American Idol 2011 - It's Back!!!!!

[dvdjunkie]

Revamped for the 10th season on Fox and featuring two new judges and a 'sort-of-new' format, "American Idol" is back on the air each Wednesday and Thursday night.

The new judges this year are Steven Tyler, former lead singer of "Aerosmith" and also father of actress Liv Tyler, and Jennifer Lopez, actress, singer and all around beautiful lady. Randy Jackson sits in the seat formerly occupied by the originator and founder of 'Idol', Simon Cowell.

For the past three plus weeks we have seen the auditions, and Thursday night Febraury 10, will mark the first week of the Hollywood finals to narrow down the group from over 200 to the Top 24, 12 guys and 12 girls.

Anyone else watching this show this year? So far it has looked pretty good, and there are going to be some tough choices down the road.

The show airs Wednesday and Thursday nights at 8 p.m. Eastern time on the Fox Network.

[Larry's 66 Diner]

I cannot say whether it was the up-rooting and shuffling around of judges (which probably doesn't help matters), or simply a loss of interest, but I "fell out" of the show this season.

[diane]

"Australian Idol" ran for years until they reshuffled the judges
and got rid of the wrong ones. The only judge who knew
anything about the record industry was dumped in favour
of this "shock jock" who delighted in calling contestants
fat, tuneless etc. But unlike Simon Cowell, this idiot didn't
know the first thing about music. There was a woman judge,
a singer who sounds the same as she did 40 years ago, she
really has a great voice. Unfortunately she couldn't critique
- everyone had a "beautiful" voice or was a "star"!!! People
turned off in droves. The same thing happened with "So You
Think You Can Dance" - that has been cancelled here as well.
I loved it when it first started but after a couple of seasons, the
public was really, really talked down to. "The public do not
really know how hard that step is" or "The public probably
can't understand but..." I thought it was so rude!! And the
choreographers were the same. It was like they lived in their
own little world where they were just so much better than the
rest of us mere mortals. Occasionally Mary Murphy , from your
version, came over and she was like a breath of fresh air.
I have only thought of this because I saw on a news item that
an Australian choreographer who is a judge on the British version
is facing the sack because of highly inappropriate comments he
made to the contestants and the mentor. When I saw who it was,
I thought - why am I not suprised?

[dvdjunkie]

Next week, it is group week on Wednesday and then Thursday they begin the long cut from 180 to the Top 12 guys and Top 12 girls and then the whirlwind is underway.

I am impressed with the judges this year. I didn't think the show could go on without Simon Cowell or Paula Abdul, but Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler are holding their own.

I was going to give up on the show this year after what happened last year, but decided to at least give the auditions a watch and now I am hooked for the season. Wednesday and Thursday nights through May.

[tclion]

Sorry guys I just can't get into Randy I think he is stupid. Saying things like you are so bad dude you are dope, Dude that was just plain dope, Hate the guy.. So I stopped watching American Idol.

[dvdjunkie]

This week American Idol begins it final countdown to the Top 24 (12 ladies, 12 men) on the stage of Las Vegas' Cirque Du Soleil "Beatles Love" show. The remaining 60 contestants will be given 24 hours to learn a Beatles song and then in solo, duo, or groups perform that Beatles song for their final audition before the cut to the final 24.

First of the shows is this Wednesday night, from 7 to 9 p.m. Central Time and the final show of the Final Top 24 will be Thursday night from 7 to 9 p.m. Central time, all on Fox.

The judges have been really a lot more fair this year, but they also have a huge talent pool to choose from. Jennifer Lopez finds it the hardest to say "NO!", while Steven Tyler gets very critical and really gets into what the contestant did right or wrong without pulling any punches. Randy Jackson is a different Randy this year. No more, "C'mon dog, you know that you blew it!" or "Man that was really dope (meaning very good)!!" He has toned down his criticixms and has let Steven and Jennifer do the bulk of the 'yeahs' and 'neahs'.

Good show so far this year. It all starts the first week in March when the 12 guys take the stage one night, and the 12 girls take the stage the next. I think that this might be a lot better season than they have had in the past couple of years.

[dvdjunkie]

Well, they narrowed the field down to the Top 24, and beginning next week, they will be performing in front of a live audience and for our votes.

Tuesday night, Wednesday night and Thursday nights for the next few weeks until they get the field narrowed down to the Top 12 and then the show will be back on format Wednesday and Thursday.

Good thing about all this, I won't have to put up with "Glee" watchers, because "Glee" won't be on for a few weeks, and then it will end its season and be gone for the summer (thank goodness)!!

The Top 24 contestants look to be some of the best the show has had in the past few years. A lot of different type of singers, and a lot of different voices. There will not be a lot of comparison to winners past, because of the uniqueness of this season's contestants.

[dvdjunkie]

Last night (Tuesday) the Top 12 guys took the stage for the first time on American Idol, and all in all they did a great job. Knowing that five of them will be elminated on this Thursday's show was probably a good incentive for them to come out strong.

Some great choices of songs, and styles this year, and there are a couple of guys to keep our eyes on. Jacob Lusk, and Casey Abrams both brought a great stage presence and performance that hasn't been seen on the show in previous seasons.

Tonight (Wed., March 2) it's the ladies turn and the bar has been raised pretty high. Should be a lot of fun, and then Thursday night we find out who the bottom 10 are, with the judges saving one of them. Should be very interesting.

And I was wrong about "Glee" not being on for a couple of weeks, it will be back in its normal time slot next Tuesday.

[dvdjunkie]

The Top 13 performed last night (Wed. Mar. 9) and tonight (Thurs. Mar. 10) is results night and we will see who America voted to send home. Also Adam Lambert, runner-up from American Idol Season 9, will be performing.

They have a lot of great talent this year, and it is really good to see that America hasn't given up on this show. Over 40 million votes were cast last week, and this is the first year that you can vote on-line for your favorites.

[dvdjunkie]

Last night's show was the Top Eleven, and they had to choose their favorite Motown song, and for some it proved difficult.

Tonight (Thursday, Mar. 24) we will have the results show and who will be the American Idol Top 10 for Season 10. It is important because only the Top 10 get to go on tour this summer.

Really good season so far, and tonight's show is going to really depend on who voted and for whom they voted. One goes home. Special guests tonight include Sugarland and Jennifer Hudson, former Idol contestant and Academy Award winner for "Dreamgirls".

;D

[dvdjunkie]

Wow!!! What a night with American Idol. They went through all the voting situations and when it came down to the bottom three it ended up being Thia Megia, Stefano Langone and Casey Abrams and it was Casey who was going home, until the judges stepped in and used their ONE save for the season and said unanimously "America got this all wrong, and we are keeping Casey with us!"

Having provisions for this occasion Ryan Seacrest announced that the Summer Tour will be the American Idol Season 10 Top Eleven, instead of Top 10.

It was a great results show which also featured an appearance by the only American Idol contestant to win both a Grammy and an Academy Award Oscar, Jennifer Hudson, and she looked beautiful. The other entertainment for the evening was Sugarland.

[dvdjunkie]

We are down to the Top 9 after last night's show. The bottom three were Thia Megia, the youngest of the contestants, Naima Adedapo, and Paul McDonald. After all the voting was tabulated, Paul was safe and the two girls were sent packing.

This season is really filled with some very talented people, and so far has been the best season yet. Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler have really added something to the judging table and along with Randy Jackson they have been very open with the contestants each week. No more "dog pound" or "dog" from Randy, and Steven has got a little potty mouth that causes the censors to stay on their toes with their bleeps. Lots of fund this year.

I think all you "Glee" fans, they are called "Gleeks", need to be watching this show to see where the real talent is. Just my opinion!!

[dvdjunkie]

Like a 8.0 Eathquake hitting California, the results show is reverberating through the American Idol fans - all saying "What is wrong with America?"

The bottom three last night (Thurs. Apr. 7) included Stefano Langone, Jacob Lusk, and Pia Toscano, three of the fan favorites since day one.

After all the votes were tabulated it was the beautiful girl with the wonderful voice, Pia Toscano, who was sent home.

America definitely got it wrong, and it goes to show you that every vote counts and if you don't vote, you don't have room for complaining about who is sent home and who is kept in the contest.

We are now down to the Top Eight and it is going to be tough going for all of them. If they don't stomp for the votes, and perform up to expectations, they might just be joing Pia and the others who have been sent packing.

They have made it very easy to vote this year offering telephone, texting, and, for the first time, on-line voting at American Idol dot com.

[dvdjunkie]

Wow!!! I have been really lax in not keeping everyone up to date with what has been happening on American Idol this season.

This week, on Wednesday, May 11, the Final Four took the stage. Each person singing the first of two songs. Their first choice was a song that has inspired them to get where they are today, and the second song from Leiber/Stoller Songbook.

Thursday, the results show was a pretty big shocker. Again after almost 70 million votes it was time to send someone home. Of the four, Haley Reinhart, Lauren Alaina, James Durbin and Scotty McCreery, it was the hard-rock, metal-head, James Durbin, who was sent home.

Next week it will be the Final Three vying for that top spot as this year's American Idol and they will each be singing three songs, one of their choice, one of the judges choices, and then one from the theme for that week. It has been two years since we had a female American Idol, could this be the year?

[dvdjunkie]

This week all of you "Glee" fans can sit down and watch the Finale of American Idol, which precedes the Season (I wish series) Finale of "Glee". You will get to see what this season has been all about. Two really good singers, Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina will take the stage to battle for your votes to become this year's American Idol.

The Grand Finale and Results show is scheduled for Wednesday night with all of the Top 11 returning in a performance-laden spectacular and the reveal of the 2011 American Idol winner. Should be a lot of fun and give those of you who were naysayers about this year's American Idol a chance to see what I have been bragging about all season. Tuesday night at 8 pm Eastern (7 Central) is when it all starts.

[dvdjunkie]

The Grande Finale of American Idol Season 10 ended last night with the crowning of Scotty McCreery as the new American Idol. Over 122 million votes were cast for this final week, and according to reliable sources that means close to a quarter of a billion votes were cast this season, highest ever for an American Idol contest.

Last nights award show was filled to the brim with stars. Some of the highlights included Lady GaGa nearly naked simulating sex with a male dancer, how that got by the censors I will never know. Jack Black joined Casey Abrams in a rousing version of Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls", while Tony Bennett had a great duet with Haley Reinhart.

Show stopper of the night was the tribute by the Season 10 guys to Tom Jones, who joined them on stage for "It's Not Unusual", and he looked pretty good for being 75 years old - and his voice was incredible.

The two finalists, Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina, were the youngest finalists ever for American Idol, but they proved to be very talented over the past weeks and when the dust cleared it was Scotty who took home the prize.

If the American Idol 2010 Tour comes to your town this summer, don't miss it. You will see why critics are saying that this was the best Season ever for American Idol, as far as talent goes. Any one of the Top 11 could have been a great American Idol.

[Midge]

I have to say that American Idol isn't my kind of entertainment, but I want to let you know that I have read and appreciated all your reviews, Bill. Thanks for keeping us all up to date on this very popular show.


Moderator's Note: Diane, your post about cooking shows in Australia has been moved to the new Cooking Shows thread which I have just created. That's a subject that definitely deserves its own thread!