# American Idol Finale Week (May 24-25), On Tuesday-Wednesday THIS WEEK! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076 "2011-05-24T22:13:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076/21 "2011-05-26T02:00:31Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Did anyone else bust out into “the Carlton dance” when Tom Jones came out?. Oh, yeah!!! Tom Jones didn’t have the breath to sing it out, but he’s still lookin’ hot! (For an over-tanned Vegas-type act.) ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076/22 "2011-05-26T02:08:54Z")
Wow! Wiki lied to me. I was reading about back Idol winners, and it said Lauren won. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076/23 "2011-05-26T02:27:11Z")
Hey _American Idol_, _Mad Magazine_ called, they want their magazine cover boy back. congrats to Scotty, I don’t like your music, but you do sing it very well. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076/24 "2011-05-26T02:32:23Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Hey _American Idol_, _Mad Magazine_ called, they want their magazine cover boy back. > > congrats to Scotty, I don’t like your music, but you do sing it very well. Agreed on both points. When he sang that song with, er, Brad paisley(?) I thought he sounded the much better of the two. ---
**Author:** ![judikium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@judikium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/judikium)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076/25 "2011-05-26T02:32:24Z")
I guess I’m kind of proud that I picked Scotty as the winner from the Top 13. There were lots of distractions, but this is the fourth non-threatening dude with a guitar in a row…it gets easy to spot at this point. And the country was a big bonus. Lauren gave stronger performances last night, but really, this was Haley’s season for me. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076/26 "2011-05-26T02:51:33Z")
I rarely watch the show, but I was reading about it on Wikipedia, and I found this fascinating. > [@](#): > > Since the show’s inception in 2002, six of the nine Idol winners, including its first five, have come from the Southern United States.[91] The three exceptions are Jordin Sparks who came from Arizona, David Cook from Missouri, (which is considered part of the “Upland South”,[92] and Cook was born in Houston and was living in Tulsa at the time of his audition)) and Lee DeWyze from Illinois. A large number of other notable finalists during the series’ run have also hailed from the American South, including Clay Aiken, Kellie Pickler, and Chris Daughtry who are all from North Carolina.[91] At the time of the 2004 finals, which pitted North Carolina’s Fantasia Barrino against Georgia’s Diana DeGarmo, their Southern character, or character appealing to the South, was cited as reason for their success.[93] Data from Nielsen SoundScan, a music-sales tracking service, showed that of the 47 million CDs sold by Idol contestants through January 2010, 85 percent were by contestants with ties to the American South.[91] > > The show itself is particularly popular in the Southern United States, with households in the Southeastern United States 10% more likely to watch American Idol during the eighth season in 2009, and those in the East Central region, such as Kentucky, were 16 percent more likely to tune into the series.[91] When asked about the appeal of Southern contestants, season five winner Taylor , from the state of Alabama said, “People in the South have a lot of pride … So, they’re adamant about supporting the contestants who do well from their state or region.”[91] Scotty McCreery was the winner of season ten. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076/27 "2011-05-26T03:11:53Z")
Tom Jones looked like Morgan Freeman. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076/28 "2011-05-26T03:46:37Z")
Pretty good finale! I scanned through some things, but I thought the girls’ Beyonce medley was good. I liked Lady Gaga’s performance a lot. I LOL’d when, after Scotty won and was hugging all his family members, he left Jack Black standing there with a “Hey, what about me?” look on his face. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076/29 "2011-05-26T06:11:21Z")
Stopped watching when they kicked off the best singer (the pretty girl from Colombia or somewhere like that) several weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076/30 "2011-05-26T06:36:32Z")
If you mean Pia, did I black out or something or was she left out of the duets? That’s wrong, IMO. Should have been her and James in the finale. That said, I’m happy for Scotty. First country guy winner, after years of also-rans. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076/31 "2011-05-26T11:25:56Z")
While I thought his duet with Jack Black was amusing, I don’t think it did wonders for Casey’s immediate future. Not much audience for creepy-beard/Jazzy/silly music… ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076/32 "2011-05-26T14:15:49Z")
I watched this on the PVR last night. I thought it was pretty dull. Who managed to castrate Judas Priest? They rocked about as hard as Flock of Seagulls on a bad hair day. The show just reinforced how weak Lauren and Scotty are compared to some others. Hell, even some of the top 13 girls I can’t even remember the names of sang better than Lauren has all season. I liked Haley’s duet with Tony Bennett. She sounded and looked great. The girl’s got tremendous stage presence. But Tony needs to hang up the microphone. his voice is a pale shadow of its earlier self. I saw Sinatra live in 1990 when he was in the autumn of his years, and you could also hear the quavers and creaks. Bennett is about ten years older than Frank was at the time. I enjoyed Casey, but I agree that he diminished himself as a musician. He vocals with Jack Black were awful, and he was so self-deprecating that he came across as a comedian more than as a musician. Jack Black can walk that line, but I’m not sure Casey has the vocal or the comedy chops. But who knows? Maybe the career he’s angling for is to be the next Zach Galifianakis with a music sideline. Maybe Tenacious D has an opening for an upright bass player… I actually thought the most enjoyable part of the whole show was the comedy stylings of Casey and Durbin, going at each other for who was the most shocking elimination. Pia walking up with the ribbon was icing on the cake. And knowing that Steven Tyler tried to get Aerosmith to come on the show and play with him, only to be refused, made his little solo at the end kind of sad. You sold out, man. You’re no longer a rock star: you’re a ‘celebrity’. You’re Brett Michaels with a better gig. Here’s hoping next year is better. In the meantime, America’s Got Talent starts next Tuesday, and I’ll bet it’ll be way more entertaining than AI was this year. Howie Mandel is a great addition. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076/33 "2011-05-26T18:32:23Z")
Great finale! I enjoyed all the performances and the guests were great. Jack Black cracked me up. I also loved the Spiderman song. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076/34 "2011-05-26T23:44:47Z")
(now I feel bad Jack Black didn’t get a hug.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-finale-week-may-24-25-on-tuesday-wednesday-this-week/583076.md?page=1)