Image Credit: Michael Becker/FOXIt’s been four days since we lost Alex Lambert, Katelyn Epperly, and Lilly Scott on American Idol, yet I’m still going through the stages of grief. Last Friday, when I filmed this week’s Idolatry with Michael Slezak, I was somewhere between denial and guilt. Why didn’t I vote Thursday night, PopWatchers? Why, why, why?!
But now, my friends, I’m onto bargaining. (You think I’d be at acceptance by now? Puh-leeze. I’m still holding a grudge about Scott Savol outlasting Constantine Maroulis in season 4. This is going to take a while.) Since I’m not going to waste Jermaine Sellers’ god’s time with my bargaining, I’ve decided to bargain with our dear Idol judges.
So here goes: Oh, Simon, Kara, Randy, and Ellen, I’ll continue to watch and vote if you do me this one favor: Please introduce a new rule this year called “The Judges Save Season 9,” in which you wipe half of the top 12 clean, bring back Alex, Katelyn, Killy, and, heck, even Joe Muñoz, and say, “America, try again!” Okay, so I know that’s not possible. But since the past two seasons of Idol have seen twists — contestants being allowed to use instruments; the judges’ save — I am hoping some kind of shocking rule will get implemented to shake up season 9. A bonus wildcard episode? (Remember: Season 2 wouldn’t have had Clay Aiken or Kim Caldwell without the wildcard.) Personally, my favorite idea comes from Idolatry commenter Mary, who wrote: “I propose a new twist, like when the judges could save a contestant. In the middle of the season, have those 4 come back, give one all or nothing performance, and have the judges or even America vote for one to get back into the competition.”
Who else agrees with Mary? Better ideas for a season 9 twist?
KATELYN
What i wish is for people to STOP COMPLAINING and accept the fact that lilly, alex and Katelyn are GONE!! VAMOOS!
Go away.
So you’re the idiot voting for Paige, Aaron and Tim?
I agree. Stop complaining. You know how the show works. You don’t call, you don’t vote–they don’t stay on.
No judges’ save either. It’s not up to the judges about who stays or goes. It’s up to us, and guess what? We made a collective mistake.
Learn from it and move on.
it’s vamos idiot! just like your response.
btw, I’d vote for Alex
I have to agree. They wouldn’t have been my choices to leave but I didn’t see any of them making the top four. The only real shocks would be Crystal or Casey leaving
No, Jen. I don’t care that they’re gone but I’m voting for Lee, Crystal & Casey. Because they’re way better than the ones eliminated, except maybe Lilly. I would switch out Katie & Lilly though.
Hmmmmm Vamos….you must be a Andrew Garcia fan.
f off
There should be a judges EXODUS at the end of the season.
Get rid of all of them after Simon leaves.
Yes, no more judges. Please!! That’s the only twist I would want to see happen this season.
YES! Bring back all of them! Katelyn had a Kelly Clarkson quality to her voice. Lilly was all about song choice. Alex showed the greatest one-week improvement ever from the top 20 to the top 16. Even Todrick had a voice and the look. America’s going to regret its picks this week if Katie, Alex, Tim, Lacey, and Paige all blow.
Katelyn & Todrick were never really that great. Loved Alex, and I think Tim has a really good voice, he just looks like a deer in the headlights. Not wild about Katie, Lacey should have already been gone, after she butchered Landslide! I wanted to see the final 4 as Crystal, Alex, Casey & Lilly.
and didi sounds like she’s singing in a tin can…. she & lacey should have gone home last week….
They should either change the voting to who who should be eliminated as opposed to who should stay, or take a cue from other shows and only allow a maximum number of votes per phone line. If I had to pick I’d go with the latter. It’s crazy that some one can vote over 1,000 times in the 2 hour window if they want.
I’ve always thought that the number of times a person votes should translate to the # of downloads they purchase. So if I vote for Bowersox I get charged .99 and I get a download of the song she sang that night. I might even go crazy and do it 3 times but 1000? Not a chance. Put your $$ where your vote is. Of course that won’t fly – and it isn’t even really fair to those that can’t afford it – but it would stop the crazy manic voters. And it would show who really has the most marketability once the show is over.
Allie: You’ve got the right idea. A single download purchase should be worth 100 or heck even 1000 text messages when determining the tallies.
Pre, Tween and Teen Girls form the main backbone of the Idol viewing and voting audience. They are the ones who can text the quickest and fastest, and they are the ones who are ruining idol! They are the ones who vote for the teenage boys on Idol all the time. DAMN YOU TEENAGE GIRLS!
Not for Alex, he wasn’t outstanding.
There SHOULD be for Todrick (one of the best guy singers and fun to watch) and Katelyn!! It’s so obvious Idol kicked her off for “not caring”, and Todrick for singing “gospel” or “broadway”, which they assume translates to “won’t sell records”. I hate AI this season.
No, Todrick hit the bricks because he stunk the first two weeks of the semi-finals. If he had been good, America (not Idol, but AMERICA) wouldn’t have kicked him to the curb, regardless of being “too Broadway.” You remember Adam Lambert, right?
Adam could kill a rock song without sounding Broadway though. Plus he was an early fan favorite singing ballads, not Broadway style.
And yes, Idol kicks off the contestants, NOT America. It’s obvious by how many people have been kicked off who are the good singers and fan faves.
I think that is a great idea. At the VERY least they need to reinstate the judges save b/c at this rate the final four will be Tim, Aaron, Katie and Lacey and everyone over the age of 13 will have stopped watching.
Hah exactly… at this rate, Crystal and Siobhan won’t even make the tour.
Idol definitely needs either a judges’ save or a wildcard round this year. Well, I guess a judges’ save is too late… but there should be SOMETHING to bring them back! I like Mary’s idea.
*raises hand* Over 13 and stopped watching after Thursday’s eliminations. Alex and Lilly should have stayed. They didn’t, so I left too.
I only started watching after I saw Lilly sing “Lullaby of Birdland”. I will stop now that she’s gone. They can bring Anoop back as contestant 13, but suddenly they can’t right America’s wrongs and bring back a gifted talent like Lilly? No wonder their ratings are slipping. Wake up AI!
Why do people keep underestmating who forms the main backbone of the Idol viewing and voting audience? Pre, Tween and Teen Girls. That’s why David Archuleta lasted so long, that’s why Tim Urban and Aaron Kelly are still here. Heck, that’s probably why Chicken Little made the final 10 a few seasons back. They are the ones who can text the quickest and fastest, and they are the ones who are ruining idol! DAMN YOU TEENAGE GIRLS!
For now, I’ve jumped ship for the season…but could be lured back if the judges do save Katelyn, Adam and/or Lilly.
There’s only ONE way to fix IDOL.
Change the voting so you vote for WHO GOES HOME, not for who stays!!
Then, each week, we’d get rid of the worst instead of having good people (whose talent is building) getting voted off because they weren’t quite the best.
That just means the most polarising contestants go, and the most boring ones people have no opinions about stay in.
Forget the judges’ save. Instead, use the method that DWTS uses where the judges rate each performance and then combine their rankings, weighted at 50%, with the rankings of the call-in vote.
That would be a great idea if we could trust the judges opinions. I, for one, don’t.
Seriously, can the Idol fans rise up and make this happen?
I woke up this morning singing “Everybody Knows” with a knot in my stomach. This isn’t normal! Why do I have such a strong “What if” feeling about Alex and Katelyn? Why didn’t everyone vote more??
Brandy, I think it’s that the pool of talent is so shallow this year. SO to lose two or three people that appeared to have potential before the season begins is that more glaring.
I was actually MAD at the show last Thursday; I was looking forward to weeks ahead of listening to Lilly and Alex. I guess the show is just for teenagers, which I am not! There are 2 more contestants I enjoy, so I may not quit, yet, but I’m getting close.
Ditto on the MAD part and the looking forward to Alex and Lilly. I also agree that there are only 2 contestants worth watching. However, where we differ is on continuing to watch the show or not. For the first time in 6 years, my friends and I are standing by our heated words, “I’LL NEVER WATCH THIS SHOW AGAIN!!!” Perhaps Simon’s X-FACTOR will fix what’s broken with AI. Let me know how Siobhan and Crystal do (since I won’t be watching).
This show should be handled in the same way SYTYCD is. The judges get the final call until the top so many contestants are chosen. That way, you end up with the strongest group possible and after that it’s up to the public to make ridiculous calls. I really wish they would’ve done that this season on AI.
Totally agree! Have been thinking that the whole season. Was stunned and horrified to see such talented people leave so early.
Yes, yes, yes. Have the viewers pick the bottom 3. Have the judges send someone home. Nigel, you know what you’re doing.
No, no, and NO! The judges are the same ones that gave us this ragtag group to vote on in the first place.
And remember – last season Simon would have sent Kris and Alison home weeks into the competition and Danny Gokey would be the American Idol.
No, No, and NO!!!!
VERY, VERY WEAK TALENT THIS YEAR. I STOPPED WATCHING AND I SEE THE RATINGS FELL A BIT TOO.
The problem with the show that has always been, is that America has to much power. There’s no other show that allows America so much power. If the judges even had a small part in deciding who goes home then Adam Lambert would have been last year’s American Idol, and Katleyn and Lilly would still be around this season. There’s just unfortunetly nothing we can do about it. It’s been this horrible way since at least Season 3. It turns into a popularity contest or a who’s better looking contest and that’s just the way it is. A judge’s save should be instituted this year because unfortunetly with so many bad contestants Bowersox might be outdone by all those pity votes for the crappy people. I am sure that’s what happened to Lilly and Bowersox and Sibougn to a certain extent are in serious danger of prematurely going home. If Bowersox wasn’t on this season I doubt I would be watching, the talent is just that bad.
I’m proud to say my thirteen year old daughter has voted like crazy…for Crystal Bowersox. Last season, it was Allison Iraheta she voted tirelessly for. Some tweens/teens do have good taste!