I’ve been watching American Idol since season 5, when Taylor Hicks was the winner, although he seems to have pretty much vanished from the face of the earth since.
Winning American Idol has rarely meant that fame, fortune and money will come rolling in. Kelly Clarkson, the winner of season 1, Carrie Underwood, the winner of season 4, Jordin Sparks of season six, and Scotty McCreery of season ten have all had number one records and platinum albums, and either are or probably will be forces on the music scene for some time.
Some of the “non-winners” have been vastly more successful than the number one vote getter. Clay Aiken, despite the fun people make of him, has had a moderately successful career, outshining the season two winner, Ruben Stoddard. Josh Gracin was a fourth place finisher, and is better known than Stoddard.
Season three generated Fantasia Barrino, better known by just her first name, and Jennifer Hudson who went on to win an Academy Award from the movie Dream Girls, as well as a Grammy.
Until season five, I had vaguely heard of American Idol, but I really wasn’t much into “reality” shows, most of them seeming to be superficial and silly, and frankly, boring. However, for some reason that now escapes me, in season five, I began to watch, and quickly became hooked.
Season five winner Taylor Hicks never really impressed me. I’ve always favored the male singers over the female, although I do like some female singers very much. Barbera Streisand, Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight – some of my very favorite singers have been female, however on American Idol, I’ve usually leaned towards the males.
I was as surprised as everyone when Chris Daughtry was voted off in 4th place during season five, and I’m not surprised that he has had moderate success with his rock band “Daughtry” since then. While his style of rock usually isn’t in my group of favorites, I do like the occasional hard rock song, and he had an appealing personality and story.
I really enjoyed season six. Who can forget Sanjaya Malakar? Most people forget that he auditioned with his sister, but I thought he was at least a decent singer, and certainly entertaining. He survived so long on the show because he was a favorite of Howard Stern and the website “Vote for the worst”, but I truly enjoyed him. I also thought highly of Melinda Doolittle, Phil Stacey and Chris Richardson, this season having a lot of talent packed into the show. Jordin Sparks eventually took the crown, and she has enjoyed a fair amount of success since then.
Season seven was pretty forgettable, except for David Archuleta. He was just plain cute. There was no escaping his dimpled smile, and his rendition of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ was a highlight of the season. David Cook ended up winning the show – he was one of the first American Idol contestants who had a knack for deconstructing a song and making something familiar sound brand new. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been as successful as other Idol contestants. His performance of Billie Jean was remarkable though. 
Season seven also had a bit of a controversy around contestant DavidHernandez. I thought he was a far better singer than some of the other contestants, however after the news that he had worked for a time as a male stripper was revealed, he was quickly voted off the show.
I don’t think it was fair – people do for a living what they can, when they can, and if he made a decent living as a stripper in a gay mens club, then more power to him – at least he wasn’t on welfare.
Season eight was a strange season. Paula Abdul left the show and was replaced by Kara DioGuardi, and Nigel Lithgoe left to focus on So You Think You Can Dance (another of my favorites), and then there was Danny Gokey, whose wife had passed away just before the show started, and of course, there was Adam Lambert and Kris Allen. Two more opposite people are unlikely to be found. Adam was loud and proud, and Kris was a born-again christian who adored his new wife.
Even though Lambert is “family”, I actually preferred Kris Allen, because I thought he was not only far more attractive, but I just liked his music better. Adam did have his moments, and I can’t fault him for his talent, but he is a bit far out there for some people.
Season nine was also strange, with Ellen DeGeneres joining the cast of judges. Simon Cowell also left the show, and I truly miss his mostly on-target assessments of each performance. Sure, he could be cruel, but he was alway honest, and rarely did I disagree with him. The season had lots of potential, with Crystal Bowersox being perhaps the best overall singer on the show, however Lee DeWyze, a paint store worker from Chicago took the win. He’s done nothing of note since then, but Crystal Bowersox has been touring the country, opening for various acts and may yet be a name we recognize.
Season 10 brought on major changes on the judges panel with the introduction of Stephen Tyler and Jennifer Lopez. I really wasn’t looking forward to the change, as I knew neither of them very well. I’ve never been much of a fan of 
Aerosmith or of JLo’s music. They turned out to be OK, although I can’t say much about their judging. No one has been as honest as Simon Cowell, and I miss having judges that could tell the truth. It’s OK to tell someone they stink you know — it is a competition. Scotty McCreery took the prize, and has already had a hit song on the charts, as well as a platinum album — all at the age of 18. He’ll be dominating the country charts for years to come, although he seems to want to go to college and be “normal” as much as he can.
Season 11, just finished, and I think that the talent brought to the stage was perhaps the best of all the seasons I’ve watched. Of the top 12, I liked all of them, and any one of them could have won the show. Phillip Phillips ended up winning over Jessica Sanchez, although I suppose I could have been happy if Jessica had won as well.
Lots of news articles are lamenting the fact that the last few winners have been “WGWG” (white guys with guitars), or that the voters are exercising some sort of racism in their choices. I disagree. As good as Jessica was, she consistently 
failed to engage the audience. She was so flawless on some of her songs that could cry, but she often came across with as much personality as a juke box. The performance could not be faulted, but somehow she just didn’t engage. There was also the problem of her being only 16 years old, and some of the material she sang was just not believable, and some of the outfits she wore were just way too mature for her age.
Phillip on the other hand was always able to take a song and make it his own. He changed the rhythms, he changed the melody, he did odd things with keys, he put in saxophones and marching bands where you least expected them – he was genuinely original. You also knew that all of his performances were done in excruciating pain from his lingering kidney problem.
I like American Idol because I enjoy seeing the performances. I enjoy seeing these young people reach for a dream. I enjoy seeing fresh young talent sing songs that some of them have never heard before, and sing them in new ways that make them fresh again.
I know it’s getting a bit long in the tooth, but I enjoy it, and I hope it sticks around for a while.