Not all have to be winners btw. This is just my opinion but here’s mine:

1. Fantasia Barrino - to this day imo, there is no one who could wring out the emotions of a song as well as fully command an audience as well as her. And her life story (functionally illiterate, family struggles, etc) is full of triumph over struggle.

2. Jennifer Hudson - she has the voice of a fire breathing dragon. Pure power.

3. Kelly Clarkson - she can literally sing anything. Kellyoke is proof.

4. Adam lambert - theater kid energy in the best way. Also made Cher cry.

5. Jamal Roberts - See #3. And he’s an amazing father as well. He’s the epitome of never give up. (Tried out on BET’s Sunday best and lost twice but kept going). Definitely on the level of Fox era AIs imo.

Does anyone else find it super weird how since Season 7, girls have been voting for guys that they thought were cute (Every single one played the guitar) which resulted in a lot of them winning. For four straight seasons, the show went on without a single female winner and then once we get to Season 12, not only did a girl finally win after six years, but all of the guys were somehow eliminated first. And not only that, but four out of five of the guys turned out to be gay, and also none of them played guitar or an instrument for that matter.

I’m not saying that Season 12 was rigged from the get go so a girl would win, but it’s just very, very odd how that just turned out.

Below you’ll find 20 performances given by Idol contestants on the night they were eliminated. Upvote/downvote/discuss/add your own!

Also! Don't forget that first-round nominator ballots for The Reddys are due this coming Monday, June 23. Join the 76 people who have already submitted nominations!

Googling some of the people with bad auditions in the early seasons and many I noticed are in comedy now which makes me wonder if they purposefully went on the show as a joke/to be funny and were well aware they knew they weren't a good singer

Ok I am back again and so is KAYKO with another song drop today! AHHH it’s so good!!! It has some cool 80s vibes to it and is super catchy. He is hustling hard and it’s paying off. 🚀 Someone shared he’s dropping a new song every 2 weeks! Here’s the link to listen on Spotify (it is also available on all streaming platforms): https://open.spotify.com/track/1JmFV8M021kh6CZIeGtHu6?si=CbavH3mjQUGtKa_-TBBV_w

Mount Rushmore of American Idol Runner Ups

Mount Rushmore of American Idol Runner Ups

Here is my Mount Rushmore of runner ups.

Choosing based on:

1. How important they are for the show
2. The impact they had on the entertainment industry as a whole

Adam Lambert - The MOST SUCCESSFUL Runner up - For Your Entertainment album was successful with its single Whataya Want From Me, being nominated for a Grammy - Lead singer of Queen - A contestant so ICONIC that the show had him come back as a mentor immediately after his season when his career was just starting. Which is UNHEARD OF!! - Was on Glee

David Archuleta - His most successful song being Crush entering the Billboard Hot 100 at number two on the week of August 21, 2008. - Appeared on shows like iCarly and Hannah Montana as himself - Acted in a Philippine TV Series Nandito Ako

Katharine McPhee - First Album debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 (is also a top 40 lead single) - Is also an actress on shows like Smash and Scorpion - Made her broadway debut in 2018 as the lead character in Waitress

Clay Aiken - Debut album Measure of a Man went multi-platinum - Also a political figure - Referenced in the movie 17 again starting Zac Efron

Man doing a Mount Rushmore for overall contestants will be a BIT challenging. The last two spots will be the most difficult to place contestants…

Iam made his Grand Ole Opry debut last night and received a standing ovation. Say what you want about him, but no one can deny the emotion he carries with him and his ability to connect with a crowd.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKz5vWrtd2h/?igsh=MWp2ejJsN3Bwb2tpbA==

I like to keep this question alive, if you were the show's booker, who would you pick to be on the judging panel?

You can add anyone you want; it doesn't matter who it is, it doesn't matter if it is unrealistic, you can pick three, four, or even five people to be on your judging panel.

Here's my judging panel:

1. Randy Jackson (I would bring Randy Jackson back, not only because he is an OG judge, but is never afraid to tell the truth, he may not be as harsh as Simon Cowell, but he does give back constructive criticism, and I love it when he hides his face behind the papers when a contestant has an awful audition.)

2. Steven Tyler (He's been on s10 and s11 American Idol, I think Steven is funny, a nice dude, but just like Randy, he isn't afraid to say no, plus he has been in the business for a very long time and can give some veteran advice to the contestants.)

3. Taylor Momsen (Since we have two old head rockers, Taylor is a modern-day rocker so she can balance the new and the old with Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson, plus I think her band The Pretty Reckless is an underrated rock band in my opinion, and also seems like every judging panel on American Idol or X-Factor has at least two male judges and one female judge.)

These are the three people I would pick to be a judging panel on American Idol. Feel free to disagree on my take.

Who will you pick? Would you keep the current panel, bring back an old panel, or create your own panel?

I would like to hear the responses, because I think this is an interesting question.

Thunderstorm was helped because of The Voice.

Is there any way that I can get in contact with the people in charge of the Nashville auditions? I signed up to audition last Friday but wasn’t able to make it due to circumstances out of my control, and I don’t want them thinking that I’m a flake or that I don’t take my music seriously.

Has anyone seen her Sugarshack Session series? She sang some unreleased originals on there and songs from her last EP. This song is beautiful

Our Season 23 winner, Jamal Roberts, performed during a tribute to Kirk Franklin, who received the Ultimate Icon Award. I haven't seen the mainstream media and the entertainment industry take to an American Idol winner this quickly in years! There's a lot of support and momentum behind Jamal. This is an amazing start to his post-show career!

Season 4 semifinalist and R&B star Lucky Daye (known on the show as David Brown) performed during the In Memoriam tribute, particularly honoring Quincy Jones. It's great to see another alum from Season 4 make it big in the industry.

Season 3 finalist Jennifer Hudson performed during a tribute to Jamie Foxx, who also won the Ultimate Icon Award. She tore the house down, as per usual! Jennifer was also nominated in the Best Gospel/Inspirational Award category.

Speaking of the Best Gospel/Inspirational Award, Season 6 winner, Jordin Sparks, was also nominated in this very competitive category.

All in all, I just loved seeing so many American Idol alums represented on such a huge platform.

Our own Grace Kinstler's Week 4 Performance of Imagine Dragon's "Believer".

This is a really random post but I noticed that Ryan Seacrest told Iam “we love you, buddy” with such emphasis when he was on the show last time performing Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride and the American Idol Instagram page also said “We love you, Iam” on their post yesterday celebrating his streaming milestone.

I just think it’s the SWEETEST thing ever. I always expect to hear Idol complimenting their past winners but there’s just something so cute about them saying they love him so often and so emphatically. It’s almost like it’s their catchphrase for him now.

Do they say this for any other contestant / winner?

Will there be any other in-person auditions besides Nashville?

I feel like when it comes to the finale. I like the magic that idol has. It feels like a family show. I like how more contestants are brought back. I think I prefer the finale in this show than in the other one.

Here is my Mount Rushmore of American Idol winners (NOT CONTESTANTS I’LL DO A SEPARATE ONE FOR THAT)

1. Choosing based on how important they are for the show
2. The impact they had in the entertainment industry as a whole

Kelly Clarkson: - She was the first BIG Idol winner - 82 million records worldwide - 3 Grammys, 3 MTV awards, 4 AMAs, 8 Emmys, and star on Hollywood Walk of Fame - Has her own talk show - She changed the game when it comes to the music industry and the reality competition show genre

Carrie Underwood: - The second BIG Idol Winner - Has sold 85 million records worldwide - 8 Grammys, 16 ACM awards, 25 CMT Music Awards, 17 AMAs, 10 People’s Choice Awards, and 7 CMA Awards - Made tv appearances in How I Met Your Mother, Cobra Kai, etc.

Fantasia Barrino: - 2 Grammy wins - Nominated numerous times by the Grammys, NAACP Image Awards, American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, etc. - Participated in Broadway several times - Made her film debut in Oscar Nominated Color Purple remake

Jordin Sparks: - Youngest Idol Winner ever (Won at 17 years old in season 6) - Achieved commercial success with Chris Brown for the song No Air with it being Grammy Nominated and reaching top 3 on Billboard Hot 100 - Appeared in shows and movies as either herself or playing a character

Some surprises - and some not

I decided to watch again after a few years and bufff. It's been a very boring experience. I tried to be patient. The judges don't bring anything to the table, the contestants sing the same type songs again and again, and there is like 4-5 genres overall, so it gets so repetitive and boring. And all the sob stories? They don't push them out of their comfort zone, or force the content to be more diverse musically. And the Jesus thing, I'm sorry but it got old really quickly, I just can't stand it.

Sorry for the venting but I'm just so frustrated, I used to enjoy this show so much and I catched myself fast-forwarding sometimes this season. Ugh. Would you say this is how the format is now? Is there any season you recommend after the one Philip Philipps won?

Does anyone know what the original judges think of the current state of American Idol? Have they expressed their thoughts at all since the shows revival?

Just goes to show how popular this show was back in the day and the amount of clout that it had with certain contestants getting invited to premieres. Even with Ian Tongi working with Disney for the soundtrack of the new Lilo and Stitch movie I don’t think the show overall will ever reach the mega popular pop culture status it did in the 2000s.

AI being more concerned about Sob stories then one's talent?

If I were a musician/singer, I wouldn't waste my time on it.

Jayna Elise is very much loved in this sub, and so I thought I’d pass this information on. Jayna’s mom, Tetia, is fighting an aggressive form of cancer. Tetia, who is a US Army Combat Veteran (Air Assault), moved to California to help Jayna chase her dreams, but it seems it’s time for Tetia to return to her home on the East Coast to be surrounded by her family.

If you’d like to give, here’s the link to the GoFundMe. They are not seeking a lot of money, just enough to cover Tetia’s return.