Maybe I just haven’t seen that many of them, but I don’t remember a recent AI thread. I think it’s wonderful!
Now if Fox would just quit littering up every other show they have with those annoying promos.
As soon as one of those things pops up, I hit MUTE!
There is a 5 page thread for last week’s American Idol, and there should be one for tonight starting up any second. If anything, I think it’s just getting bigger and bigger.
I don’t know how to link to threads, but last week’s thread is on page 2.
I guess they just passed before my eyes and I didn’t see them. Or maybe I just wished that were true. 
We’ve just conditioned ourselves to ignore all things American Idol 
From its Wikipedia page. All numbers were cited; I just didn’t include them.
Besides the girl from the original AI have any of the winners actually went on to become any kind of idols? I would imagine if they haven’t actually been producing successful musicians the show my decline in popularity.
Beautiful. Thanks. So it’s not just me.
re Digital C’s question: Yes, “American Idol” has produced Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, as well as Chris Daughtry whose album has sold (much to my surprise) well over 3 million albums. It also jump started the career of Jennifer Hudson, who went on to win an Academy Award. Others have been moderately successful, but those are the stars the show’s produced, and the reason thousands of wanna-bees still turn out for auditions.
Oh and the current champion, David Cook, is extremely talented but it’s too soon to say how successful his career will be, other than his platinum record.
(I can’t stand the judges & their cruelty on this show; I’ve only seen it a couple times - last year when I fell for David Cook and his music. )
I haven’t followed the show much at all, but I think some of the winners won purely on fan sympathy votes. I watched the finals in which Fantasia won a few years back, and I’m convinced people were voting for her because she was a young, single mother, not because she was a good performer. I thought the girl who placed 2nd was much better (speaking as a musician/singer myself). Similarly, I remember my roommate, an older man, rooting (though he never voted) for Taylor Hicks simply because of his gray hair.
It’s interesting that a number of 2nd-place contestants have gone on to more success than some of the winners. Kelly Pickler, Bucky Covington, etc.
David Cook’s first album went over 1 million sales a couple of weeks ago. He broke the Beatle’s record for having the most singles on the Hot 100 billboard charts at the same time.
I’d say so far he’s had a pretty big success. If he can follow up with a sophomore release that has a little better songwriting on it and a big hit or two, he could be easily as successful as Daughtry, and he has potential to be even bigger because unlike Daughtry, he isn’t a dick. He’s also got a much better voice. His problem so far is that he seems a little too locked into the same pattern for his music, which is actually getting a little dated now. He would have been monster in the 1990’s. Now he needs to add a little more sophistication.
I have a novel idea:
They shouldn’t have had the show every year.
It becomes too predictable, too boring, it stretches the talent, and the truth is you can’t pump out seven stars in seven years and have them all succeed on the same stage. The show began to get tired and dull, as evidenced by the unfortunate decision a few years ago to devote most of the audition shows to clowns (which they’ve scaled back on.)
It’s worth noting that of those who’ve found a LOT of success - they all find some success by sheer recognition - they’re all different style of music. Two winners have been really huge, Kelly Clarkson (belting pop) and Carrie Underwood (country) and two late-round losers, Clay Aiken (adult contemporary) and Chris Daughtry (rock.) Even if you count Jen Hudson, her success has been in, of all things, acting. There’s not enough room for all the winners and popular runners-up. People get tired of it. You can only buy so many albums, and soon the Idols are competing with each other; do I buy Grey-Haired Guy’s CD, or the new Kelly Clarkson CD?
Had they had the show every two years or maybe even every three, the buildup and anticipation would be frakking incredible, especially after the first winner had become a significant star. You wouldn’t see ratings down; I think they’d be off the charts, higher than the Super Bowl every week. What they’d lose not holding it every year they’d get back in spades. It’d be special and awesome for the same reason the Olympics or the World Cup are.
As to this, The Pickler and Bucky did not finish second. The girl who was beaten out by Fantasia Burrino was Diana DeGarmo, whose post-Idol career has not been as successful as Fantasia’s. I’d disagree wholeheartedly with your assessment on two counts; I think Burrino was legitimately a superior performer and DeGarmo one of the weaker runners-up in the show’s history, and I doubt her being a black single mother won Burrino much in the way of votes.
A lot of why the show isn’t exciting or suspenseful anymore is simply because it’s become clear that you don’t have to win in order to have a successful career. In fact you’re probably better off not winning (not sure - is everyone in the top 10 required to sign an album contract with 19?) Add to that the never-ending judging and voting shenanigans, and it gets really old.
Well, like I said I don’t really follow the show. I just knew that those two hadn’t actually won, but still got record contracts. Where did they place?
Fair enough. This may have been simply a stylistic preference on my part - I freely admit I’m not at all a fan of the typical R&B diva style of singing (male or female - too much of it seems — to my ears — to be the backup singers actually singing the song while the “lead singer” just adds a bunch of embellishments). Though I got to hear Fantasia sing the national anthem before a World Series game or the All-Star Game, and thought she sounded absolutely wretched. To be fair, singing in a ballpark is never ideal, but I’ve still heard plenty of amateurs give much better performances of the national anthem.
I wish were going away. Tonight’s AI episode is being preempted, but not to worry, they’ll take over Bones’ slot yet again on Thursday to make up for it. Grrr. Why couldn’t they show it at 9 tonight instead of a House repeat? It’s not as though AI isn’t shuffled all through their schedule anyway. 
You are right, Bucky did not win. However, he’s gone on to have quite a bit of success. He has had 3 top ten hits from his first album. He’s got a new single coming out the first part of April called, “I Want My Life Back” and he also has a second album that is due out on September 8th. He’s doing great and has quite a following.
If you want to discuss cultural zeitgeist as reflected in SDMB threads, you have the right thesis but the wrong show. *Survivor *threads used to go on for pages. Now, each week’s thread barely hits page 2.
Touche’. But I like Survivor! But you make an excellent point. The SDMB Cultural Barometer?