# American Idol - week of 1/26 - 1/27 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 27, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131 "2011-01-27T01:11:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/41 "2011-01-27T05:40:01Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Remember, ultimately they’re producing a TV show. So they’re not just looking for singers, they’re looking for people who will be interesting on camera, or who might develop a fan following, or who have a big human interest angle, or whatever. There’s probably people who are great singers who don’t even make past the first level simply because they’re not what the show is looking for at that time. Don’t forget another 40 people that they know will cry/stomp around/beg/argue (you don’t even know me, you don’t know what your talking about, I can do something else, I can sing better then any of these bitches), need security called, hit the camera, have full mental breakdowns, get overly dramatic for the camera and know the audience will be able to tell it’s an act…The audition phase is as much about that as anything else. Honestly, the producers could probably pluck 200 people for Hollywood for a tenth of the cost if they wanted to, this is how they get the ratings. ---
**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 27, 2011, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/42 "2011-01-27T05:41:56Z")
I’m still liking this season. One subtle change as been the emphasis on good singers vs bad. In past seasons it would be maddening that they’d make us endure endless streams of horrific singers or crazy people, then someone would come in who was truly great and they’d only let us hear a couple of bars of singing before cutting away. This year, they’ve done the opposite. The bad ones only get the couple of bars of singing, and they let the good ones sing quite a while. They’re also showing far more good singers than bad. I enjoy that much more. And Steven Tyler is a hoot. He’s a skeevy perv, but he’s a _nice_ skeevy perv. Like, you just know he’d bang that rocker chick who loved him, but you also kind of guess that he’d be very sweet to her until he booted her out of the dressing room and she’d go home happy. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/43 "2011-01-27T12:06:47Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > This year, they’ve done the opposite. The bad ones only get the couple of bars of singing, and they let the good ones sing quite a while. They’re also showing far more good singers than bad. I enjoy that much more. I don’t. I like watching the train wrecks. They are much more interesting than a parade of pretty girls with nice teeth. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/44 "2011-01-27T12:26:48Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I missed the last guy. What was the sob story? > **[WATCH: 'American Idol' Contestant's Heartbreaking Audition](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chris-medina-on-american-idol-sings-for-brain-damaged-girlfriend-julia-ramos_n_814650)** > > WATCH: 'American Idol' Contestant's Heartbreaking Audition ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/45 "2011-01-27T13:34:27Z")
Maya Rudolph should track down “Loving You” girl and knock her around a little for mangling Mama’s song… ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/46 "2011-01-27T14:25:49Z")
I’m enjoying this season more than I expected. I didn’t expect to like the new judges, and Randy was wearing a little thin for me. I’ve been surprised by how much I like Tyler and Lopez, and by the changes in Randy now that Simon is gone. I also enjoy the new emphasis on good singers rather than the freaks. I enjoy a freak or three per episode, but prefer to hear and see as many of the real contenders as possible. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/47 "2011-01-27T14:40:02Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Steven Tyler is cracking me up. Even with the worst singers, he keeps it together with a dead pan look of intense interest, like he is watching a cockroach crawl out of their nose. 😃 That’s a remarkably apt description of intense interest! I had an internal hissy fit with myself, vowing I was NOT going to watch AI this year, no sir, I was too ticked off. Then my curious side wheedled me into just giving it a look…just for 5 minutes. Well, now I’m hooked. Steven Tyler comes across as, no other word for it, sweet. J-Lo is beautiful. Randy is dear and familiar. I’m in it. I loved the cleaner girl with beautiful eyes, I fell in love right then and there. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/48 "2011-01-27T18:55:43Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > “He’s not a hippie! Hippies believe in SEX!” And if it wasn’t for SEX, that dweeb wouldn’t have gotten his 15 minutes of shame last night. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/49 "2011-01-27T19:02:00Z")
Hell’s Fire, Strike Some matches; F\*ck a Duck, And see what hatches!!! Steven Tyler ROCKS! ---
**Author:** ![RachelChristine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RachelChristine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RachelChristine)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/50 "2011-01-27T19:22:13Z")
I read somewhere, probably here, that the first audition round has quotas to meet. So when you are doing your 30 seconds in front of the no-name judge, you may get booted because that judge already put through 20 cute blond country chicks or whatever. From what I recall – round 1 is giant arena, with a short try-out in front of the random judges. This goes very quickly. Round 2 is in front of the producers. Round 3 is in front of THE JUDGES. And the footage of the producers and the judges can be spliced together, so the song you sing for Randy on TV may be what you really sang a week before and they weren’t there. They also sometimes give you a song to sing, so we can have those awful montages! ---
**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 27, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/51 "2011-01-27T19:57:57Z")
> [@RachelChristine](#): > > They also sometimes give you a song to sing, so we can have those awful montages! They do NOT give that song to people with talent, which makes me wonder how the no-talent hacks don’t figure it out. I know that if the producers tell me “Okay, now you need to learn ‘Party In The USA’ before your next audition,” that I probably shouldn’t bother coming back. I don’t know how the actual auditioners haven’t figured that one out yet. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/52 "2011-01-27T22:29:15Z")
Go Pac Go, go away!! Tyler is more interesting and coherent than I had thought he would be. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/53 "2011-01-28T00:17:40Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > 😃 That’s a remarkably apt description of intense interest! > > I had an internal hissy fit with myself, vowing I was NOT going to watch AI this year, no sir, I was too ticked off. Then my curious side wheedled me into just giving it a look…just for 5 minutes. Well, now I’m hooked. Steven Tyler comes across as, no other word for it, sweet. J-Lo is beautiful. Randy is dear and familiar. I’m in it. > > I loved the cleaner girl with beautiful eyes, I fell in love right then and there. That’s exactly how I felt / feel about the new judges. ---
**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 28, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/54 "2011-01-28T01:51:24Z")
Everyone has been terrible so far in Nashville. ---
**Author:** ![Barrett\_Bonden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@Barrett\_Bonden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrett_Bonden)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/55 "2011-01-28T02:01:18Z")
The fifteen-year-old was good, but she’s no Allison Iraheta. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/56 "2011-01-28T02:51:04Z")
The black farm girl was awesomely good… I thought Miss Teen Boobs was rotten, but she was put through on the strength of her awesome ‘talent’. And… The last one they were all raving over, I don’t know why the judges were all wetting their panties. She was resoundingly average. ---
**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 28, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/57 "2011-01-28T03:06:51Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > 😃 That’s a remarkably apt description of intense interest! > > I had an internal hissy fit with myself, vowing I was NOT going to watch AI this year, no sir, I was too ticked off. Then my curious side wheedled me into just giving it a look…just for 5 minutes. Well, now I’m hooked. Steven Tyler comes across as, no other word for it, sweet. J-Lo is beautiful. Randy is dear and familiar. I’m in it. > > I loved the cleaner girl with beautiful eyes, I fell in love right then and there. I will probably say this repeatedly this season - Steven Tyler is taking the show exactly the right amount of serious (and I have a whole new respect for him as a personality and a musician - he’d probably be hard to take to have around, but he’s damned entertaining). I am also liking Jennifer Lopez - she’s doing a pretty good job, I’d say. I can’t say Randy is dear to me, but he’s Randy - I’m used to him. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/58 "2011-01-28T03:12:01Z")
> [@Barrett\_Bonden](#): > > The fifteen-year-old was good, but she’s no Allison Iraheta. Thank god. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/59 "2011-01-28T04:22:01Z")
Man, I kept expecting that girl who brought in her CD to bust out into the Bed Intruder Song, she looked so fricking much like Antoine Dodson. And by the by…is there any show on TV more in need of someone checking continuity? There’s not an episode that doesn’t have massive “pull you out of the story they’re trying to sell” moments. For tonight, it was when they did the “last Nashville audition”, and apparently Jennifer ran decided to run out and change back into the outfit she wore on day one. Drives me nuts, that stuff does… ---
**Author:** ![Pliny\_the\_younger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@Pliny\_the\_younger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pliny_the_younger)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131/60 "2011-01-28T16:19:53Z")
I have to say that I like the judges so far - much less of the BS that I despised between Simon and whatever female was on the panel (Kara, looking mostly at your stupid face). I disliked that it became a show ABOUT the judges rather than the contestants. I really liked the last girl (Lauren?) singing that song to Steven Tyler. I hate that song (with the exception of when it was sung by David Cook who, IMO, can sing a damn phone book and I’d buy it) and she made me like it. Nice interplay between them. JLo is a nice balance in the group, I think. And Randy isn’t making me want to shoot him like usual. I think it will be a “thousand million percent” better year than the last two. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-week-of-1-26-1-27/569131.md?page=4)