2016 American Idol Final Season thread - is anyone gonna watch?

I'm usually pretty cynical about the sob stories these shows love to tell, but the guy who accidentally shot his brother got to me.

Thought it was the obligatory dead relative story then bam -- he says how he was 8 and killed his 13-year-old brother with a gun they didn't know was loaded.

Got a bit misty. Glad he was good.

 

So, when did they stop showing the comically bad auditioners? I thought that was part of the appeal in the early seasons. My wife watches (therefor I watch to) and the past few seasons have only had the good singers or almost-good singers.

 

There was one last night that was REALLY bad. She considered Britney Spears her mentor. Most of the auditions thus far have been either through or borderline.

I do know I want to take Tankercize and I want them to fire Seacrest and hire the Denver Nuggets hype announcer to host the show.

 

The loyal fan base hated those auditions so they limited them. Once they cut the amount of hours spent on auditions episodes, they needed to show singers who would be on the show.
People might have tuned into auditions to watch the crazies, but they didn't stick around. Those viewers still tune in with hopes of seeing train wrecks, but if you alienated the fans who stick around thru the live shows that's worse for ratings.

 

And that's exactly why I stopped a few years back. I watched the weirdos and bolted when it became real competition. I can't listen to kareoke versions of thr same songs every season. Hearing the Fill Me Up Buttercup song yet again would have driven me to homicide. But I always got a laugh out of Simon Cowell pointing out how dimwitted contestants were smiling their way through really depressing, sad songs, showing they had no clue what the song was about.

 

That stigma is what ruins the show. It's not karaoke versions of the same songs every year. The good contestants find a way to take songs and rearrange them. The bad ones don't and they don't win (except Season 12, when Idol banned musical instruments so no WGWG would win. Worst season by a mile).
These kids have vocal coaches and people telling them how to look, but the only people pushing songs on them are the producers. They don't have a song selection coach. They're given a list, told to pick one, and if someone else picks it and the producers would rather hear that person sing it, make you pick another. There's a strategy to the show but everyone ignores it. The entertainment reporters are worse because all they ask is about performances and how they felt the sung or what the judges said. No one asks "So, why did you pick that song? Why arrange it that way? So and so sang that in Season 8 and it was terrific, why did you do it the same way? Why did you play it so safe this week?"
It makes me mental.
I'm gonna put this out there, but if anyone is watching and wants to check my site, it's www.dudesreviewidol.com. I'm playing a character on the show. It's bro-centric and I try and cover things from more of a sports angle. I tweet shows live, so feel free to follow me.
I hate making things like that public because it's really not professional, but if you're into Idol it's a different way to read about the show. Plus then you can read my jokes/comments and see how bigger blog sites who claim they don't like me steal my stuff.

 

One of the show's best got canned during the first night of Hollywood Week. I hate the lack of transparency on the show.
Thursday is probably my favorite of the season. Group Night. DRAMA. FIGHTS. It's the best.

 

Brenda K Starr's kid. Who knew?

 

I cannot believe they put through that wailing off-the-grid cellist -- again. Really makes me question everything, and it's terrible for the show. It's one thing to put though a questionable selection in the first auditions, but now? Just bad, like the girl's performance.

 

Which one did you think should have stayed?

 

Melanie Tierce. She was the model-good looks brunette with the hipster vibe. Her elimination was eerily similar to a contestant from two seasons ago, Tessa Kate Reidy. Same look, same folky style, similar sound, same elimination - no reasonable expectation, just booted from the show for no discernible reason.
Last night's group night show was solid. Love when the crazy comes out.

 

100 percent agree. Didn't know her name, but Melanie Tierce was phenomenal. Really great voice. They made a mistake. I'm also starting to come around on the Billy Joe Armstrong wannabe. He showed pretty good range (not vocally, but musically) during the group round, which remains the biggest contrived piece of crap year after year.

They perpetuate these storylines, then get the judges (who arrive, get updated with a sheet 10 minutes after they walk in the door) to ask them about it. It's forged drama, and it's stupid.