DJariya

Yes I know this show isn't talked about here anymore. But this is the 15th and final season, so I'll do a thread for anyone who cares to talk about it. It's better than having someone bump some random ass thread. Losing Simon Cowell killed a lot of interest in this show. Supposedly he may make an appearance in some form this season along with a few other past judges.

I know most of you have a lot on your plate already and it's unlikely that this will get much talk.

For the record, I watched regularly from season 2 through 11. I lost interest during that train wreck season with Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj.

Her's a list of all the winners and what they're up to now.

http://www.etonline.com/news/179150_..._are_they_now/

writer106

I watched the premiere. I didn't really care for any of the people who auditioned. Hopefully tomorrow night will be better. I have liked the show after Cowell's depature minus the awful Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj season. I like Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. as judges.

MikahC

I used to just watch the finale shows to see who won and what guest performers showed up. Somewhere around Carrie Underwood's season, I watched the whole season. I've seen every season since then.

A few thoughts:
- I don't think the show started its declined after Simon left. Rather, it was already declining and Simon saw the writing on the wall and left to do X Factor, which he had more control over and thought would surpass American Idol.

- My favorite season was Season 10. Not because of the judges (Tyler was a pointless judge), but because of the contestants. Or more accurately, how varied the contestants were. We had Casey Abrams and Haley Reinhart jazzing it up. We had Jacob Lusk with his gospel tinged R&B (and ridiculous range), we had James Durbin rocking out, Scotty McCreery (and his deep voice) and Lauren Alaina taking us country and more. Pia Toscano inspired Whitney/Mariah comparisons and was a shocking elimination. Paul McDonald became an internet meme because nobody could tell what he was saying (Youtube NSFW - subtitles). Top to bottom, it was the most enjoyable season of the run IMO, though reading forums like this, others didn't agree. I could have listened to that Top 10 all season long. I've never saved so many performances from one season of any talent competition.

- I thought The Nicki Minaj experiment was a horrible idea from the moment it was announced and nothing I saw during the season changed my mind. Nicki's cool for what she does, but she had no place on American Idol. And I say that as someone who thinks American Idol can be a bit white bread. Surprisingly, Mariah Carey had very little constructive criticism (about singing!) and was just as useless. In contrast, J.Lo won me over. She's obviously not the best singer, but she knows impact. The combination of J.Lo, Keith, and Harry (real musicians) seems affected by the appearance of The Voice, and is my favorite panel of judges. Harry definitely brings the technical, which I enjoy, though he can get condescending at times.

I'm not sure when I'll start watching, but I'll watch. I'm recording it while finishing up my herculean holiday break efforts to catch up on viewing other shows.

covenant

See that's the thing, everybody hated Nicki for being Nicki (or being too black), but she gave legitimate advice, whereas Mariah....

anywho, I'm in for this season. One last time for old times sake.

Jadzia

I can't believe they actually showed the clip with Brian Dunkleman in the beginning. I thought they forgot he existed!

I have watched every season and it was funny seeing them recap all the winners for previous winners. So many of them I barely remember at all.

Boondock Saint

I watched from 1-9, then half of 10. Skipped 11 and 12, came back for 13. Taking a couple seasons off helped me start to enjoy the show again. But it's definitely time for it to go.

DRG

So did anyone watch the finale?

On the pro side, I loved that they honored the history of the show and highlighted past contestants and judges. Great to see the original 3, Dunkelman, and many others connected to the show. Great that all the winners were able to participate in some form... although I have to wonder that if Kelly wasn't away pregnant they might have done a big number with all the winners.

On the negative side, with only two hours for the show I think the tribute to the series came at the expense of this year's contestants. Usually the final 2 each get a few songs to themselves, plus duets with some big name superstars. The final two and crowning this season's winner almost felt like an afterthought. The other season 15 contestants also got the shaft this year... usually they get featured a bit more and some of the better ones get a 'moment', but here their participation was essentially as background singers in two numbers.

I loved how Keith Urban used his moment to double up and showcase an Idol alum and I wish the others had done the same. Harry singing with the little girl was cute I guess, but I would have rather had that moment with some contestants, past or present, than some kid we don't know who didn't look like she wanted to be there. And J-Lo with her two songs... wish she would have utilized some Idol talent in one of them. Maybe she could have shared the stage with some notable Latino contestants?

Despite the issues, I thought it was a pretty great send off... or whatever it was given Seacrest's mysterious last words at the end.

DWilson

The producers have said they plan to bring the show back someday, which, of course, is what producers often say.
I thought the retrospective documentary Tuesday night was terrific. It took sort of an "oral history" format (talking heads giving the history of the show, similar to the "Saturday Night Live" documentaries of a few years ago). It was a nice time capsule.
Thursday's finale was pretty terrific. Obviously, there were a few missed opportunities, but it was surprising tasteful, and, thankfully, featured "Idol" alumni rather than guest stars. A far better and more tasteful send-off than I was anticipating.

writer106

I thought the same thing about the little girl and Harry and agree with J.LO. She and Jessica Sanchez could have performed together.

Josh-da-man

Nine posts for the whole season?

Man, talk about going out with a whimper...

MLBFan24

Jessica Sanchez did a fantastic job

The Infidel

I'm sorry, was this on?

Double_Oh_7

The American Idol finale used to also be the huge May sweeps finale for the traditional TV season. Now it goes out with a whimper weeks before May sweeps even starts. Sad.

TomOpus

I thought she should've won against Phillip Phillips. I might've been biased since she was from the San Diego area. I've been following her on Twitter since her season and it's interesting that she has twice as many followers as he does. (1.4m vs 699k). As good as she was back then, she has really matured and it showed.

Overall, I liked the final show. I didn't watch this season or much of last season. I wonder if they really were surprised when Simon showed up. They looked surprised but you never know with this show

And it was a nice tease with Ryan at the end. He said his goodbye and the screen fades to black.... "for now."

Damfino

That and the total season post count says a lot.

I never got into the show, but I did watch part of Sanjaya's season.

DWilson

They truly put in very little effort this season, with fewer episodes and an April finish; also they blew through contestants almost as fast as "The Voice", and since they weren't aiming at a tour, they didn't do much to showcase them. I regret they took that attitude.

Jessica Sanchez did a fine job and like Daughtry and Adam Lampert has probably eclipsed that year's winner. However, Phillip Philips's "Home" (his "coronation song") may be one of the biggest earning songs of any Idol, since it was licensed so heavily for commercial and movie trailer use.

Watching all the former contestants, I'm reminded of how many people make a living performing professionally, booking gigs wherever. I'm sure this weekend many of the people on the stage the other night are playing at some hotel, some bar, doing background vocals, singing at weddings or whatever it takes to keep food on the table or satisfy their creative drive.

DJariya

The 90 minute retrospective that talked about the history of the show was actually really good. They interviewed pretty much every notable person involved with the show past and present. They talked about the rough beginnings and then how became really huge.

It's available on Hulu for those interested. I think it's episode 22, It's called "American Dream"

TomOpus

Seacrest confirmed he's coming back as host. Not sure if you wanted a new thread.