One of the things that really gets on my nerves is reality shows, especially the likes of Big Brother as it’s full of nobody’s and for the past what 5 years that X Factor has been going, I enjoy the audition round, but that is about it. However since 2003 I believe it was, I found myself addicted with the American version of X Factor/Pop Idol, called American Idol.

What is the difference between American Idol and X Factor I hear you asking? Talent is the main difference, I’m sure the people on this site who watch American Idol will agree with me, the talent on American Idol during the Top Ten bit of the show is outstanding and you really do find yourself struggling to choose a favourite, there is your odd awful singer that somehow gets through, however no BAD singer has won the show, unlike X Factor. I can’t remember the guys name, but I still have no idea how he won because he sings out of tune all the damn time.

The way the show works is a lot like X Factor, you have the audition rounds which go up and down America, this year they even went to Puerto Rico to find two great singers there, however both of them are not in the completion anymore.

The show is created by Simon Fuller, and unlike the Pop Idol show over here where us English people didn’t really get the concept, American Idol is probably THE biggest show in America and millions of people tune in to watch the show each week.

Previous Winners

The show has been going since 2002 and is in it’s 8th year now, there has been rumours that Simon is going to stop after 2011 and the 10th series of the show as he believes it will have run it’s course by then, but I think me and a lot of American’s will be missing our daily year of American Idol if they get rid of it.

Not only is the show highly successful in America, the winners are highly successful, I know this is one big difference between the American show and X Factor which has produced ONE good singer, Leona. American Idol has produced lots of artists which have in their own right done good. Here is a low down of the seasons and the people that have made a career out of American Idol.

Season 1

Winner = Kelly Clarkson

Probably the MOST famous idol in her own right, Kelly won the series back in 2002 and has since released 3 albums all of which have done brilliantly around the world. She is a pop singer mainly but has a great side of rock to her voice and the songs she sings are brilliant. In March 2009 she released her most recent album called All I Ever Wanted. It wasn’t as good as her previous released Breakaway but it was still brilliant. I’m not even going to talk about the HUGE disappointment between Breakaway and All I Ever Wanted called My December. Not good.

Runner Ups = Justin Guarini

Most of us Brits probably have never heard of Justin before, I was still a tween when the first series of American Idol was released and Sky was a foreign concept to us so I never watched it, Justin Guarini was runner up to Kelly Clarkson and straight after the show ended they created a film together called From Justin to Kelly which is now called one of the worst films ever made. He is now a host on the TV Guide Network.

Season 2

Winner = Ruben Studdard

Like Season 1, I never managed to get to watch Season 2, however Ruben has been in quite a few films and has preformed countless times on the show over the years. He was the second winner and had a soul type of voice, there was a lot of controversy surrounding his win, as there were reports that Clay Aiken’s phone lines were down. He is however the winner and has released 3 albums over the past 7 years.

Runner Ups = Clay Aiken

Clay has done just as well as Ruben and has released 4 albums in over 7 years. He is probably more famous than Ruben is and appears a lot on the American Idol shows when they want to bring people back.

Season 3

Winner = Fantasia Barrino

Fantastia stood out throughout the show because of her wacky personality, in my opinion she did not have the best voice, there were a lot bigger and better singers than her but she has gone on to do pretty well. She is an R&B singer and was the first ever Idol to go to number one with her first single.

Runner Up 1= Diana DeGarmo

Diana came second and released an album called Blue Skies however it didn’t go too well and she asked to be released from her contract. Now she has played many roles on Broadway.

Runner Up 2: Jennifer Hudson

I’m sure she is probably one of the most well known Idols even though she came 6th within the competition. This is because after she was kicked out, she went on to win an Oscar for best supporting actress in the musical Dreamgirls. Since then she’s stared in a ton of films from Sex and The City to The Secret Life of Bees.

Season 4

Winner = Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood is probably the second most famous Idol, she is very unique from the other Idols as she is a country singer and is the only ever Idol to sweep all three major music awards in a single season. Her first album Some Hearts went on number 2 on the billboard.

Runner Ups =

The reason I’ve put no one there is because the runners ups for this season have not really done much, the two that I thought could win the show, Constantine Maroulis and Bo Bice both released an album but they didn’t really go anywhere at all.

Season 5

Winner = The Grey Haired Guy, um Taylor Hicks

HE SHOULD NOT HAVE WON. He has done nothing really since, I’ve not heard of any of his tracks and I keep my ear open for Idols and there were some amazing singers within this year and they were ignored for this guy.

Runner Up 1= Katherine McPhee

Katherine was a great singer, she should have won it after my favourite one was booted out at number 4. She was such a great singer compared to Hicks and I think she’s done pretty well since.

Runner Up 2= Chris Daughtry

I loved this guy right from the start of the show, he was a pure rocker and he had one of the best voices in the show. It was a huge shock to lose him at fourth place; however it probably did him a huge favour not winning the show. He released his self titled album in 2006 and that album is the fastest selling debut rock album ever. His new album is due for release in July, I can’t wait.

Season 6

Winner = Jodin Sparks

She deserved to win, in my opinion this was The weakest American Idol season ever, Jordin is a good singer, but if she was faced against Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood and many other stars of the show, she would not have won. She is one of the most famous Idol’s however, especially here in the UK because of her duet with the wife beater Chris Brown called No Air. Her album was good, but not brilliant.

Runner Ups = Not even worth talking about.

Season 7

Winner = David Cook

He at the moment owns the place of Best Album in my collection, I loved this guy right from the get go, he had this rock voice and this ability to change well known songs around and sing them amazingly well. He has only released one album so far, but I’m sure as hell wishing he’d release one album each year. Nice.

Runner Up = David Archuleta

The final of the show, a lot of people were betting that a David would win the show because it was David Cook vs David Archuleta. I knew it would have to be Cook that won because Archuleta wouldn’t really cope with Idol pressure, he released an album a few weeks before Cook and it was poor. So glad Cook won now.

Season 8

Winner = Kris Allen

Kris is a fantastic singer however, I’m not sure if he will be as successful as Adam will be, even without the title.

Runner Up = Adam Lambert

This guy is going to go far, either he will release an amazing solo album, or he’ll take the offer of becoming Queen’s lead singer. Either way, he’ll be known.

The Judges & Host

I think there are very few people who have not heard of the ‘lead’ judge on American Idol, Simon Cowell over the past 9 years or so has turned himself from the man with too high trousers, to one of the most influential people in the entertainment business and still have too high trousers. He is the force behind shows like Pop Idol, American Idol, X Factor and recently Britains Got Talent. He seems to have a lot of power over people, with some, mainly American’s, loving the ground he walks on. I myself think he knows what he’s talking about, but half the time, he talks out of his ass. Simon is the reason why American Idol has gone for so long and with rumours of him leaving after the 10th season, will the show go on without him or will it be cancelled.

Randy Jackson is the cool member of the judges panel, he has some very weird sayings, calling contestants DAWG, however he is probably more deserving to sit on that panel than the likes of Simon and even Paula. Randy is an award winning producer, he got his break with the band Journey and is now one of the most recognised music industry experts. He really knows what he’s talking about, more so than Simon in some cases.

Paula is the next judge, she is a small little thing that has the tendancy to get too over emotional and does way too many stupid dances when the contenstants are performing. I still have no idea who she really is, I have not heard any of her music by choice, and don’t think I ever will.

Kara DioGuardi should be the shows best judge, she really has done amazingly well for herself within the music industry, more so than a lot of the other judges, however she annoys the fricking hell out of me. She is an American singer songwriters, record producer and has worked with the likes of Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and even her fellow judge Paula Abdul. She should know what she’s talking about, but I don’t think she’s really managed to fit in as well as I think Simon hoped she would. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s kicked to the curb when it comes to Season 9.

Ryan Seacrest is probably the face of American Idol, he’s hosted it for 8 years now and he hasn’t aged a bit. He is bubbly and is very well known and loved in America, he is probably the equivalent of Ant & Dec to America. He has some brilliant fights with Simon and takes no nonsense from him. Plus, he’s pretty easy on the eye.

2009 Contestants

When I started writing this review, the show was only a month away from the finale, there should have been 6 people left in the show, however due to the save, there are 7 which means the week after, two contestants were kicked to the curb and have their dreams shattered.

Season 7 which was probably my favourite season of the them all, it was pretty obvious from the start that David Cook or David Archuletta were going to take the title, however this year, I have no clue who could win the show. Each of the remaining 7 have so much talent and all of them could win, there are few that are more popular with America, which will probably mean something when it comes to voting, however in my opinion any of these 7 could win the show.

The Winner

Kris Allen: The true underdog, and of course he is just gorgeous. Kris was unknown really compared to the rest of the people when the live shows began, however his soulful acoustic rock voice won me over, and one of his performances I have had on repeat for the past three weeks, it was so good. Kris went on to win the show, and beat his runner up, Adam by a lot of votes. I myself would have bet a lot of money on Adam winning, as he was a lot better of a singer than Kris, however Kris’ voice is fantastic and all in all, he deserved to win just as much as Adam had. Him winning was probably the biggest shock in Idol history though.

The Runner Up

Adam Lambert: He is 26 years old, and is THE MOST talked about Idol contestant ever, and for good and bad reasons. When I first heard him sing Bohemian Rapsody in the auditions I was amazed at his vocal range and then in the Hollywood round he sung Believe by Cher, there is no way of explaining his vocal range, unless you go and hear it for yourself because seriously, his vocals are out of this world. You either love or hate this guy, but his performances of songs like Tracks Of My Tears, One by U2 and Crying by Aerosmith are just out of this world.

3-7

Danny Gokey: Danny was the contestant that stood out from me from that start, his performance of I Hope You Dance in the Hollywood rounds made me fall in love, he looks a bit like Robert Downey Jnr and has the same sort of sound that Downey Jnr has when he sings (check out Ally McBeal). Danny has a very good chance of winning the show; however he has recently had a hard time picking out songs which the judges like. He was in the semi finals however was kicked out at the last stage, even though his performance on the semi finals was probably his best.

Allison Iraheta: When she first started this competition she was 16, and had the same maturity in her voice that the likes of Pink has. She is very much like a mini Pink and I think her first album might be quite juvenile, however I do think her second release will get her known and she will become one of the greatest singers Idol has produced. Check out her versions

Pictures of ITV2: American Idol 2009

American Idol 2009

of Cry and I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing, or her duet of Slow Ride with Adam was just fantastic. Their voices complemented each other fantastically well.

Matt Giraud: Matt was a fantastic performer, however after a few bum weeks, he found himself being booted. It was right, as the other four were 10 x better than him, but I really do think this guy will be releasing an album in the near future and hey, it might even do better than the winners, Kris’. Matt has a very soulful kind of voice, he did one of The Fray’s songs and I thought it was an odd choice because Isaac, the lead singer from the Fray and Matt have almost identical voices.

Lil Rounds: She was probably one of the biggest disappointments of the show, when I watched her in the audition rounds, I seriously thought she had a shot of winning it, but show after show, she chose the wrong song, or sang it with way too many bum notes that she just had to go.

Anoop Desai: The Judges and the Producers of the show, changed all the rules for this guy. When it came to the Main Live Shows, there should have just been a Top 12, however, they could not choose and changed the rules so Anoop could go in. He has a lovely voice, but I really can’t see him releasing a successful album.

Scott MacIntyre: This guy was the first ever blind guy to appear on the show, a fantastic pianist, but not really a good singer. I found it quite annoying that good people like Alexis and Jorge went out, when this guy stayed in because of the sympathy vote.

Megan Joy: Oh My God. What were the judges THINKING. This girl cannot sing, and this was also the reason she was kicked out in the end. She has a very unique voice, but on 99% of songs sounds painful.

Michael Sarver: Good, but I can imagine him in a pub, not winning the biggest show in America. He was sweet, but that was it, there wasn’t too much good and unique about his voice.

Alexis Grace: I have to say I don’t remember too much about this girl, she had a good voice, but I think ultimately she could have never have won the show.

Jorge Nunez: The Puerto Rico hottie with quite a nice voice. I wanted him to stay for the cuteness vote, but he was one of the first to go.

Jasmine Murray: Awful singer, should have never have got through.

ITV2 & American Idol

American Idol is only really watched by a small percentage of the United Kingdom, not only is it pushed onto a Thursday night and Friday night schedule but it’s also placed on ITV2. This means that it is very hard to watch without Sky or Freeview and I am going to struggle to watch it next year at University.

If you have never had a chance to watch American Idol, maybe because you didn’t know what show it was on, you will have to wait until next January for the next show and I believe that might be the end as Simon for some reason is choosing his crap show X Factor, which has produced some of the crappest singers known to man, over a show which on the final the past Friday got 100 Million Votes.

The Final

I was very shocked when the only girl left in the final four got kicked out and left the three boys, mainly because I would have bet good money on Allison and Adam being in the final, as both of them really will do fantastically well, even without the title.

On Tuesday night in America (Thursday over here), Kris and Adam preformed 3 songs each. One that they’ve preformed before, one that Simon Fuller chose for them and then the one that they would release ‘when’ or ‘if’ they win the show. The judge Kara DioGuardi wrote the song, and I think the song should have completely been scraped, because the song was written for Adam’s vocals not Kris’ as he struggled to hit all of the notes and now he’s gotta release this piss of a song.

The actual final was not shown till Wednesday (Friday here), I myself was cheated when I went on Facebook and saw a picture of Kris Allen with the words beside it saying, American Idol Winner 2009. The show however was a huge show, and really was worth watching.

They had every Idol contestant from the Top 13 back and they all preformed their own little songs in different ways or another. Even Steve Martin came on to play guitar whilst probably the two worst singers that the shows seen (Megan and Michael) sung badly in front of him.

Allison got to perform with Cindy Lauper singing time after time which was fantastic in my opinion. She really showed that she should have been in the final, I really think she could have won the show. She will without a doubt release an album in the near future and it may not be brilliant as it could be, but in a few years she’ll be huge.

The show also included David Cook, probably THE best Idol and still the best Idol in my opinion singing probably his most moving song, Permanent. A song which was written by Cook and put onto his album, it was written about his brother Adam who was suffering from Brain Cancer and who sadly died before the finals of American Idol 2009.

Kris got to perform with Nicole Kiddman’s husband (sorry don’t know his name) and Adam got to perform with the ledgendary Kiss. The best portion of the night however, was the song before the results, Adam and Kris performing We Are The Champigons with Queen themselves, a truly fantastic moment, which was really the best bit of the night. There is even speculation that Adam may become the lead singer for Queen, even Brian May (guitarist of Queen) has said they are having ‘conversations’ with Adam about it.

Then it came to the results and Kris beat Adam to the title, I think all the rumours that have been about since, that Adam didn’t win because of the rumours that he was gay, is just stupid. I think that takes away a lot from Kris and he did deserve the title just as much as Adam did.

Conclusion

Kris won, and it should be a few months, usually around about December that his album will probably be released, and Adam’s should be around that time as well. It was a fantastic final and in my opinion the best American Idol yet. Everyone in the Top 6 was talented, no doubt about it. I know for a fact that the Top 4 will be releasing albums in the near future.

Songs To Check Out

Adam Lambert- Tracks Of My Tears, One, Mad World
Kris Allen- Falling Slowly, Ain’t No Sunshine, To Make You Feel My Love
Allison Iraheta- Cry, Slow Ride, Time After Time
Danny Gokey- What Hurts The Most

Predictions

Kris Allen- A semi successful album, but will not live up to the success of Daughtry’s or David Cook’s album.

Adam Lambert- A very successful album, or no solo album at all, maybe he’ll be the new Queen lead singer.

Danny Gokey- A semi successful album, only really successful in America though.

Allison Iraheta- An okay first album, however in 2/3 years when she releases her second, it’ll be amazing.

(C) hope this helps and I’m looking forward to American Idol 2010, Season 9.

Kirsty