American Idol 2011

[secretariat]

How is there not a thread yet? Is everyone abandoning the show for The X Factor?

Anyway, what did everyone make of the Randy-Tyler-J-Lo vibe?

 

[imjustagirl]

I haven't figured it out yet. Steven Tyler gives me nightmares, but he was funny at times. And J-Lo eventually became willing to turn people down.

It wasn't as horrible for first auditions as normal, but no one really bowled me over. I do like the vibe the three judges have, though. No one's the "mean one," but they're not overly sugarcoating as a group either.

 

[Care Bear]

I enjoyed the new judges. Good vibe so far...

Like IJAG said, no one seemed destined for greatness, but it was also less annoying than previous audition shows.

I'm still in...

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Judges worked better than I expected. High points for me were Steven Tyler asking the guy if he ate a lot of paint chips as a child, and Steven Tyler telling a 16 year old that her skirt was "showin' just the right amount."

Having said that.... some pretty mediocre singers were praised like crazy. There are a whole lot of people going to Hollywood who would have gotten tossed before. (To name one, the singing waitress who did "God Bless the Child" was not good at all.) I hope there are some good ones we're missing, because I'm uninspired so far.

But yeah, the less-cruel vibe seems to be working.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

And one other thing - the mural behind the singers looked like a shot from 9/11. Weird.

 

[imjustagirl]

Apparently I was one of the few watching.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/01/20/american-idol-season-10-premiere-ratings/

 

[txsportsscribe]

i liked the new judges but i'll miss simon. as for contestants, the 16-year-old from north carolina is my early favorite simply because of her personality.

 

[pffft]

I watched a couple of seasons when I was in school, but have fell off recently. I'm working at night, and it's too much work to catch up by watching online, especially when there are multiple episodes per week.

I suspect my life will go on just fine without, but maybe I'll get back into it.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I'm so glad I stopped watching at the beginning of last season.

 

[MTM]

I liked Jennifer Lopez more than I thought I would. There is a sweetness to her I didn't expect.

Now she needs to toughen up and not feel bad about booting bad singers.

 

[Care Bear]

Actually, with the final numbers in, American Idol held up really well last night compared to past year-to-year declines. It delivered almost a 10.0 Adult 18-49 rating, which is higher than any television program outside of the NFL. I am sure Fox was more than happy with the premiere numbers -- let's see how it does moving forward.

 

[imjustagirl]

Just starting on tonight's episode. But I'm mostly happy for the death of theme nights and making people sing outside their preferred genres.

 

[printdust]

Jennifer made Cara and godawful Ellen seem like they never existed. Cara may be a better "critic" but Jennifer is the shining light on this show. Tyler's trying to find his way. No Simon changes the whole approach. Ellen was lost. Her pattern of criteria was 1) mumbling, 2) saying something about stage presence, 3) picking up on whatever Randy said before she spoke or 4) crack a joke. She was way over her head.

I thought the girl whose dad was Randy's coach, the pudgy 15 y/o, the homeless shelter twin dude and the mother of the special needs child stood out. Pretty good voices, not sure though if it's the "story" I'm attracted to, but that's how AI guides you into the voting round. The pudgy kid won't win though. It's like David Archuleta. He's marketable only to kids and grammas.

BTW, I wonder how that young kid from Oklahoma City is doing that Ellen began her own record label for. I haven't heard a peep out of that. Maybe she realized she needs to parcel that out and be what she is...a comedienne and a talk show host.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Apparently I was one of the few watching.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/01/20/american-idol-season-10-premiere-ratings/

Yeah, they're saying ratings are down 18 percent from last season, which was already down considerably.

They should pay Cowell whatever he wants and add him as the fourth judge. Otherwise, this show may not survive.

 

[Pancamo]

26 million viewers. Crushed the other shows in its timeframe.

While I think the show has lost its fastball, it isn't going anywhere with those numbers.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

26 million viewers. Crushed the other shows in its timeframe.

While I think the show has lost its fastball, it isn't going anywhere with those numbers.

Think about the overhead though... Lopez is making $12 mil a year. Tyler is making $16 mil a year. Seacrest is making $15 mil a year. I have no idea what Jackson is making, but probably around $5 mil.

You're probably right. It's not going anywhere, but an 18 percent dip right after adding Lopez and Tyler has to hurt a lot.

 

[printdust]

$48 million to do a seasonal show. And we wonder what the hell is wrong with our economy.
But why is Jackson making a third of what Tyler is? That's pathetic.

 

[21]

I think people are just sick of these audition rounds....same thing over and over.

But god, i love Steven Tyler.

 

[printdust]

Steven Tyler is 62. Unreal.

I remember taking a Hollywood home tour one time in LA. We stopped on an overlook that gave us a clear view into 3/4 of one backyard. It was Jennifer's. Big tennis court took most of it. Across the way and up the hill there was a party going on..you could barely hear music coming from that direction and people were out on this patio with drinks. It was Leonardo DiCaprio's.

 

[printdust]

This show has definitely tanked when a week and an episode go by between remarks.

Bag it boys, it's done.