Haley appearing on Idol - Feb 18 2016

[Tusk]

lyndseyparker
Season 10 @americanidol reunion with @thepaulmcdonald, @haleyreinhart & @durbinrock #season10forever

[Miguel]

Paul was performing there.

[Tusk]

The CosmopolitanVerified account ‏@Cosmopolitan_LV 7m7 minutes ago
Honored to have had three #AmericanIdol alums jam with us. #IdolMoments #IdolFinale Cc: @CHRIS_Daughtry @Kelly_Clarkson @HaleyReinhart

[Tusk]

Daniel Fienberg ‏@TheFienPrint 23m23 minutes ago
I look forward to the “People we couldn’t figure out a genre for” group with Haley Reinhart et al. #AmericanIdol #IdolFinale

-Television Critic for The Hollywood Reporter.

He wrote this article about AI: Critic's Picks: Top 10 'American Idol' Finalists

He placed Haley 7th

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Kent Boyd ‏@Kent_Boyd
One of my all time favorite American idols was the lovely @HaleyReinhart Tell Me Yours!!! #AmericanIdol

162K followers followed by MJ and Shirley Halperin

[dswim2]

Could you imagine the show coming back from commercial with Haley singing HOTRS acapella?

[JMT]

Watched the Idol series Finale last night, after telling myself I'd skip it knowing Haley couldn't be there. It was definitely interesting seeing so many of the past contestants, and I thought it was generally entertaining. Obviously it would have been nice to see Haley take her proper place among the contestants-- and I'm sure she wishes she could have performed (she's been such a good Idol Soldier). While she would have received an extra 20-30 secs of exposure on TV, it's far better for her to be off doing her own thing, promoting herself, making money. She's on the cusp of such great things IMO.

As someone who thinks Haley is the best singer on the planet , it would have been fun, however, to compare her voice to all of the other Idol 'greats'. Virtually everyone who performed last night sounded just the same as I remembered them (some worse, actually). Haley, as good as she was on the show, has gotten BETTER, much better, in fact. What would have been fun, is for the audience in theater and on TV to recognize that fact. Oh well.

It's a great day to be a Halien!!!

[john]

Watched the Idol series Finale last night, after telling myself I'd skip it knowing Haley couldn't be there. It was definitely interesting seeing so many of the past contestants, and I thought it was generally entertaining. Obviously it would have been nice to see Haley take her proper place among the contestants-- and I'm sure she wishes she could have performed (she's been such a good Idol Soldier). While she would have received an extra 20-30 secs of exposure on TV, it's far better for her to be off doing her own thing, promoting herself, making money. She's on the cusp of such great things IMO.

...It's a great day to be a Halien!!!

It is a great day to be a Halien!

I watched bits and pieces of the show, and some was pretty good. Also saw lots of tweets about Haley not being in the show as well as comments on places like TVLine. At least she had the opportunity to mentor and perform two duets on the show this year. I would take 20-30 seconds of exposure to an audience of 10 million, over a short set as a non-headliner at a small venue, but I think it hardy matters. It was nice to see supportive tweets from folks like Ray Chew, who did not seen out many special shout outs.

[mercfan3]

There were some great moments in it. I was actually more upset than anything that they didn't let the Season 15 kids sing at all.

Those kids got a shorter season, no studios until top 5. No tour. And weren't a part of their own finale. They were actually a pretty good group too..It would have been nice for them to get their full package.

[dswim2]

There were some great moments in it. I was actually more upset than anything that they didn't let the Season 15 kids sing at all.

Those kids got a shorter season, no studios until top 5. No tour. And weren't a part of their own finale. They were actually a pretty good group too..It would have been nice for them to get their full package.

I agree. The top contestants didn't even get to sing with a superstar

[Tusk]

As with Haley, Brooke White was getting asked by her fans why she wasn't on the Idol Finale? As with Haley, Brooke took the high road, instead of being upset about it, she posted a nice Instagram on her perspective (High highs and Low lows) of her Idol experience:

realbrookewhite

A big hug and a thank you to all of you who reached out last night. Nope, I was not at the last Finale in Idol History. I'd hoped I would be, but never got the call. Why? No idea. Was I bummed? Surely. BUT...
-
The Idol experience is a mixed bag: high highs and low lows, triumphs and embarrassments, moments when producers are calling you darling and giving you cheek kisses and then moments when you feel utterly invisible. Moments of pride and moments of humility. You do something right, then you get it all wrong. Everyone knows your name, then they forget. One second you're flying first class, next minute your back in the van. But that's life in the spotlight. It's on, then it's off. BUT...
-
With all that, what Idol was, and has been for so many of us, is OPPORTUNITY. Opportunity to be seen, to be heard, to connect and to be refined. It's was an education, a university. A place to be schooled with the best of the best, To be mentored by literal legends and to play on a stage with a well oiled machine. It was a family. Contestants and crew, and drivers and PA's and people that you grow to love. It wouldn't and couldn't guarantee a lifetime of fame and fortune and success thereafter, but it definitely gave you a shot, to see how far you could take it. It allowed you to see how badly you wanted it, and to find out what you would and wouldn't do for it. It gave you experience. -
That's what it gave me and then some. And it was once in a lifetime. It was some of the hardest fun I've ever had. It forced me to face my demons. I barely survived but it was an absolute honor to play in your living rooms for a season. -
So I wasn't there last night, to reunite, and hug the "family" and say my goodbyes. Would have loved to. But that's okay, because I couldn't ask for more than what I got. -
So if my last memory of the finale is sitting on a stage next to THE Graham Nash singing Teach Your Children barefoot on the guitar 8 years ago, that's A-OK ?
Idol brought me to so many of you. To those who've stuck with me through the years, I love you, I appreciate you. And to my idol family, I love you and appreciate you. -
Thanks for everything. And the beat goes on... #americanidol

It seems having a positive, look forward attitude about her American Idol experience is really the only way to 'look back', forging your future based on the leg up AI has given you. One of the things that has always impressed me about Haley, she refuses to be held back by the negatives, rather she sloughs them off and marches boldly to her future, full of positivity and light