5 favorite American Idol Contestents/American Idol Preview

As I said in yesterday's post, I expect this season to be a lot better than the last one which was marred mostly by the horrible job by all judges and the production team. There is no excuse in the DVR age that we live in for the #1 show in America to exceed the listed ending time. Of course I should have learned from my mistake and taped the show for an extra two hours just in case. Of course, I never learned my lesson. Anyway, a few points before unveiling my top 5 favorite contestants of all-time (Except for Season one which I still have never seen in its entirety.)


- It’s amazing how much television has changed. I remember when any show that did not have the traditional September-May schedule was considered garbage even before it aired. Right now most of my favorite shows including American Idol, Lost, Chuck, Mad Men follow an “unconventional” schedule.

- The most influential album of this decade so far should be Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed A Dream which has been the #1 selling album six weeks in a row. Without having the statistics to back this up, it seems to make sense that the biggest group of cd buyers is the older crowd who don’t use the internet for downloading music. The huge success of the Boyle cd may have a great deal to do with the holiday timing, but I also see it as a sign of things to come. I predict that a majority of #1 albums this year will be by artists with an older audience. This brings me back to American Idol. I’m surprised that the age requirement was not raised or even eliminated for this season. I thought Boyle’s success would have convinced the show to reevaluate the marketplace. Maybe there is a lot more money to be made via internet downloads than selling albums.

- The recent disappointing sales of Kris Allen, Allison Iraheta, and Adam Lambert prove that American Idol is currently a much more successful guilty pleasure television show than a search to find the next pop superstar. This wasn’t always the case since Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson have huge careers(or at least Clarkson had a huge career). Over the past three seasons, the final two contestants have been Jordin Sparks, Blake Lewis, David Cook, David Archuleta, Kris Allen, and Adam Lambert. Take away Jordin Sparks and this group has produced a total of two top 10 singles. I’m part of the audience who loves the show yet has never bought an American Idol related cd or single. Obviously the show doesn’t care considering it’s making tons of money from advertisers, but it’s intresting that a show whose full title the first season was “American Idol: The Search For a Superstar” has essentially failed in its mission over the past few seasons.


Now onto my list of my five favorite American Idol contestants ever.

1. Allison Iraheta- I remember her first utterly awkward interview during the semi-finals. She’s been the most convincing rocker chick the show’s ever produced. I think her version of “Cry Baby” is one of the best performances ever by an American Idol contestant.

2. Taylor Hicks- Go ahead, make fun of me. I know my fellow blogger has my back on this one. In his first audition, Taylor did seem a bit strange. Maybe that never completely went away, but he possessed a pure joy and passion that was infectious.

3. Elliot Yamin- His voice alone would make him one of my favorites, but the fact the he seemed like a nice, upbeat guy made him seem relatable.

4. Bo Bice- Like Allison Iraheta, he was one of the best and most authentic rockers the show has had.

5. Melinda Doolittle- She’s the American Idol equivalent to Darryl Strawberry or Doc Gooden. So much talent, so many bad choices. She makes the top 5 because she had my favorite voice ever on the show. Melinda was at her best when she picked songs people actually knew.