# American Idol 11 Audition shows start tonight (1/18) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956 "2012-01-19T00:01:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![limegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@limegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/limegreen)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956/21 "2012-01-19T22:09:49Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > I loved how the ballplayer looked like he was going to jump the table and squish Steven into goo when he made an inappropriate comment about his daughter. My family’s favorite moment of the night! I swear you could hear the crickets in the room, and Randy looked like he had swallowed his tongue. There were a couple of times Steven Tyler had a really creepy grin on his face when eyeing the ladies. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956/22 "2012-01-19T22:53:30Z")
> [@limegreen](#): > > There were a couple of times Steven Tyler had a really creepy grin on his face when eyeing the ladies. For the last several years, the Jimmy Kimmel show has had a feature every night that American Idol airs, called “The Steven Tyler Creepy Leer of the Night” or something close to that. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956/23 "2012-01-20T00:15:13Z")
> [@limegreen](#): > > My family’s favorite moment of the night! I swear you could hear the crickets in the room, and Randy looked like he had swallowed his tongue. > There were a couple of times Steven Tyler had a really creepy grin on his face when eyeing the ladies. Cue Creative Editing. [QUOTE=brocks] For the last several years, the Jimmy Kimmel show has had a feature every night that American Idol airs, called “The Steven Tyler Creepy Leer of the Night” or something close to that. [/QUOTE] And FWIW, Tyler has only been a Creepy TV AI Judge for about 52 weeks now. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956/24 "2012-01-20T00:31:57Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > And FWIW, Tyler has only been a Creepy TV AI Judge for about 52 weeks now. Damn, seems like a lot longer. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956/25 "2012-01-20T00:53:08Z")
I watched part of it. Near the beginning my thought was “They seem to be showing a lot of 15 and 16 year olds who have clips singing along with AI from 11 years ago.” Is that going to be a recurring theme all through the tryouts? ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956/26 "2012-01-20T02:07:04Z")
I liked the scatting guy at the beginning–he was hot! The Korean guy was cute, and had a lovely tone to his voice, but sang with too much of an accent to appeal to the voters. The Don Cheadle look alike who sang “A Change is Gonna Come” was also awesome. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956/27 "2012-01-20T04:18:57Z")
Really didn’t like the woman who tried to ruin one of my favorite songs (“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?”). It was almost unrecognizable, and why does Randy praise the phrasing, when the “phrasing” consists of making four syllables from a one-syllable word? I thought those days were over. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956/28 "2012-01-20T05:05:46Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I like to try and predict whether the person is a real singer or a real trainwreck as soon as they walk in. Most of the time I’m right, because by the time they get all the way to the judges they’re at the extremes. Some practically have “I have no self-awareness” tattooed on their foreheads. > > Randy was a dick to the South African guy last night: “Find me some people off the street that like you and we’ll let you through.” Of course, the whole thing was probably scripted. > > I miss Diogenes. Agree with everything except the last. I could not be happier he is gone, for these threads in particular. Making up shitty names for people is beneath a 12 year old, much less an adult. I predict Phillip Phillips will go far. Loved him. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956/29 "2012-01-21T03:52:45Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > Agree with everything except the last. I could not be happier he is gone, for these threads in particular. Making up shitty names for people is beneath a 12 year old, much less an adult. > > I predict Phillip Phillips will go far. Loved him. Country Thriller, I call him. Excellent! Hey, there’s another Idol show on Jan. 22, Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956/30 "2012-01-22T19:28:14Z")
Don’t forget that there is a American Idol Show tonight after the NFC Championship game. 10 pm EST. ---
**Author:** ![YWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6f9a4e/32.png) [@YWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YWalker)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956/31 "2012-01-23T02:37:35Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I don’t think 15 and 16 year olds should audition. No matter how good they are. I’m sorry, it’s the mom in me. They stand a big big chance of being ruined by celebrity starting at such a young age. I agree with you entirely. Scotty McCreery is a local, so he got (and still gets) a lot of coverage around here. There were a number of moments when I really felt sorry for him. When he came home a few weeks before the finale, they showed him sobbing at seeing all the crowds there to cheer for him. That really affected the Mom in me — I just felt this was an awful lot of stress for a kid to be going through. They also went through a lot of rigamarole to try to let him to get in briefly to attend his prom. From what I’ve heard, the schedules for all the AI contestants is pretty brutal. For the under 18’s, though, they also have to allow in time for them to be tutored in the high school courses they’re missing. Scotty had to fly back home to take an AP English exam. He seems to be handling his success very well, however. From what I’ve seen, he seems to have really good parents who have raised an exceptional young man. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956/32 "2012-01-23T07:48:02Z")
Eh. Never all that hot about this show, but there have been a few really good performances, and I think it’s actually less annoying now than in recent seasons. Dropping Simon Cowell (who stopped even pretending to have a clue) and Paula Abdul (who was going through the motions for her last 2 or 3 seasons at least) helped a _lot_. I do think someone high up needs to tell Steven Tyler cut the leering crap (pretty obviously just pointless jerkishness), but other than that I have no problem with the current crop of judges. Anyway, just something that’s been bugging me for a long time. Okay, I could see this in the early seasons, when the fresh young contestants didn’t have anything to go on, but everyone should be wise by now. So: Why do _so_ many prospects…knowing that they have _one_ shot at impressing the judges, and if they don’t make it, that’s it until the next season, many long, bitter months away…deliver the most shouty, screechy, shrieky, glass-shattering belting imaginable? **They hate this**. It irritates them. They will deride you, and then they will reject you. Screeching. Does. Not. Work. And if, lord forbid, you pick a _heavy metal_ song (I know at least one did), you really need your head examined. In case you haven’t notice, this isn’t American Hellraising Headbanger. If you want to show off your power, pick something strong and _fairly_ loud but not over the top. Alternative rock, country rock, and jazz are good places to look. Remember, just like with auto racing, power is nothing without control, and you don’t hit the nitrous at the starting line. _Rein it in._ ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956/33 "2012-01-23T13:43:36Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Don’t forget that there is a American Idol Show tonight after the NFC Championship game. 10 pm EST. This clinches it. I don’t have time to watch this show. I also don’t have the energy to say, “Honey, I think the commercials are over, can you change the channel back now?” six thousand times this season. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956/34 "2012-01-23T21:47:33Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > \ > > So: > > Why do _so_ many prospects…knowing that they have _one_ shot at impressing the judges, and if they don’t make it, that’s it until the next season, many long, bitter months away…deliver the most shouty, screechy, shrieky, glass-shattering belting imaginable? > > **They hate this**. It irritates them. They will deride you, and then they will reject you. Screeching. Does. Not. Work. And if, lord forbid, you pick a _heavy metal_ song (I know at least one did), you really need your head examined. In case you haven’t notice, this isn’t American Hellraising Headbanger. If you want to show off your power, pick something strong and _fairly_ loud but not over the top. Alternative rock, country rock, and jazz are good places to look. Remember, just like with auto racing, power is nothing without control, and you don’t hit the nitrous at the starting line. _Rein it in._ I agree. The contestants on American Idol are not the most reflective bunch though (possibly because most of them are suffering from being Terribly Young). We see what you’re talking about, as well as a bunch of contestants who come in with an audition song that is NOT a singer’s song every year - it doesn’t really matter what song you sing, as long as the song you choose showcases your voice. Don’t choose your favourite song - choose the song that you can _nail_. Again, it’s probably a case of them being so young - they don’t really get those distinctions. If I was a judge, I would vote “No” for anyone who puts a lot of melisma in songs just on general principles at this point. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-11-audition-shows-start-tonight-1-18/609956.md?page=1)