American Idol 2016 - The end is nigh!

[Tusk]

More to the point, in 15 years of the show's history, 10% of that list comes from the final season

[mercfan3]

More to the point, in 15 years of the show's history, 10% of that list comes from the final season

Right. It's more short memory than anything. Idol auditions aren't the same thing as Voice Blinds. They aren't ever "special" so it's hard to rank. The only one a majority of idol fans would remember is probably Scotty's.

[riley]

These lists can be annoying. Some of the performances ahead of Haley's are like WTF? Fancy, for example, is not a top ten Idol performance, although it might be a good PMJ plug.

I agree BUT the fact that Haley is even on these lists is great for her right now. She was on the last season of Idol as a mentor which was really cool and is making lists of top notable performances as part of Idol history. With all the contestants that have been on Idol over the last 15 years it is really cool that she is making them even though they many not be not totally accurate.

[Rcul4u998]

These lists can be annoying. Some of the performances ahead of Haley's are like WTF? Fancy, for example, is not a top ten Idol performance, although it might be a good PMJ plug.

I agree BUT the fact that Haley is even on these lists is great for her right now. She was on the last season of Idol as a mentor which was really cool and is making lists of top notable performances as part of Idol history. With all the contestants that have been on Idol over the last 15 years it is really cool that she is making them even though they many not be not totally accurate.

"Fancy", in my opinion, is the best Idol performance since Candice Glover's "Lovesong" in S12. And it is also the most recent best performance. Nothing this season has topped it for me yet.

[mercfan3]

I felt the same way about "earned it"...I thought it was the best performance since season 11

[Rcul4u998]

I felt the same way about "earned it"...I thought it was the best performance since season 11

I definitely felt that "Earned It" was Avalon's best performance, but her voice overall was a little to whiny for me to really be amazed by any of her performances. I'm not sure why, but there was just something a little off-putting about her voice, which might be why the voter response wasn't very strong. I felt the same way about Gianna, Sonika, and Olivia, as well.

[mercfan3]

Really? I've heard very few complaints about Avalon's voice. Although I don't know that Avalon would ever "amaze" people with a vocal. She's extremely good, her runs are excellent, she's a great rhythm singer..but she's a rhythm singer..that doesn't usually inspire "wow." However, "Earned It" was special to me, because of the whole package. She looked like the celebrity guest performer with a bunch of amateurs during that performance. Just her presence and charisma and confidence..and great vocal. And all she did was sit on a stool.

I think Avalon's elimination was for similar reasons as Sarina's elimination, Emily's elimination, Erika and Elise's elimination, Pia's elimination, Haley consistently being in the bottom 3, Katelynn Epperly not even making the top 12, Alexis Grace's elimination, Carly Smithson and Shioban's elimination...

Around season 7 it became really difficult for a woman over the age of 20 to do well (who wasn't a country singer. It became hard for women and minorities in general, but this group specifically seemed to really struggle). They don't have a built in fanbase, so they have to pick exactly the right songs and they have to be better than everyone else.

"Earned it" was pretty much considered the best performance of the night across the board..but song wise, it was a young pretty woman expressing her sexuality and confidence on a current R&B song. There's a lot of turnoffs for the idol demo there.

Haley, I think benefitted in several ways. First, the themes helped her choose songs that the audience liked. Pia had sung ballads for weeks and then went with a Tina Turner...when she's a stiff performer. Avalon sang a Chris Brown song (twice), a Justin Bieber song, a Shawn Mendez song, and a song from The Weekend. Can't do that. Meanwhile, Haley sang Bennie, a Janis song, a Led Zeppelin song, an Animals song..essentially..she took up that classic rock genre that a lot of the audience likes..AND she was better than everyone else every week. (Something she had to do to stay.) Haley also became a victim, which made her more accessible to the audience. A lot of times these women get a "two cool for school" vibe given to them on the show, which makes them seem less down to earth (which the audience likes.)

Gianna just wasn't ready...Sonika and Olivia took up the "bot" criticism that always happens to the younger female non country singing contestants. (The women can't win.)


I actually liked this group a lot better than the past three seasons (Although on a technical standpoint, none of these contestants are as good as Candice) and wish we got a full season of them. Trent, La'Porsha, and Avalon were very good, IMO. Sonika, Olivia, Tristan and Lee could have really grown as both artists and vocalists had they gotten the chance (instead of the rushed format)..of course, the truth is they should have gone with older contestants who would have been ready, but that's a different argument..(And those contestants fell into the women in their early twenties category..)

[Rcul4u998]

"Earned it" was pretty much considered the best performance of the night across the board..but song wise, it was a young pretty woman expressing her sexuality and confidence on a current R&B song. There's a lot of turnoffs for the idol demo there.

It was no question the best performance of the night, especially considering she was singing for a judge's save as a bottom 3 contestant. I just meant that her voice might have been off-putting in the way that it's not that bubbly pop/country voice that teenagers seem drawn to on the show, and anything out of that demographic suffers votes-wise. She's actually definitely better than most of the top 10 was, seeing as my favorite, Jenn, was sent home in the semis. (The highness in her voice was just off-putting for me personally, but she had a lot of things going against her in the voting demographic, as you described).

I still think she has the potential to have a huge singing career ahead of her, maybe the most label-ready contestant of the entire year.

[mercfan3]

Ah, I see what you are saying. Although I'd say she actually got a lot of teenager fans, and that it's their parents that don't like it. (They don't like the current R&B song picks, either.)

She's smart and ambitious and seems to be all for using the platform Idol gave her. But she'll have to, it's not like Idol is a showcase for labels anymore.

I liked Jenn a lot too, but she didn't have a good live performance. Which was a shame because her youtube videos were very good.

[Rcul4u998]

Ah, I see what you are saying. Although I'd say she actually got a lot of teenager fans, and that it's their parents that don't like it. (They don't like the current R&B song picks, either.)

She's smart and ambitious and seems to be all for using the platform Idol gave her. But she'll have to, it's not like Idol is a showcase for labels anymore.

I liked Jenn a lot too, but she didn't have a good live performance. Which was a shame because her youtube videos were very good.

Jenn's awkwardness is definitely what did her in. She has an amazing voice, but such an awkward stage presence, which is hard to overlook on a show like AI.