Who's your favourite American Idol? (American Idol)

Member Name: linzeelou

Product:	American Idol
Date:	14/07/09 (23 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Auditions are hilarious

Disadvantages: Not entertaining enough to keep me hooked

American Idol was created by Simon Fuller and was first aired on June 11th 2002 and is now one of the most popular shows on American TV. American Idol is currently on season 8.

Like X Factor, auditions are held nation wide. Thousands of people audition in each city but they all have to go through 2 other auditions before they get to audition in front of the judges. Only about 100-200 people per city actually make it to the judges. If the contestants pass the judges vote then they get to go onto the next round in Hollywood.

In Hollywood, the contestants perform again in front of the judges on different days and there would be eliminations each day. For seasons 1-6, contestants also got to perform in groups but from season 7 they got rid of this part of the audition process.

Semi finalists would have to perfom live on tv in order to progress to the finals. Semi finalists would normally be split into groups e.g. males and females who would perform on seperate nights and the judges would then decide who gets to move on. There have been different amounts of finalists throughout the 8 seasons.

Each week contestants have to sing from a theme like Motown, Michael Jackson and The Beatles. I really like the fact that each week is a different genre of music because it really tests the contestants' talents. Contestants also normally get to work with a celebrity mentor each week.

At the start of the finals, contestants only get to sing 1 song each but then when it gets cut down to 4 or 5 people, they get to sing 2 songs. When the top 3 are chosen, they all get to sing 3 songs each. The American public get to vote on who goes through to the next round just like they do in our shows over here. There are normally 2 live shows a week and then a results show. In season 8, the judges were able to save a contestant if they felt the public made the wrong choice but that choice was taken away when it got to the top 5.

In the final show, the top 2 contestants perform again and 1 will be declared the winner. The winner gets a $1 million recording contract with major label and is managed by 19 Management. Other contestants have also been signed, even though they didnt win.

There are now 4 judges although there only used to be 3. The 3 original judges were Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul and the new judge is Kara DioGuardi.

Ryan Seacrest hosts the show and also talks to the contestants through the audition process.

Past Winners:
2002 - Kelly Clarkson
2003 - Ruben Studdard
2004 - Fantasia Barrino
2005 - Carrie Underwood
2006 - Taylor Hicks
2007 - Jordin Sparks
2008 - David Cook
2009 - Kris Allen

Out of all the winners so far ive only heard of 3 of them that have done well over here. Kelly Clarkson is still really big after all these years. Jordin Sparks did a duet with Chris Brown and Carrie Underwood is a popular country singer now.

The auditions are still my favourite part of the show and sometimes i dont even bother watching the live shows. I only really watch the live shows if there's someone i really like from the auditions. I think American Idol has a much higher standard of talent compared to over here but then again it is a much larger country so thats to be expected really.

Although American Idol is a great show, i just dont like it as much as X Factor for some reason. I think that is mainly because i tend to have my favourites early in the audition process over here whereas in the American show there are just too many to choose from. Im a on and off again viewer of American Idol whereas a lot of people watch it religiously every season.

One of the best things about this show are the judges. Randy, Simon and Paula always bicker which is very entertaining. I havent seen the 8th season so im not sure what the new judge is like.

Summary: I still prefer X Factor to this