? Those guys were kickass musicians, and, well, really hot. (Yeah, I know, it will never happen.) I would love more current music, though, and original songs. Again, probably not what Simon has in mind.

It’s a good thing, lol.

I think they need to revamp/shorten the auditions. Make Hollywood week twice/three times as long and go back to groups. Hwood week is my favorite because you pick up on the personalities. I like the “green mile” myself.

I also think dropping the top 24 format isn’t a bad idea. They need to jazz up the middle with double eliminations, voting people back into, something.
They need to find a perfect combo of reality TV and talent show. I’m actually a bit interested to see how they change the show up although they’ll probably ruin in.

I’m sure everyone has a Season they think is the ultimate one. I’ll still go with S5 because it was Idol’s ratings peak (so far) and had the best combination of interesting personalities and talent I’ve seen yet. But finding the compelling back story plus legit talent that Daughtry, Elliott, Pickler etc. had ain’t easy.

I think this was only important to Castro fans and Idol worked its magic and buried the issue. It should have outraged everyone but again, ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s entertainment.

I’ll have to disagree here. I think it was reported in every major entertainment magazine, and the issue got a lot of press. Just about every dj on a top 40 radio station that reports on idol talked about it the next morning. I think it’s the single largest amount of buzz Idol has received in years.

There’s a reason that Simon and the show felt the need to issue statements that Paula wasn’t being fired.

Is it possible that Nigel was the one holding the show back? Could it be he wanted his other project to be more successful?

I don’t think so. Nigel loves success. I don’t think he’d ever deliberately sabatoge any of his shows. AI has made Nigel a very rich man. I’m sure just like with any other show-runner, he made decisions thinking they’d work. Some did, some didn’t. But, I believe they were all made to make the show more successful, regardless of how they eventually turned out.

And Lavender1960, I’m totally with you on the 1/2 hour results show. There’s no need for it to ever be longer than that. I also agree that giving them another 30 seconds to sing would be a great idea.

I’m also in the camp with everyone else that they should get the opportunity to sing more current songs. I think with obvious iTunes magic that AI can work on a single, we’ll see more current artists releasing their songs for the contestants. Idol is such a huge money-maker that really, unless an artist is adamantly opposed to having their song on AI, 19 should be able to afford any rights they want.

I say if all of the artists today have no qualms about releasing their songs to 10 year olds for that horrid Kidzbop cd, they can’t all of a sudden find their artistic integrity to say no to idol.

My suggestions, some stolen from Canadian Idol:

1. Get back to the half hour result show – now word was this is going to happen already and I applaud that change.

2. You can do group numbers that are not cheesy – see Canadian Idol results show – some of us were discussing this and we think the cheesy dance numbers were on the insistence of Nigel the Dance Man Lithgoe.

3. Let the contestants sing longer than one minute and 30 seconds, again on Canadian Idol they get at least 2 minutes 30 I believe, more time to prove their chops and it seems they get more time as the numbers dwindle,
I would let the poor kids do at least 3 minutes and just cut the blather.

4. I would love someone to have the guts to let the Idols do original songs one week and the coronation song, while improved from years past, just has to be something less cheesy – not sure what the options are there but something has to be done.

I will say that on the whole the Ford Commercials were actually very well done and highly amusing – the result of a young hip director and smart on Ford’s part to retain same. Could be hard to match next year.

Give all of the top 24 a backstory BEFORE the top 24

Don’t limit it to 12 girls and 12 boys

Bring back the group sings (one of my favorite parts) and two shows for hollywood — skip the “green mile” (most boring part of the whole season) and just show us the “dork dance” video of the top 24.

Will Simon do this –well, he might bring back the group sings because he likes a good fight between the contestants, but other than that — no.

I just expect more contestant humiliation/rumors/manipulation and badgering, except now he won’t pretend to hide it.

Show more back story – real, interesting backstory not all KLC and her horse or horribly tragic circumstances, but stuff like Elliott, Chris Daughtry, etc (can you see which season I liked best???)

Hollywood Week – deserves at least two full episodes, if not more. This is when a lot of drama occurs, and when you get to know the personalities of contestants. In past seasons this was some of the most fun of the show and the past two years they’ve shaved it down to one measly episode, bigtime bummer IMO.

Continue to have just a few mentors (one thing this season did well) but PLEASE have the kids sing something current. Neil Diamond? Please.

If they’re going to really screw with the format, I fear this is the year AI jumps the shark, and how sad that will be!

I have to disagree with the water cooler moment on season 7. It was Paulagate and Jason Castro

I really wish this were the case. I think this was only important to Castro fans and Idol worked its magic and buried the issue. It should have outraged everyone but again, it’s entertainment. No one wants to picket a studio or even change a channel. And everyone did know it was going to be a David/David finale. That’s why buzz was necessary. Idol is always stuck between a rock and hard place on this. They have to pimp the good singers to make sure they make it into the finale and that robs the show of a lot of the surprise, so you got to create it artificially.

The judges said as early as Top 9 week that it would be a David-David finale. IMO, they then made comments to the others each week to be sure that that happened. It was so obvious, it was kind of sickening. Especially Randy.

Folks on Idol are sauve enough to realize that they can’t be dependent on the “personality” of the contestants each season. The contestants want to win and have a great deal at stake and you can’t put at risk millions of dollars each season for FOX based on what comes through the door. So, the buzz has to come from the judges. I expect more fighting between the judges (see X Factor), more controversial statements by Simon and who knows what Paula and Randy will be required to do.

While it would be nice for it to be about music, the truth is if I want music, I can turn on the radio. And while SYTYCD may take itself seriously when it comes to dance, that clearly isn’t a ratings winner by much because most of America doesn’t take dance seriously and shouldn’t be required to. Network TV is about entertainment, an escape from reality, some feel good moments, some exciting moments. If I want to be educated on dance or music, I’ll turn to PBS.

When it comes to rock, i think he simply doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t get it.

I think Simon doesn’t get a lot more than that. While I’m fine with Simon as a judge on the show, he’s proven time and again that he’s not necessarily someone who has his finger on the pulse of pop culture. And, he’s pretty clueless about American music.

That America’s Got Talent show is just purely awful. From the low rent talent to some of the so called “celebrities” involved, it’s lowest common denominator all the way around.

So, greater involvement of Simon in the running of the show does concern me, but I’ll hope for the best.

Frankly, I see AI7 and the crowning of David Cook as the pinnacle of American Idol.

People have said that about every season. Everyone has their favorite season and even though I enjoyed it, AI7 sure isn’t mine. The one thing that AI7 did is get them their male pop star – something idol hadn’t been able to accomplish. Actually it may have gotten them 2 male pop stars!

He said no to David Cook in the Hollywood week

Simon is a Dumb A**.

Similarly he said no to Daughtry during the audition

Proving again that Simon is a Dumb A**.

He said no to David Cook in the Hollywood week, if Randy or Paula agrees with him, then it would have been a different David winning the American Idol. Similarly he said no to Daughtry during the audition, again it was Randy and Paula who saved him.

Interesting…it was the same dealio with Kelly Clarkson. Simon thought she was “forgettable,” and wasn’t going to put her through from Hollywood week. Paula fought to keep her in. He could barely remember Kelly when she sang “Respect” in the top 30 performances (post-Hollywood week)….he said he just remembered that she “switched places with Randy” in her original audition, but other than that, he’d forgotten about her entirely.

However, we may just check it out after all just to see what kind of changes have been incorporated.

Hmmmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦I guess I wouldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t call his treatment of Cook as rejection (unless you meant early on in the season). Certainly by the Top 8 he came out and boldly said his favorite was Cook (on Larry King/Idol Gives Back).

He said no to David Cook in the Hollywood week, if Randy or Paula agrees with him, then it would have been a different David winning the American Idol. Similarly he said no to Daughtry during the audition, again it was Randy and Paula who saved him. The audition and the Hollywood week are the only times when the judges have absolute power over the fate the contestants, and the only time where the rejection by a judge of a contestant may matter, and the only time where the judgement of the judges is crucial to the survival of a contestant.

And it is exactly his turnaround on David Cook that shows what Simon is all about, and it is what Nigel Lythgoe said of him – he likes to appear to be right. I don’t think he knows how to judge rock music, but from Top 24 onwards the votes of the audience tells him that David Cook is good, and Simon duly changed his tune. He did exactly the same turnaround thing with Daughtry after rejection him for the show.

Point being, despite the villain edit, and maybe in part because of it, JD actually did manage to score a decent fanbase of loyal voters and didn’t hit the bottom three until there were only four or five rawkers left.

I’m remembering JD in the bottom 3 at the very beginning of the show, and the Farris’s making a big show of giving him a reprieve. No? Maybe he was almost the first person the Farris’ eliminated? I know that JD eventually gained a fan base, and by the end of the show he morphed into a decent guy.

The other thing, JD, the guy who won the competition? Would have been voted off the first couple of weeks if it were up to the viewers.

The viewers determined the bottom three, though, each week. The Farris brothers decided who to keep after the bottom three sang for their lives, much like the early rounds of SYTYCD. Point being, despite the villain edit, and maybe in part because of it, JD actually did manage to score a decent fanbase of loyal voters and didn’t hit the bottom three until there were only four or five rawkers left. Anyway, I enjoyed Rockstar and miss the format. It wasn’t perfect, but it did allow for a higher degree of creative expression and envelope pushing than AI.

It might be more exciting to see the contestants encouraged to take chances and let it all hang out. The trick would be encouraging that kind of thing for the sake of artistic expression and not for the sake of becoming an OTT reality show personality. I am afraid the latter is what Simon is getting at, though. I don’t know if the AI audience is ready for a Lukas Rossi or Jacob Hoggard type Idol, but it would be fun for me to see someone like that appreciated on AI, and I think that would probably never happen with Nigel still onboard. Not sure if it could happen with Simon exerting more control, either.

He is completely clueless when judging someone like David Cook or Daughtry, which is why he rejected both of them on the show.

Hmmm…I guess I wouldn’t call his treatment of Cook as rejection (unless you meant early on in the season). Certainly by the Top 8 he came out and boldly said his favorite was Cook (on Larry King/Idol Gives Back).