# American Idol is back! 1/12-1/13 Audition shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653 "2010-01-12T13:36:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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 12, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/1 "2010-01-12T13:36:13Z")
Didn’t see a thread, so I figured I’d start one. Paula’s gone, and this is Simon’s last year. Will it still be the Idol we know and love? I’ll call it and say that they’re wanting someone female to win this year. AI has been a total sausage fest lately. ---
**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 12, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/2 "2010-01-12T15:17:57Z")
I’ll watch, at least for a little while. Wasn’t Ellen supposed to be a judge this season? I didn’t see her in the commercials. I don’t think I’ll watch without Simon. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/3 "2010-01-12T16:09:07Z")
I don’t think Ellen was a judge at the auditions. IIRC, She will be one of the judges at Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/4 "2010-01-12T19:04:57Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I don’t think I’ll watch without Simon. Simon is the show, as far as I’m concerned. I’ll follow him to his next competitive singing program. But for now, AI it is. Anyone know where they’ll be this week? ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/5 "2010-01-12T19:23:57Z")
Boston tonight (2 hrs), Atlanta tomorrow (90 minutes). ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/6 "2010-01-12T19:43:43Z")
For me, the performers are the show. I’ve grown to respect what Simon brought to the show, especially as he learned that American audiences don’t enjoy the same level of meanness and snark that British audiences do and adjusted it somewhat, however, he’s not what I watch it for. I watch it for the farmgirl from Oklahoma knocking one out of the park, or to see if the musical theater guy gets too ambitious and crashes & burns, or if he pulls it off. What are the auditions going to be like this year? I’ve avoided them in the past, as they seemed to dwell on the train-wrecks, and I don’t enjoy watching the possibly dim or mentally unstable be made fools of. I suppose though, it could be argued that many currently in the entertainment industry are dim or mentally unstable. I think this year will have to be a letdown after last year. There was a great group of fairly diverse talent, and I think several of them could have won in weaker years. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/7 "2010-01-12T20:48:57Z")
The thing that is starting to get me down about the show is that they bring these performers on, and we hear some great performances, and some that just knock it out of the park week after week (David Cook, Adam Lambert), then they win or come close, get their big record deal… And their album is overproduced, overwritten crap. Kris Allen’s album was a major disappointment. Adam Lambert’s was only so-so. Same with Allison Iraheta. David Cook put out an album of completely generic 90’s rock that was instantly forgettable. None of them have found their own voice or put out anything even remotely unique. This month Jason Castro’s CD comes out. I hope it’s actually something different. The fact that it took him almost 2 years to make it gives me hope that it won’t just be another generic product from the 19 entertainment machine. ---
**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 12, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/8 "2010-01-12T21:00:20Z")
Judging from the one original song I heard Castro perform live on some talk show, it’s not that it took so long because he was working to craft each song perfectly. He was probably just too baked to remember where the studio was. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/9 "2010-01-12T22:50:54Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The thing that is starting to get me down about the show is that they bring these performers on, and we hear some great performances, and some that just knock it out of the park week after week (David Cook, Adam Lambert), then they win or come close, get their big record deal… And their album is overproduced, overwritten crap. Kris Allen’s album was a major disappointment. Adam Lambert’s was only so-so. Same with Allison Iraheta. David Cook put out an album of completely generic 90’s rock that was instantly forgettable. None of them have found their own voice or put out anything even remotely unique. After hearing what Kris, Adam, and Allison put out, I don’t really hope to hear much I like out of any AI finalist soon after they leave the show. I’m just hoping they don’t OD or blow out their voices before they get a chance to put out a body of work worthy of their talent(and that hopefully includes some songs I do like). I’m not sure it’s all 19’s fault either - I have to accept that as I’m in my 40’s, my taste isn’t always going to line up with what 20-year-old’s are doing. I loved everything Adam and Kris did on the show, but they were forced to perform old classics, many of which I already like. Adam, in particular, did really well with just about everything he did on the show, and many of those songs on in my everyday MP3 rotation. I doubt “Feeling Good” and “A Change is Gonna Come” is anything he would have thought to do if left to his own devices, but I’d LOVE to hear him do more along those lines. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/10 "2010-01-13T01:42:12Z")
The train wrecks have started. The first trainwreck got through 90% of the time on the WII American Idol game. LOL Italian guy reminds me of days growing up in the Northeast. I didn’t think he was all that good but all the judges like him. First one to go through was a girl who has a brother with Downs Syndrome. She was OK, nothing special. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/11 "2010-01-13T01:55:06Z")
I think the impatient guy was set up a little. Really, he didn’t do anything to provoke the kind of shit he got. Scripted + set up. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/12 "2010-01-13T01:57:13Z")
Man, Kara is a snotty, self-important, stuck up little twat for somebody with absolutely zero fucking talent of her own. That guy was right about the questions, by the way. He couldn’t sing, but those questions are, in fact, stupid and uninteresting. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/13 "2010-01-13T01:59:34Z")
I agree with **Sam** , by the way. No a single decent album has ever come out of this show. Not even a decent single, although it has produced one all-time piece of excrement – that Jesus on the highway song. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/14 "2010-01-13T02:13:21Z")
Unless we count Jennifer Hudson’s “And I’m Telling You,” I agree. I did like Carrie’s version of that Pretenders song but I don’t know that it’s significant. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/15 "2010-01-13T02:17:21Z")
Respect the melody, prick. You aren’t going to improve on Sir Paul McCartney. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/16 "2010-01-13T02:18:42Z")
That guy shouldn’t have made it. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/17 "2010-01-13T02:18:53Z")
Ah, lots of people have tweaked the song. Including Frank Sinatra. I’m undecided on Codzilla. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/18 "2010-01-13T02:24:56Z")
Oh, she’s doing it all for grandma who won’t be around much longer to see her fulfill her dream. How selfless. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/19 "2010-01-13T02:33:48Z")
That guy sucked too. I hate the way they load this show with nothing but the most bland, colorless, non-threatening performers they can find. Whatever happened to that guy with long beard who sang “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” that one time? That was the most awesome audition they’ve ever had on the show, and they never mentioned him again. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653/20 "2010-01-13T02:40:52Z")
So, you do know the premise of the show, right? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-is-back-1-12-1-13-audition-shows/524653.md?page=2)