The 10th season of America's top reality competition, American Idol, has recently started airing, marking the beginning of a fresh, radically different season than the previous years. If you're unaware of these changes, here's a list which covers most of the main ones:

1) Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez join the judging panel.
After the departure of Simon Cowell, Ellen DeGeneres AND Kara DioGuardi following season nine's end, two new judges joined the judging panel. Steven Tyler, Aerosmith's front singer, and Jennifer Lopez sit beside Randy Jackson at the new judging table.

2) Nigel Lythgoe returns as the executive producer of American Idol.
After being the executive producer for the first seven seasons, Nigel returns for the 10th season of American Idol. He's the man behind most, if not all, the changes which are taking place in Idol season 10 for renewing it.

3) The age limit has been lowered to 15, and auditions were allowed on MySpace for the first time.
This is in the hope of finding a larger talent pool this year.

4) Many new challenges for American Idol contestants
Nigel Lythgoe said these include "contests having to make the best music video, to promote themselves, and to work with a band and dancers for an awards show-style performance." However, it was later revealed that the music videos challenge might not be 100% implemented. The challenges will substitute the traditional semi-finals portion of the competition. Wikipedia further states that more new changes to the format will take place:

Heh, Randy has now had to turn into the tough judge, it's interesting. The other new judges are good too, a hot one (J-Lo >_>) and a funny one. o3o Steven Tyler has so many weird but hilarious sayings. I also like how there are a lot of beast 15 year old singers. xD This season is turning out good, I haven't missed an episode yet.

Oh crud, I totally forgot about this thread!

Anyway, I have a couple of things to point out since my last post over here:

-The Los Angeles auditions were officially the worst! There was little to no talent in L.A, and the episode was just a waste of time.

-Hollywood Week was very tough for the contestants and pure TV-gold for the watchers. So many memorable performances, a lot of drama taking place and an insight into the experiences of most contestants. I really felt sympathetic with Jacee Badeaux in the Group Round, especially when he broke after his performance.

-Las Vegas Round was a great addition to the new season. Many contestants who got little screen time before proved how good they were, and early favourites either continued to reign or just fell apart. There were some memorable shining moments in here.

-The Top 24 are here already! I'm quite happy with the overal quality of the talent this year, which is a much needed turn from last year. Pretty much every contestant has a performance or something unique which sets them apart.

Now, let me get down to the two most unexpected eliminations of the season (which I thought was going to be much lenient than previous seasons):

-Chris Medina: This guy is definitely talented, but this was overshadowed by his exceedingly moving story (I got goosebumps and almost teared when I saw his girlfriend). I strongly think that his lack of consistency is what caused him to be eliminated, and in Idol it all comes down to musical talent and all its aspects. Therefore, although it came out as a shock, Chris' elimination is justifiable.

(By the way, have a look at Chris Medina's "What Are Words", his sensational debut single which talks about this girlfriend.)

-Jacee Badeaux: An early favourite who has a 'cute' look and sweet voice. However, he looks younger than what he really is, and although he has an obvious talent, he is just not... marketable. Also, compared to the other contestants, Jacee has a somewhat limited vocal range, and since he broke down in Hollywood Week, I don't think he's fully ready yet.

By the way, how did you find Jennifer Lopez's reaction upon eliminating Chris Medina? Some people were speculating that it was fake in order to gain attention, but I don't think that's true. I think she displayed genuine sadness at having to end Chris' journey, although I knew she wouldn't quit the show. After all, who would let go of a 12 million paycheck that easily?

Lol Shadow, you summed up most of that quite nicely. I don't think Jacee was old enough to go on, though. Hopefully he comes back.

I actually heard that Casey (the dude with the cello) was in the hospital (my mom works for the news) so hopefully he is fine when Tuesday rolls around. He's one of my favorites along with that African American guy who can sing really high. I also like James Durbin, the guy with Tourettes (or however it is spelled). He's like a straight version of Adam Lambert. xD

I have a feeling that the top 24 is going to be very entertaining this year.

Ah c'mon Kero, J-Lo isn't that bad as a judge. I prefer her over, well, Paula. Kara (from last year) was the best female judge yet, so it's unfortunate that she was only on the show for such a little amount of time.

Hmm, so this week was interesting. The top 13 (yeah, 13 was only slightly surprising) is pretty darn good, I only wish Kendra would have made it because she was extremely hot. ._. But fortunately most of my favorite dudes made it. I wish Bret was there, though.

One of my classmate's cousin is one of the 13 finalists (Stefano Langone).

Guess who forgot this thread again? ;_;

Anyways, let me add my commentary on everything that happened so far:

-Top 13: Pia, James and Naima were my personal favourites out of the whole group. Lauren did not perform "Any Man of Mine" well, and her version lacked both energy and attitude. Haley doesn't really know what artist she wants to be, and Jacob over-sang "I Believe I Can Fly". Ashthon took the judge's comparison too literally by picking a Diana Ross song, and when she was signing for her life, she still picked the same song! I like her personality on stage, but she definitely pales in comparison to the other contestants, and her stubbornness ultimately made her lose.

-Top 12: Disappointing night. Thia did another ballad, Casey's performance seemed forced (his faces and screeching were annoying, too) and Karen lost herself in her song. Lauren was a little better than last week, but as the judges said, it seems like she's not the same person who was in the auditions. Scotty's big note was an interesting change from an otherwise normal performance, and Stefano was in a different league than most of the others. I was indifferent towards Karen leaving, since I don't know what happened to her former, energetic self. Even the Spanish singing, which was creative at first, became a gimmick.

-Top 11: Fantastic job! Although the theme was a little old, the contestants still managed to keep it full of energy and excitement. Casey, who I used to like, started to annoy me with yet another forced, creepy performance. Thia finally broke out of the box with an amazing performance (who knew she had a teen spirit in her?), Jacob had his best performance to date (but they kinda over-praised him) and Lauren is slowly returning back to her old self (although she's not there yet - I think she REALLY needs to sing a ballad next). Haley did a much better job than last week, Scotty stepped out of his comfort zone a little bit, and Naima's performance was a little boring until she got to the dancing part. Randy said it best about Pia: we are totally bored of her ballads! Stefano was trying too hard to impress, and Paul was just as normal as possible (minus the spastic movements due to his guitar).

The group performance in the Top 13 and 12 results episode were totally awesome. The Top 11 show was perhaps the most dramatic/exciting episode ever - Steven Tyler's birthday, announcing James and Paul as 'not safe' (until Hulk Hogan made a surprising appearance) and Casey's elimination. Now, am I the only one who got a feeling that parts of this episode seemed scripted? I don't know; I mean, I totally loved the show but I felt like Casey's elimination was planned to add drama. Also, how did Haley escape the bottom 3, and why the hell was Thia her 'substitute'? I had several questions upon watching the show, but nevertheless I still enjoyed it. I immediately knew that the judges were going to use their save, but I thought Casey didn't 100% deserve it. I would've rather they used it for better front-runners instead of essentially 'wasting' it on Casey. However, if Casey manages to impress next week, I will forget about how creepy he was and will return to liking his uniqueness.

'tis okay that you forgot. But honestly I usually only listen to American Idol these days and then watch on Thursday since I have choir on Wednesday night and come home when it's done.

But yeah, the Hulk Hogan thing and wrestling video were hilarious. xD Most people probably just don't like This for some reason which is probably why she was in the bottom 3. Personally I don't think they should have saved Casey since, as you said, his performances are becoming quite weird. Saving it for someone else would have been smart.

I would have to say my favorites are James, Paul, and Jacob. And I don't like many of the girls but Pia is pretty darn good, she just needs to sing something else. This season is pretty good, though. I only wish the weekly theme would be something that I find more interest in with songs that I actually know and enjoy.

Did you watch last night's show? I'm going to list my opinion on each contestant:

Scotty: Nothing special about the performance. Starting to get repetitive and needs to spice up his choices a little bit.

Naima: Sorry, but the performance was almost a mess for me. The accent was strange, the singing wasn't in par with previous nights, and the reggae take didn't suit the song.

Paul: Eh, I don't know what to say about this guy. His voice needs more refinement for a record, and his performances are a little boring. To be honest, I'm indifferent towards him - I don't hate him, but at the same time I don't like him.

Pia: What's wrong with Pia choosing yet another ballad even after the judges asked her not to? Worse still, what's up with Randy and Jennifer denying that they told her to stop singing ballads all the time? Pia hit the notes perfectly as usual, but she is starting to become boring now. Actually, I bet she's not gaining any new fans with all these similar performances - on the contrary, some like me are losing interest in her. However, we'll see what happens next week (as she PROMISED to perform an up-tempo song).

Stefano: A definite improvement from last week's performance. He definitely connected with the audience this time, but I still can't see him winning the whole thing. Some parts of his singing seem a little forced/desperate, so he's an 'on-and-off' case for me.

Lauren: Going with a ballad was a much-needed change for Lauren, and I must say: her vocals were great and she looked fabulous. However, I thought she didn't really feel the words - she was smiling and looked happy while singing a sad song, making the performance sound flat to me.

James Durbin: This guy totally rocked the place! His movements around the audience were brave, setting the piano on fire was awesome and he sounded great (though not the best). Although I hated his back-bending rock move on the floor during a 'soft' part of the song, I must say he woke me up after all the ballads. Well done!

Thia: Back to the ballads?! Thia was quite similar to Lauren's case, displaying robotic emotion on stage. However, Thia doesn't have personality like Lauren does, making her more prone for elimination (more about that later on). For me the performance was as normal as it could get, and I wished she did something as good as last week's.

Casey: The 'new look' makes Casey look much neater and less scary than before, which is a plus. And I loved his performance. Although it wasn't as memorable as his other performances (some of them for the negative reasons), he showed the original, unforced part of himself again. Now, he should still play unique instruments on stage and venture into higher notes (without screeching), but for now he did a MUCH better job than last week.

Jacob: In the segment preceding Jacob's performance, Jimmy Iovine warned him not to over-dramatize the song. However, Jacob did exactly that: while it wasn't by any means horrible, I just thought he was going over-the-top with his emotions, almost breaking into a cry. This is the only thing which I hated about his performance; otherwise, he was good as always.

Haley: The best Haley performance on Idol so far! Although the frequent growling was slightly annoying, she sounded incredibly good and looked amazing, too. Randy took it too far by calling it "the best performance of the night", but Haley definitely stepped up her game with this performance.

Based on last night's performances, I think that Scotty, Pia, Lauren, James and Jacob will be definitely safe. Paul, Stefano, Casey and Haley are probably staying if the votes are completely based on their last performances. Therefore, Naima and Thia are the most likely to get eliminated. However, my prediction might very well be off-the-track, as I find it tough to fully decide with America's unpredictability. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Well Shadow I really didn't watch much last night, although I listened to most of the performances.. Actually I did watch James That's probably the only Elton John song I know and like. Hopefully next week is a good theme that actually interests me.

Anyway, I am hoping that Thia and Naima go home >_> It should be a good show tonight with the double elimination, though.

And I was 100% right! Naima and Thia were the ones who got eliminated, leaving us with the Top 9 for next week. By the way, the theme is going to be "Rock & Roll Hall of Fame", which is AWESOME! I expect covers of Aerosmith songs, probably by Lauren or James.

(Side note: Scotty and Lauren's duet was brilliant.)

HOLY ****! WHAT THE **** HAS GONE WRONG IN THIS WEEK'S ELIMINATION EPISODE?!

Sorry, had to get the shock out of me. PIA TOSCANO, the season's strongest contestant vocal-wise, finished in 9th place?! How could Stefano, Haley and even Jacob remain in the competition over Pia? This is definitely the biggest shocking elimination EVER in Idol history!

I can relate Pia's elimination to many reasons, but I don't know which one to decide on:

-Why did Pia reveal last week that she was going to sing "River Deep - Mountain High" for this week? This might have caused people to research the song in advance, then compare it directly to Pia's performance, deeming it as 'underwhelming' in relation.

-American Idol, change your voting system already! You allow all the stupid fan girls to vote numerous times for the person(s) they like, turning the singing competition into a popularity contest. When will this EVER change?

-Judges should REALLY step up their critique from now onwards. Yes, Steven: that includes not throwing the word 'beautiful' for every contestant as though it is Christmas Eve. Seriously, Stefano was praised for his extremely normal performance while J Lo spent so much time asking Pia to learn more about performing. FYI Jennifer, Stefano doesn't even stand a chance against Pia.

-Everybody assumed that Pia was going to go through the next stage, so they neglected voting. This had a reverse effect on Pia's votes, causing them to drop and lead to her elimination. People, stop acting like smart freaks and vote for the people you like without assumptions!

I'm still shocked by this week's results to the extent that I'm not in the mood of reviewing the performances on the previous night. I'll do so in the following days, but until then, I will pray A LOT so that Stefano doesn't win this season...

Yeah Shadow I was pretty surprised too. People don't know how to vote, which is also why Casey was eliminated. The judges need to have like 50% of the ay in voting because they actually know who is good. I think Jacob was about as good as Pia, though. Paul is a little under them and then Haley and Stefano are under them.

I dont see why they saved Casey, I really don't like him.

I'm rooting for Scotty, with me being from NC, Country is the soul music here. If he wins, it'll make my day, I just hope Haley goes home tonight.

Edit: And I was completely right, now come on, Scotty, take Lauren DOWN!

Oh man! I can't believe I forgot this thread since the top 9!

Let me comment on the highlights since then:

Top 8 week: Lauren's rendition of "The Climb" was, and still is, one of the best performances of this season in my opinion. It was nearly flawless and I loved it. James' "Heavy Metal" wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, considering I don't like metal at all. I was glad that spastic Paul was eliminated.



Top 7 week: I kinda expected more modern/uplifting music from the contestants, but I wasn't totally disappointed. Nothing much to say about the performances, but Katy Perry's performance on results show was really cool (except for her outfit). I was indifferent towards Stefano's elimination.



Top 6 week: "Carole King" was a boring theme! Despite that, there were some good performances; I liked James' "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?", and the Haley/Casey duo was stunning. Crystal Bowersox's performance on the results show was decent, too. I wasn't surprised at Casey's elimination, considering his performance reverted him back to scary Casey who constantly screeches.



Top 5 week: One of my favourite weeks. "Closer to the Edge" was a good direction which James could've followed, but he didn't quite nail it. Lauren Alaina's "Flat On The Floor" was a really enjoyable performance, although there was sill room for more attitude. Her "Unchained Melody" rendition was unimpressive, though. Scotty's "Gone" was a welcome change from his usual self, whereas Haley's "You and I" was a daring, positive choice. I don't understand why the judges criticised her so much; the studio recording is really amazing. Also, her performance of "The House of The Rising Sun" is a little overrated; I didn't think it was extremely unbelievable, but I could tell that she was improving. Jacob's "No Air" was disturbing, and it was about time for him to leave.



As for the results show, I thought Lady Antebellum had great chemistry together, and Jennifer Lopez's pre-taped performance was fantastic. I was disappointed that she, as a judge, did not perform live when she's commenting on the contestants every week. Also, I heard that the performance was repeated 10 times in 3 hours until it was finalised!



Top 4 week: Lady Gaga as a mentor was refreshing, especially when the theme was obscure (Leiber and who?). James' two performances were alright, though not his best. Haley's "Earth Song" was yelling and growling, but Lauren Alaina's "Anyway" was fantastic. Along with "The Climb", I think these two performances are her best. "I (Who Have Nothing)" by Haley was amazing too, and Lauren's performance of "Trouble" was decent although the song choice was not appropriate. Scotty didn't really stand out for me.



Performance night was one of the best this season (excluding James Durbin's elimination). "Gunpowder and Lead" was a nice, sassy song for the girls, and Jordin Sparks' performance was amazing. More importantly, Steven Tyler's "(It) Feels So Good" is an absolutely great song! I listen to it pretty much everyday. I didn't like James' elimination at this point; I would've rather had Haley gone at this point.

Rebecca Black? Why exactly would AI want her to perform? To make people see what she sounds like live or something?

Well, anyways, hopefully Scotty will win, because from what I know, all of NC is gonna vote for him.

I think Scotty has a very good chance of winning, and I honestly like him a lot better than Lauren. (though the other people I liked got eliminated early... ;~; )

Scotty, from what I can tell, had and has the largest fanbase of AI watchers this season. Notably, he was never in the bottom 3 (or 2, for that matter) , which reinforces that. Lauren was in the Bottom 2 once.

But yeah, Scotty has a smooth country voice that's going to take him far.

I'm hoping that Lauren wins since Scotty will have an album eventually, whether he wins or not.

How come no one updated this thread after the finale? xD

Anyway, I'm kinda disappointed that Lauren didn't win, since she definitely had better vocals than Scotty in my opinion. I confess that Scotty's first performance of "Gone" was better than Lauren's "Flat On The Floor", but she owned him in the others. Not to mention that her last performance was absolutely stunning and worthy of winning. However, both of them seem promising, and with the new labels they are assigned to, I think they will get proper promotion.

So, as usual, here's my opinion on the finale night:

AMAZING! It was miles better than season 9's finale, and there were many exciting performances. The top 13's "Born This Way" wasn't as impressive as the first time around, but it was good nevertheless. James Durbin's collaboration with Judas Priest was amazing, while Jack Black/Casey were fun to watch (didn't like the singing as much, especially Casey's). Both Scotty's and Lauren's performances with Tim McGraw and Carrie Underwood respectively were fantastic. The top 7 girls' medley with Beyoncé started out pretty exciting, but then it became a little too karaoke. I was pleasantly surprised by how good Stefano was singing solo in his group number. Marc Anthony's vocals were so powerful; he can sing WAY better than Jennifer, who just danced on the stage and didn't even attempt to sing! It seemed very stupid of her not to sing on stage when she's supposed to judge contestants on the show. Lady Gaga's performance of "The Edge of Glory" was great to hear, but not to see. The other Beyoncé song, "1+1", was very heart-felt and authentic, but she was kinda wailing in some parts of it (and there was too much Beyoncé for me in one episode anyway). Lastly, Steven Tyler's "Dream On" was brilliant!

I didn't actually watch any of American Idol this season, but when I saw the winner on the iTunes Store homepage one day, I was basically thinking "oh god not another Justin Bieber <____<;;"