American Idol: Difference between revisions

* Simon Cowell (seasonsSeasons 1-9), a famous UK record exec. His [[Caustic Critic|acerbic comments]] are [[Memetic Mutation|insanely quotable]]. Naturally, he's caught a little flak for [[The Mean Brit|his attitude]]. Imported from the equally successful UK show ''Pop Idol'', which started the tradition. He left ''American Idol'' at the end of this last season to start an American version of ''[[The X Factor]]''.

* [[Paula Abdul]] (seasonsSeasons 1-8), an [[The Eighties|'80s]] pop star. However, later in her run on the show, she became more notable for her off-screen troubles than her judging. Also rose up controversy for judging a performance before it even actually ''happened''. Decided not to return for Season 9, and was replaced by comedienne Ellen DeGeneres.

* Randy Jackson (seasonsSeasons 1-current), a Grammy Award-winning rock bassist, singer, and record producer. Notable for calling nearly everyone "dawg". (Dondon't confuse this guy with Steven Randall Jackson, the former member of the Jacksons.). He is the only ''Idol'' judge to serve through every season of the show.

* Kara DioGuardi (seasonsSeasons 8-9), a record executive, music producer and songwriter who has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the music business, including [[Celine Dion]], [[Kylie Minogue]], [[Britney Spears]], and seasonSeason 1 ''Idol'' winner [[Kelly Clarkson]].

* Ellen DeGeneres (seasonSeason 9), a comedienne and talk show host. Initially, she made fans fear that the show was [[Ruined FOREVER]], seeing as she didn't have roots in the music industry before she came on. For the most part, they were proven wrong, as DeGeneres provided valid criticism [[Deadpan Snarker|and also proved to be a pretty reasonable match for Simon's acerbic wit.]] Ellen went the way of Simon without warning after her only season.

* [[Jennifer Lopez]] (seasonSeason 10-), a pop singer, actress and record producer.

* Steven Tyler (seasonSeason 10-), the frontman of [[Aerosmith]].

The show is a veritable ratings ''behemoth'', drawing 20+ million viewers on a ''bad'' day. To put it in perspective, President [[Barack Obama]]'s speech on the state of Healthcare in September 2009 drew about 30 million viewers -- on [[News Monopoly|10 different networks.]] The 2009 finale of ''[[American Idol]]'' drew 28 million viewers -- on one network. ''[[American Idol]]'' alone has cemented [[FOX]] as the top dog network in terms of advertising potential. The network uses the show as a lead-in to whatever show they are pimping lately -- the most notable examples are ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' and ''[[Glee]]'', which nearly doubled their respective viewerships and went from merely popular to megahitsmega-hits once they started airing in the post-''Idol'' timeslottime-slot. ''[[American Idol]]'' was the highest-rated show in the U.S. from its beginnings to the 2004-2005 season. It has since started to slip, notably being beaten by rival show ''[[Dancing With the Stars]]'' on several nights in the past two seasons in total viewers (though in the coveted 18-49 [[Demographics]], ''[[American Idol]]'' still wins). However, ''Idol'' has far from run out of gas (yet), as it was still able to beat out the [[Stargate City|Vancouver]] [[Olympic Games|Winter Olympics]] on all but one night (February 23rd, 2010).

* [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]]: Siobhan Magnus, who had an extremely... unique... personality (see [[Cloudcuckoolander]] below), but was one of the best singers of seasonSeason nineNine.

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AI97mwEk7o Isadora Furman].

* [[Dramatic Pause]]: See [[Large Ham]] below.

* [[Filler]]: Like you wouldn't believe. The amount of it that this show used to be an [[Overly Long Gag]] on this page, with such trope entries as "More [[Filler]]" and "[[Engaging ChevronsPadding]], just to break up the monotony of the [[Filler]]".

** It gave the show a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] when a Season 9 auditioner boasted that she'd trained using one of the video games and that it told her she was a perfect singer. Of course, everyone who knows anything about just how bad the games are knows [[Hilarity Ensues|what came next...]] {{spoiler|That couldn't have been good for the game's marketing, at least.}}.

* [[Musicalis Interruptus]]: {{spoiler|The saves for both seasons ten and eleven were revealed this way, putting each of their respective recipients in shock.}}.

** ''American Idol Rewind'' (Syndicatedsyndicated reruns recapping a particular season, with additional interviews with contestants).

** ''American Idol Extra'' (Aa former recap/"post-game" show aired by Fox Reality Channel).

** ''American Juniors'' (Aa spinoff in Summer 2003, which formed a 5-member teen pop group).

* [[To Be Continued]]: [[Jennifer Lopez]] burst into tears after letting an early favorite go in seasonSeason 10. Randy and Steven praised her for being considerate. The bad news is that only ten of the top twenty four contestants were named.

** Repeated in seasonSeason 11, where the first episode of Hollywood Week ended with Symone Black, age 16, falling off the stage, apparently injuring herself, though viewers would have to wait until the next episode to discover how badly.

* [[Vitriolic Best Buds]]: For all their bickering, Simon and Paula have an incredibly solid relationship, and seeing as how he brought Paula on ''[[The X Factor]]'' with him, he clearly respects her opinions. (Mostmost of the time).)

* [[Wham! Episode]]: The episode was Casey Abrams was initially voted off. First Hulk Hogan appears and throws Ryan into the crowd and later in the show Ryan reveals Casey received the fewest votes. Casey starts to sing but the judges immediately cut him off and say they will save him while it's looking like Casey is to have a heart attack. {{spoiler|He didn't.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Applied to ''the audience'' in a Season 11 episode. The bottom three contestants for the week of April 11, 2012 had all been doing really well. When the judges saw how the voting turned out, they were all upset, and Randy in particular went on a tirade. Needless to say, they used their save immediately. The saved singer, Jessica Sanchez, went on to finish second.}}.

* [[Who Is This Guy Again?]]: Sometimes members of the top 24 received little to no screentime. Examples include Jason Castro of Season 7, Allison Iraheta and Kris Allen of Season 8, and for those with short memories or didn't watch seasonSeason 10, Hollie Cavanaugh of Season 11.

[[Category:AmericanLive-Action IdolTV of the 2000s]]