Pandora's Box: A Random Idol Rankings Thread

[Crisis]

@Bk1234

 

 

   

 

After ranking all of the S1-S17 American Idol finalists, the S18 group, and my favorite semifinalists, I realize I’m a glutton for punishment and decided to create another topic where I rank some other Idol related subjects  (if anyone is interested in looking through the aforementioned list, I’ll post a link in the next post, plus there’s a link in my sig). Pretty much anything is on the table, with a few exceptions of course. Also, I want to make this as interactive as possible, so I’ll take requests from anyone who wants to see a certain subject ranked, plus if anyone wants to place their own rankings of certain subjects, they are more than free to do so.  Before I get started, I want to make it clear whatever subject I rank will be based solely on my personal opinions, so I only ask to be respectful even if there are disagreements, which I know there will definitely be if my finalist rankings list is any indication.  With everything said, I hope everyone has a great time in this thread and

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Crisis

[Crisis]

Idol Rankings

Part II

 

American Idol Finalist Rankings

Finalist Rankings

 

American Idol Seasons

Honorable Mention: Season 18

017-013

012-009

008-005

004-001

 

Honorable Mention: Season 18

017. Season 12

016. Season 9

015. Season 14

014. Season 13

013. Season 17

012. Season 15

011. Season 16

010. Season 2

009. Season 10

008. Season 8

007. Season 1

006. Season 3

005. Season 6

004. Season 4

003. Season 11

002. Season 7

001. Season 5

American Idol Judges

014-011

010-006

005-001

 

014. Nicki Minaj

013. Ellen DeGeneres

012. Mariah Carey

011. Luke Bryan

010. Harry Connick, Jr.

009. Lionel Richie

008. Katy Perry

007. Steven Tyler

006. Randy Jackson

005. Jennifer Lopez

004. Kara DioGuardi

003. Paula Abdul

002. Keith Urban

001. Simon Cowell

 

I Have Nothing Performances

010-007

006-004

003-001

 

010. Shannon Magrane

009. Leah LaBelle

008. Jessica Sanchez

007. Sonika Vaid

006. Katharine McPhee

005. Gabby Barrett

004. LaKisha Jones

003. Jennifer Hudson

002. Trenyce

001. Vonzell Solomon

 

IDF Submitted Performances

027-021

020-016

015-011

010-006

005-001

 

027. Siobhan Magnus - Superstition

026. David Archuleta - Angels

025. Vonzell Solomon - Best Of My Love

024. Janelle Arthur - I Will

023. Skylar Laine - Wind Beneath My Wings

022. Jessica Sanchez - Everybody Has A Dream

021. Clark Beckham - It's A Man's Man's Man's World

020. Jessica Meuse - The Crow & The Butterfly

019. Diana DeGarmo - Don't Cry Out Loud

018. Jena Irene - Can't Help Falling In Love

017. Maddie Poppe - Homeward Bound

016. Allison Iraheta - Papa Was A Rolling Stone

015. David Archuleta - Imagine

014. Jordin Sparks - I (Who Have Nothing)

013. Carrie Underwood - Alone

012. Kris Allen - Ain't No Sunshine

011. Clay Aiken - Bridge Over Troubled Water

010. David Cook - Billie Jean

009. Kris Allen - Heartless

008. Siobhan Magnus - Paint It Black

007. Pia Toscano - I'll Stand By You

006. Candice Glover - I (Who Have Nothing)

005. Haley Reinhart - I (Who Have Nothing)

004. Blake Lewis - You Give Love A Bad Name

003. Kelly Clarkson - Stuff Like That There

002. Candice Glover - Lovesong

001. Elise Testone - Whole Lotta Love

 

Coronation Songs

018-013

012-007

006-001

 

018. Lee DeWyze - Beautiful Day

017. Scotty McCreery - I Love You This Big

016. Caleb Johnson - As Long As You Love Me

015. Candice Glover - I Am Beautiful

014. Laine Hardy - Flame

013. Taylor Hicks - Do I Make You Proud

012. Maddie Poppe - Going Going Gone

011. Just Sam - Rise Up

010. Phillip Phillips - Home

009. Jordin Sparks - This Is My Now

008. Kris Allen - No Boundaries

007. Nick Fradiani - Beautiful Life

006. Ruben Studdard - Flying Without Wings

005. Trent Harmon - Falling

004. Fantasia - I Believe

003. Carrie Underwood - Inside Your Heaven

002. David Cook - The Time Of My Life

001. Kelly Clarkson - A Moment Like This

 

Swan Songs

Honorable Mention: Vonzell Solomon

014-011

010-007

006-004

003-001

 

Honorable Mention: Vonzell Solomon

014. Matthew Rogers

013. Tyanna Jones

012. Kimberley Locke

011. Siobhan Magnus

010. Phil Stacey

009. George Huff

008. Kristy Lee Cook

007. Hollie Cavanagh

006. Haley Scarnato

005. Melinda Doolittle

004. Jessica Meuse

003. Haley Reinhart

002. Allison Iraheta

001. LaToya London

 

Most Attractive Idols

Honorable Mentions:

Blake Lewis

Luke Menard

 

Nikki McKibbin

Stephany Negrete

Megan Joy

Becky O'Donohue

Jasmine Trias

Aubrey Cleland

 

Males:

035-031

030-026

025-021

020-016

015-011

010

009

008

007

006

004 (Chris Richardson)

004 (Michael Johns)

003

002

001

 

035. Joshua Ledet

034. Quentin Alexander

033. Lazaro Arbos

032. Lee DeWyze

031. Anwar Robinson

030. Justin Guarini

029. David Cook

028. Paul Jolley

027. Jim Verraros

026. Caleb Lee Hutchinson

025. Logan Johnson

024. RJ Helton

023. Colton Dixon

022. Rayvon Owen

021. Clark Beckham

020. Stefano Langone

019. Jon Peter Lewis

017. Casey James

017. Jason Castro

016. Louis Knight

015. Phillip Phillips

014. Adam Lambert

011. Dillon James

011. MacKenzie Bourg

011. Tim Urban

010. Nick Merico

009. Anthony Fedorov

008. Dalton Rapattoni

007. David Archuleta

006. Ace Young

004. Chris Richardson

004. Michael Johns

003. Laine Hardy

002. Francisco Martin

001. Kris Allen

 

Females:

035-031

030-026

025-021

020-016

015-011

010

009

008

007

006

005

003 (Julia Gargano)

003 (Syesha Mercado)

002

001

 

035. Jennifer Hudson

033. Ryan Starr

033. Tristan McIntosh

032. JAX

031. Alexis Grace

030. Brooke White

029. Siobhan Magnus

028. Allison Iraheta

027. Ashley Hess

026. Tamyra Gray

025. Kimberly Caldwell

024. Katelyn Epperly

023. Didi Benami

022. Janelle Arthur

021. Makayla Phillips

020. Jessica Meuse

019. Hollie Cavanagh

018. Lauren Alaina

017. Sonika Vaid

016. Leah LaBelle

015. Christina Christian

014. Vonzell Solomon

013. Haley Scarnato

012. Gabby Barrett

011. Katie Stevens

010. Emily Piriz

009. Jordin Sparks

008. Jurnee

007. Kelly Clarkson

006. Carrie Underwood

005. Haley Reinhart

003. Julia Gargano

003. Syesha Mercado

002. Pia Toscano

001. Katharine McPhee

 

Revised Rankings

 

Worst of the Favorites

29-26

25-21

20-16

15-11

10-06

05-01

 

29. Madison VanDenburg - Breakaway

28. Julia Gargano - Beauty and the Beast

27. Blake Lewis - This Is My Now

26. Dalton Rapattoni - Radioactive

25. Siobhan Magnus - Through The Fire

24. Kris Allen - No Boundaries

23. Chris Daughtry - What If

22. David Cook - Innocent

21. MacKenzie Bourg - Wild World

20. Clay Aiken - Grease

19. Adam Lambert - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

18. Jessica Meuse - White Flag

17. Emily Piriz - Let's Get Loud

16. Jessica Sanchez - I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing

15. David Archuleta - We Can Work It Out

14. Kris Allen - What's Going On

13. Hollie Cavanagh - Flashdance...What A Feeling

12. Ashley Hess - Sir Duke

11. Lauren Alaina - (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman

10. Allison Iraheta - I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing

09. Maddie Poppe - Going Going Gone

08. Syesha Mercado - Hit Me Up

07. Carrie Underwood - Love Is A Battlefield

06. Kelly Clarkson - It's Raining Men

05. Elliott Yamin - Open Arms

04. Kelly Clarkson - I Surrender

03. Pia Toscano - Where Do Broken Hearts Go

02. Elise Testone - Let's Stay Together

01. Candice Glover - Ordinary People

Edited November 27, 2020 by Crisis

[Bk1234]

Oh yay!!! Looking forward to seeing how you rank the seasons.

[Crisis]

Without further ado, let's get started...

 

Honorable Mention: Season 18

 

Due to the unique circumstances surrounding S18, I’m going to separate it from the others similar to what I did in my finalist rankings list (this will be common with anything S18 related, just giving a heads up). Out of the three ABC seasons, I felt S18 had the potential to be the best one. At first glance, it appeared the Top 20 21 would be the strongest group of contestants of the ABC reboot. However, due to COVID-19 wrecking havoc across the globe, the season was far different from the others. Instead of a studio, everything was run from the homes of everyone participating. Some contestants benefited from the changes whereas others were hurt by them. I felt bad for the contestants who were looking forward to performing on stage as well as the other Idol-related perks; however, considering the circumstances, this was the best way to do things if there were to be a season. With that said, I thought everything was handled well for the most part. If there was one complaint, I would’ve liked to see more weeks and performances, but as I stated earlier, it’s completely understandable why there weren’t. Another thing I wasn't a fan of was the twist with the voters deciding between Grace Leer and Lauren Mascitti as to who would receive the final Top 20 spot; I guess they weren't trying to have a huge country presence this season. Oh well. Hopefully in S19, things will be somewhat normal again.

 

Honorable Mention: Season 18

 

Hopefully, I'll be able to start ranking the other seasons some time tonight.

 

Edited August 18, 2020 by Crisis

[Bk1234]

19 minutes ago, Crisis said:

Honorable Mention: Season 18

It really is a bummer that this season was modified, since I also thought that it had the most talented group of contestants on the ABC reboot. I’ll be sharing my favorites from each season that I’ve watched as we go through them, so here are my Season 18 favorites... Makayla Phillips , Jonny West, Francisco Martin, Julia Gargano and Louis Knight. I think that Jonny and Francisco got a HUGE boost from the COVID-19 modifications, which may have helped them emerge as my 2nd and 3rd favorites respectively. Makayla was definitely hurt by not having a stage, but definitely not as much as Olivia... Despite this, Makayla remained my season favorite. (Also, I will admit that I was jumping with joy when they saved her. ) Julia delivered the best performance of the season with New York State of Mind, and Louis was the biggest disappointment of the season for me... He just never really lived up to his audition. 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Bk1234

[Crisis]

4 hours ago, Bk1234 said:

It really is a bummer that this season was modified, since I also thought that it had the most talented group of contestants on the ABC reboot. I’ll be sharing my favorites from each season that I’ve watched as we go through them, so here are my Season 18 favorites... Makayla Phillips , Jonny West, Francisco Martin, Julia Gargano and Louis Knight. I think that Jonny and Francisco got a HUGE boost from the COVID-19 modifications, which may have helped them emerge as my 2nd and 3rd favorites respectively. Makayla was definitely hurt by not having a stage, but definitely not as much as Olivia... Despite this, Makayla remained my season favorite. (Also, I will admit that I was jumping with joy when they saved her. ) Julia delivered the best performance of the season with New York State of Mind, and Louis was the biggest disappointment of the season for me... He just never really lived up to his audition. 

 

Yeah it is too bad although they could've very well struggled had it been a normal season; I guess we'll never know. As far as your favorites go, I have Makayla, Jonny, and Julia in my Top 10 from the season, I was ambivalent towards Francisco, and sadly Louis was ranked ahead of only Nick and Aliana. I agree about Jonny and Francisco getting a huge boost from performing at home, especially Francisco because who knows how he would've done with his nerves and stage fright. Someone else who I think would've also benefited from this season's format is Lauren Mascitti, but thanks to the voting twist she never got the opportunity. I also agree about Makayla and Olivia being hurt by not having a stage, especially the latter; I'll also add Grace and Jovin in this category (I would add Sam, but it obviously didn't hurt her that much ).

[Crisis]

Right now, I'm going to rank my bottom five seasons. After that, I'll post four at a time.

 

17. Season 12

I’ve gone between three seasons when it came to deciding my least favorite season, and I have decided that S12 is the one to receive this dubious title. For starters, this was the most manipulated season, bar none; it was clearly obvious the show was aiming for a female winner after five consecutive WGWG winners by casting one of the weakest male group of contestants in Idol history and not sending any WGWG through to the voting rounds. Fortunately, the female cast was pretty strong, and the winner was certainly the best of the group, IMO. In addition, there was Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey feuding throughout the season, which put a huge damper on it and often took focus away from the contestants. I was happy to see Mariah sign on as a judge, but I was disappointed with her; maybe she would’ve been better had Nicki not been around. Speaking of whom, if I were to do a judge ranking, Nicki would definitely be last. The season was such a mess that Nigel Lythgoe was replaced as executive producer and the judging panel with the exception of Keith Urban was changed. It would be the last season the remaining OG judge Randy Jackson would sit at the judges’ table, though he returned the following season as the in-house mentor. With everything mentioned, I have zero qualms placing this season at the bottom.

 

16. Season 9

S9 is a season that is often considered to be the worst season in AI history in a number of circles. For me, it’s one spot above last. It was a season in which Paula Abdul was replaced by Ellen DeGeneres who, while it appeared she was trying to be insightful, was clearly a fish out of water as a judge. In addition, this would be Simon’s final season before he moved on to the X-Factor. As for everything else, the cast of contestants is considered to be one of the weakest AI has ever had, and I can’t say I disagree with this claim. A common complaint is a number of the eliminations left a lot to be desired due to some of the stronger contestants being axed too early, the most glaring example being the Top 16 Results Show where there were three highly controversial eliminations (Alex Lambert, Katelyn Epperly, and Lilly Scott). The main reason I have the season ranked so low is because I just didn’t enjoy it all that much. There were times I would get so bored and do something else with it playing in the background. If there is one positive about the season, I was happy they went back to the semifinals format employed in S4-S7 after the brutal S8 format. Overall, when it comes to re-watching Idol seasons, S9 is one that would be far down the list.

 

15. Season 14

S14 is another season that is highly maligned compared to other seasons. It is often said this season led to AI being cancelled on FOX after S15. I don’t know about that, but there is a number of reasons why S14 is one of my least favorite seasons. First, there was the format in which the performances and the results where in the same episode as opposed to the performances in one episode and the results in another. In addition, there were also the light up chairs, from which I understand the contestants absolutely hated because it made them tense throughout the episode not knowing if they were safe or not and therefore, their performances may have suffered. Next, there was one of the worst concepts ever conceived with the Twitter Save, the main reason being it pretty much excluded some time zones and hence, some voters wouldn’t be able to participate in who stayed or left. There was also a huge water-cooler moment in which there was a spat between Harry Connick Jr. and Quentin Alexander. Finally, this was the season that introduced Scott Borchetta, who was the worst of the in-house mentors (this was especially true in S15). With that said, there were a few positives. One was the group of finalists were certainly the most eclectic bunch. Another was I liked that they held the semifinals in Detroit instead of L.A. for a change to honor Motown. Other than those two things, I can’t say I have too many positive feelings about S14.

 

14. Season 13

Another heavily maligned season is S13. This season had a lot of things not going well for it. First, there was the dumb twist in which a group of hopefuls who received a Golden Ticket were cut on the bus without getting an opportunity to participate in the Hollywood Rounds. Also, there was the worst semifinals format in AI history with the Rush Week format in which ten semifinalists (5 male and 5 female) were eliminated without even getting a chance to perform for the voters, which was not cool at all. Plus, there was this atmosphere I can't quite put my finger on that wasn't pleasant. Finally, there was the Top 5 twist which was thought to have been conceived in order to keep Sam Woolf around as long as possible; fortunately, that blew up spectacularly in the producers’ faces.   These were all the brainchild of new executive producer Per Blankens, who replaced Nigel Lythgoe after S12. This was also the season in which along with S12 holdover Keith Urban, J-Lo came back as a judge after a one year hiatus, and Harry Connick Jr. was added to the judging panel. With that said, there were a couple of things I liked about S13. For starters, some of the themes were cool, such as Competitor’s Pick and Audition Songs. In addition, I think the Top 4 was one of the strongest in any season, even if the least marketable one was crowned the winner (though I liked said contestant). Unfortunately, those two things weren’t enough for me to think favorably about the season.

 

13. Season 17

The second season of the ABC reboot AKA S17 is the next to fall. Excluding S18, I felt it was certainly the weakest ABC season, which is too bad because it started off with so much promise. One thing I particularly didn’t care for was the judges being overly complimentary to everyone. They were like that in S16 as well; however, there was at least some constructive criticism sprinkled here and there (them pretty much criticizing Gabby during Finale Night immediately comes to mind). Here, however, they thought everyone was a star, which was not only annoying, it did the contestants a huge disservice because they wouldn’t know if there was anything they needed to work on in order to become better performers. As a result, the season felt stagnant as a whole. Also, this was the season Bobby Bones became a permanent mentor, in which outside of him filling in for Ryan one episode when Ryan was sick, his presence didn’t mean much in the long run. Finally, this was the season in which the save returned, which I wasn’t too fond of to be honest. Speaking of the save, it provided a water-cooler moment in how it was used. The decision to use the save was a controversial one as many felt the wrong contestant was saved. Overall, I can't say S17 was really a bad season, but it wasn’t one of the better ones either and therefore, I can’t justify putting it any higher than this.

 

017. Season 12

016. Season 9

015. Season 14

014. Season 13

013. Season 17

 

Alright, the first batch is up. Hopefully, I'll have the next batch ready within the next couple of days.

Edited August 19, 2020 by Crisis

[Bk1234]

11 hours ago, Crisis said:

17. Season 12

I totally agree with your points about the season being “rigged.” I thought that Mariah was a good judge, but her constant fighting with Nicki didn’t look too good on her. It was also the first American Idol season where the two female judges weren’t sitting next to each other during the live shows.  In terms of my favorites, the only male I really liked was Devin Velez, but I wouldn’t consider him a favorite. I liked all the female finalists, but my favorites were Angie Miller , Candice Glover, and Janelle Arthur. Angie Miller felt fresh among the mostly belter females of Season 12, plus I felt that her voice was perfect for delivering emotions. Candice was such a powerful vocalist that impressed me every time. If I had to rank prettiest Idol voices, Janelle would certainly be at the top. Her voice was just so pretty and pleasing to listen to!  

 

11 hours ago, Crisis said:

16. Season 9

While I haven’t finished watching this season, I don’t have many good things to say about it. First of all, the reason why I haven’t finished it is because it was SO boring, so I just hopped back to Season 7... Part of the issue was the judging panel... Ellen DeGeneres was one of the worst judges in Idol history, and it was clear to see that she had no knowledge of singing. Also, Kara and Ellen could just not replicate the motherly love that Paula displayed in Seasons 1-8. Simon was all checked out for the season, so he didn’t really care as much as he did for other seasons. In terms of the finalists, I agree that they were one of the weakest groups ever... Based off of only a couple performances (meaning this could change) my favorites are Katie Stevens , Crystal Bowersox, and Tim Urban (now this is most certainly an unpopular opinion). Crystal Bowersox was easily the best of the group, so she was a clear favorite. Tim Urban was unique to me. Yes, he had his fair share of mess-ups, but I personally didn’t mind his reggae twist during Top 12 week. Katie Stevens is probably my favorite of the season. Her voice was just so crystal clear and pleasing to the ear.
 

11 hours ago, Crisis said:

15. Season 14

This season was very strange for me. I liked and disliked certain contestants when I first watched the season, but then after the season ended and I re-watched some performances, I liked contestants I previously disliked, and I started to not like certain contestants as much as I used to... While I thought the light-up chairs were innovative, the new show format was SO confusing to me. Also, compared to season 13, Harry Connick Jr. seemed so sick and tired of the show. In terms of my season favorites, I originally really liked JAX and Maddie Walker, but after re-watching some performances I started to dislike JAX, and I found Maddie “meh.” I originally found Clark Beckham  very boring, but after a re-watch he became my new favorite of the season! I felt that he was a very versatile contestant who could do up-tempo numbers as well as ballads very well.

 

11 hours ago, Crisis said:

14. Season 13

With this season, I felt they tried to be all new and innovative after the “flunk” that was Season 12. Let’s just say most of the new innovations didn’t work, especially Rush Week. One good thing about this season was that I could actually stand Harry Connick Jr.! Anyway, in terms of my favorites, I really liked Emily Piriz , Jena Irene, and Jessica Meuse. Emily had a beautiful, airy voice that I loved, so I was obviously devastated to see her go as early as she did. Jena Irene was my second favorite of the season. She felt so current and original, which I loved!  I really wanted her to win since she would be the first wildcard to do so, but alas, that didn’t happen. Jessica Meuse really free on me throughout the season. I loved her country voice and I loved how she handled the stage mom during Hollywood Week.  
 

11 hours ago, Crisis said:

13. Season 17

Definitely the worst out of the ABC seasons. I agree that they criticized more in season 16, but Katy only criticized when she wanted to. I wasn’t a huge fan of this season, to be honest. The fact that my season favorite, Ashley Hess , was a semi-finalist says it all. Anyway, my favorites finalists were Madison VanDenburg and Alyssa Raghu. Madison was a typical teenage powerhouse, so I obviously liked her. I was OBSESSED with Alyssa’s tone, and was a fan from S16, so I gravitated to her as well.

[Crisis]

4 hours ago, Bk1234 said:

I totally agree with your points about the season being “rigged.” I thought that Mariah was a good judge, but her constant fighting with Nicki didn’t look too good on her. It was also the first American Idol season where the two female judges weren’t sitting next to each other during the live shows.  In terms of my favorites, the only male I really liked was Devin Velez, but I wouldn’t consider him a favorite. I liked all the female finalists, but my favorites were Angie Miller , Candice Glover, and Janelle Arthur. Angie Miller felt fresh among the mostly belter females of Season 12, plus I felt that her voice was perfect for delivering emotions. Candice was such a powerful vocalist that impressed me every time. If I had to rank prettiest Idol voices, Janelle would certainly be at the top. Her voice was just so pretty and pleasing to listen to!  

 

Yeah, they had Randy sit between Nicki and Mariah to prevent the two from escalating their feud physically.  The biggest issue with the rigging is that is was so flagrant; at least TRY to be subtle about it. I would talk more about the contestants; however, since you've been an active participant in my other thread, you pretty much know how I feel about them, so I won't rehash them here. 

 

4 hours ago, Bk1234 said:

While I haven’t finished watching this season, I don’t have many good things to say about it. First of all, the reason why I haven’t finished it is because it was SO boring, so I just hopped back to Season 7... Part of the issue was the judging panel... Ellen DeGeneres was one of the worst judges in Idol history, and it was clear to see that she had no knowledge of singing. Also, Kara and Ellen could just not replicate the motherly love that Paula displayed in Seasons 1-8. Simon was all checked out for the season, so he didn’t really care as much as he did for other seasons. In terms of the finalists, I agree that they were one of the weakest groups ever... Based off of only a couple performances (meaning this could change) my favorites are Katie Stevens , Crystal Bowersox, and Tim Urban (now this is most certainly an unpopular opinion). Crystal Bowersox was easily the best of the group, so she was a clear favorite. Tim Urban was unique to me. Yes, he had his fair share of mess-ups, but I personally didn’t mind his reggae twist during Top 12 week. Katie Stevens is probably my favorite of the season. Her voice was just so crystal clear and pleasing to the ear.

 

Completely agree about the season being boring and Ellen being one of the worst judges. At least she realized it wasn't for her and stepped down after the season; having said that, I always thought she would make a nice host should anything happen to Ryan. I also agree about Kara and Ellen being unable to replicate the nurturing nature Paula provided as well as Simon being disinterested during the season, with the most glaring examples being telling Katie she should do country and his constant championing of Lee.

 

4 hours ago, Bk1234 said:

This season was very strange for me. I liked and disliked certain contestants when I first watched the season, but then after the season ended and I re-watched some performances, I liked contestants I previously disliked, and I started to not like certain contestants as much as I used to... While I thought the light-up chairs were innovative, the new show format was SO confusing to me. Also, compared to season 13, Harry Connick Jr. seemed so sick and tired of the show. In terms of my season favorites, I originally really liked JAX and Maddie Walker, but after re-watching some performances I started to dislike JAX, and I found Maddie “meh.” I originally found Clark Beckham  very boring, but after a re-watch he became my new favorite of the season! I felt that he was a very versatile contestant who could do up-tempo numbers as well as ballads very well.

 

I completely agree about the show format being so confusing; it was certainly a drastic change from the previous seasons. As for HCJ, I believe he said something along the lines of preferring to be a mentor to the contestants instead of a judge because he could be more hands on and help guide the contestants better and to be fair, he was really good in that role (him constantly getting on the contestants for not understanding what they were singing was good TV, to be honest).

 

4 hours ago, Bk1234 said:

With this season, I felt they tried to be all new and innovative after the “flunk” that was Season 12. Let’s just say most of the new innovations didn’t work, especially Rush Week. One good thing about this season was that I could actually stand Harry Connick Jr.! Anyway, in terms of my favorites, I really liked Emily Piriz , Jena Irene, and Jessica Meuse. Emily had a beautiful, airy voice that I loved, so I was obviously devastated to see her go as early as she did. Jena Irene was my second favorite of the season. She felt so current and original, which I loved!  I really wanted her to win since she would be the first wildcard to do so, but alas, that didn’t happen. Jessica Meuse really free on me throughout the season. I loved her country voice and I loved how she handled the stage mom during Hollywood Week.  

 

I'd argue all of them didn't work.  I completely understand them wanting to do something different after the disaster that was S12; however, nothing seemed to go right. I mentioned in my write-up that the atmosphere was off somehow and I think I now understand why. The whole season had this Hunger Games type of atmosphere where it felt more cutthroat and I believe that was the theme Per Blankens was going for.

 

4 hours ago, Bk1234 said:

Definitely the worst out of the ABC seasons. I agree that they criticized more in season 16, but Katy only criticized when she wanted to. I wasn’t a huge fan of this season, to be honest. The fact that my season favorite, Ashley Hess , was a semi-finalist says it all. Anyway, my favorites finalists were Madison VanDenburg and Alyssa Raghu. Madison was a typical teenage powerhouse, so I obviously liked her. I was OBSESSED with Alyssa’s tone, and was a fan from S16, so I gravitated to her as well.

 

I pretty much agree with everything here except we have different favorite contestants. I'll just say this: If Ashley Hess were a finalist, she definitely would've been in my Top 50 of my overall rankings, which is saying something since I don't have a single S17 finalist in my Top 50 with Laci being the highest at #53. 

[miss denise]

Yay, another list!   I'm here and ready to see what all you have planned next. 

 

Honorable Mention: Season 18: Totally understandable this is included separately. I would have no idea how to rank it among the other seasons either. And I also agree with pretty much everything you said.  

 

017. Season 12: Once again, I agree with nearly everything. Ugh, so much I did not care for.   I agree it was a disappointment for all the reasons you stated (as well as Angie missing out on the finale for me).

016. Season 9:  Yeah, this is another low one for me too. I don't really know what it was, aside from me not being too invested in most of the contestants, but you make some other good points. I also like the semi-finals format they returned to in this one.

015. Season 14: Aw, this one wouldn't rank quite so low for me, but I understand your points. It's mostly my love of my top favorites that carries this one a bit higher from me.   I forgot this is when we lost the results shows, ugh. I actually forgot about most of what you said, but maybe that was for the better.  

014. Season 13: I prefer S14, but not sure either would make my own Top 10 anyway. I actually think 12, 9, and 13 might be my bottom 3 (excluding 18). But yeah, once again agree with your thoughts here, although LOL at this randomly thrown in there, "Plus, there was this atmosphere I can't quite put my finger on that wasn't pleasant. "   It just cracked me up in there with all the specific things, but ugh, sorry about that.

013. Season 17: I get your placement here and I'd probably have it around this spot too. Ugh yes, the judges and their bags compliments.   I mean, in general, I always prefer positivity and being nice, but on shows like this they do need to be actually critiqued sometimes. So yeah, I agree. "Finally, this was the season in which the save returned, which I wasn’t too fond of to be honest. " The save went away?  Shows how much I paid attention.

[Crisis]

12 minutes ago, miss denise said:

Yay, another list!   I'm here and ready to see what all you have planned next. 

 

Honorable Mention: Season 18: Totally understandable this is included separately. I would have no idea how to rank it among the other seasons either. And I also agree with pretty much everything you said.  

 

017. Season 12: Once again, I agree with nearly everything. Ugh, so much I did not care for.   I agree it was a disappointment for all the reasons you stated (as well as Angie missing out on the finale for me).

016. Season 9:  Yeah, this is another low one for me too. I don't really know what it was, aside from me not being too invested in most of the contestants, but you make some other good points. I also like the semi-finals format they returned to in this one.

015. Season 14: Aw, this one wouldn't rank quite so low for me, but I understand your points. It's mostly my love of my top favorites that carries this one a bit higher from me.   I forgot this is when we lost the results shows, ugh. I actually forgot about most of what you said, but maybe that was for the better.  

014. Season 13: I prefer S14, but not sure either would make my own Top 10 anyway. I actually think 12, 9, and 13 might be my bottom 3 (excluding 18). But yeah, once again agree with your thoughts here, although LOL at this randomly thrown in there, "Plus, there was this atmosphere I can't quite put my finger on that wasn't pleasant. "   It just cracked me up in there with all the specific things, but ugh, sorry about that.

013. Season 17: I get your placement here and I'd probably have it around this spot too. Ugh yes, the judges and their bags compliments.   I mean, in general, I always prefer positivity and being nice, but on shows like this they do need to be actually critiqued sometimes. So yeah, I agree. "Finally, this was the season in which the save returned, which I wasn’t too fond of to be honest. " The save went away?  Shows how much I paid attention.

 

Hello there and welcome! I knew I could count on you and Bk1234 to be around!  I do have some ideas for what I want to rank next; however, after I'm done with the seasons, I might take a request if more posters show up.

 

Honorable Mention: I happy to see you agree with my thoughts here. 

 

017. Pretty much agree. I know how disappointed you were when Angie fell short of the finale.  Although my Top 2 made it, she eventually became my third favorite, and I wouldn't have been too upset if she were there.

016. Once again, I pretty much agree here.

015. . With that said, it's understandable why people would have this season higher, though I didn't care for it much.

014. Yeah, this was certainly not one of the better seasons. I pretty much agree again with everything written.

013. Completely agree. The judges don't have to be Simon Cowell mean; however, I don't want them to be overly nice either. I think Keith Urban had the best balance in which he was complimentary to the contestants yet added some critiques on what they could improve on. Yes, the save came back this season after being absent in S15 and S16, even though my favorite contestant this season was the recipient of it. 

 

It looks like you came at the right time because I'm about ready to rank some more seasons.  

[Crisis]

12. Season 15

Up next is the final American Idol season to air on FOX before switching to ABC after a one year hiatus. The major issue with S15 was that it was too short; however, it was clear FOX wanted to wash its hands of Idol ASAP and therefore, there were only 24 total episodes. It’s too bad because I felt it was the best of the Keith, J-Lo, and Harry seasons. With that said, another problem was the majority of the cast had a lot of potential and youth but lacked in experience and as a result, there was a lot of inconsistency throughout the season in terms of the performances. Furthermore, as bad as Scott Borchetta was in S14, he was even worse this season. Finally, the last negative I have was that the cast was pretty much pushed aside in favor of the older Idol alums, plus they didn’t even get to have a tour. With that said, there were some positives to this seasons. One is although I mentioned it in one of the negatives, it was really nice to see some of the older Idol contestants return throughout it, especially during the duets in the semifinals. Another was that the Top 2 was arguably the strongest Top 2 Idol has ever had; if not, it is certainly up there with the best. Overall, while not a terrible season by any means, for supposedly being the final season, S15 could’ve been better than what it turned out to be.

 

11. Season 16

The final season to fall before the Top 10 is the first season to air on ABC. With the switch to a new station as well as different producers, many eyes wanted to see how AI would do. The result: not too bad if I say so myself. Of course, there were a number of changes, the most obvious being a trio of new judges, which consisted of Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan. Also, I believe there was a new stage compared to the FOX seasons. However, there was one mainstay: host Ryan Seacrest. The cast of contestants itself wasn’t too shabby either for the most part, if I say so myself. With that said, there were some things I didn’t care for, with the main one being the celebrity duets during the semifinals. Personally, I would’ve liked to see more Idol alums if they were to keep the duet concept from S15; I guess they wanted to start anew, especially with them stating S16 was S1 , though they have gradually brought back some of the older ones throughout the subsequent seasons (excluding Carrie Underwood, who had a theme dedicated to her this season and Sanjaya during the finale ). Another one was I felt there were too many audition and Hollywood episodes and not enough performance ones, which was a problem in S17 as well. Regardless, I would say S16 was a successful American Idol reintroduction all things considered.

 

10. Season 2

Kicking off the Top 10 is the second AI season. While there was a heavy emphasis placed on image as well as singing ability in S1, the focus was more on singing ability in S2 and as a result, not as many cookie cutter pop star looking contestants were cast, instead favoring stronger singers which was evident from day one. In addition, the finals would add two more spots to make it a Top 12 instead of Top 10. Another difference from S1 was the semifinals format in which there was a Top 32 and four groups instead of the Top 30 and three groups S1 employed. One thing that was really noticeable was that the group of contestants appeared to really get along with one another; in fact, some of them are still close to this day. In addition, the Top 3 was a strong bunch, and any of them could've had a case for being in the finale. With that said, one issue for me was I was not a fan of the twist of the show bringing back the four girls who were cut in Hollywood for the Wildcard Round, with one of them (who I felt was the worst of the bunch) advancing to the finals; I just thought those spots should’ve went to those who were actually in the semifinals. Another thing I wasn’t a fan of was how the show treated certain contestants, the main two that come to mind are Frenchie Davis and especially Vanessa Olivarez. With all this said, S2 firmly sits in the middle of the pack for me as far as AI seasons are concerned.

 

9. Season 10

S10 is considered to be one of the better AI seasons. However, while not bad, I feel it’s one of the more overrated ones. I guess it had to do with S9 being so underwhelming and Simon’s departure that there were low expectations going into the season, and S10 had nowhere to go but up. The season would see the departures of the aforementioned Simon, Ellen DeGeneres, and Kara DioGuardi from the judging panel, and the arrivals of Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler to replace them and join the lone holdover Randy Jackson. It also had the return of Nigel Lythgoe who stepped away for a few seasons. One noticeable thing was the judges were nicer for the most part (though fans of a certain contestant would tell you otherwise ). Besides the judges, there were changes to the semifinals format in which the Top 5 males and Top 5 females were voted through after only one round of performances and three others would be picked by the judges as wildcards, resulting in a Top 13 in the finals. The contestants were fine for the most part; however, there appeared to be a bias against the female finalists as they were picked off fairly early, including one who is considered to be one of the most shocking eliminations Idol has ever had. Finally, it had my least favorite Top 2 of all the Idol seasons (apologies to those who are fans of them ). As I said earlier, S10 was an overrated season to me, but it showed it was certainly possible to have life after Simon.

 

012. Season 15

011. Season 16

010. Season 2

009. Season 10

 

Alright, the new set is up. I'll try to have the next one up tomorrow evening.

 

[blackfield]

if there is one thing i DO agree with you is the ranking of the seasons. although i would have added season 6 to the bottom ranked as well. i think you stated very clear what was wrong with each season and it was discussed thoroughly and there is nothing more to add. 

 

017. Season 12 - the worst season ever!! stopped watching and didn't bothered to come back. 

016. Season 9 - i would have ranked it slightly higher but i get your point and being so lackluster. many good contestants were eliminated during the semis but most of all i think it was simon cowell that was clearly not interested in the show anymore or that he was having post paula abdul syndrome.. 

015. Season 14 - like you mention the way they did the eliminations was terrible. the twitter save was terrible. the contestants were terrible. the finale was awful especially the way they eliminated jax.. 

014. Season 13 - it had the strongest top 4 but many issues with the productions like the try to save to sam woolfe, twice! the semi finals format, the double standards regarding criticism: praising a guy for the same thing that they criticize a girl.. 

013. Season 17 - lackluster and boring season. 

012. Season 15 - although i loved the top 3 and it produced one of my most favored idols, there were too many things against, starting with the short season, double eliminations, being ignored completely at the finale and not being allowed to perform.. no tour. 

011. Season 16 - it was a good start however the lack of criticism from the judges doesn't allow the contestant grow. 

010. Season 2 - the one season i didn't watch and not interested to. 

009. Season 10 - it had potential but got lost early on. this season suffered from the post simon cowell syndrome and made me miss him as a judge even more. it had a few highlights (paul mcdonald original song, james durbin singing heavy metal, steven tyler rhyme after scotty audition.. ) but too many downfalls that included the most lackluster finale. 

 

and thank you for keeping season 18 out of the ranking. i feel it COULD have been one of the best talent wise if it wasn't for the pandemic and the quarantine. 

 

Edited August 19, 2020 by blackfield

[Bk1234]

8 hours ago, Crisis said:

12. Season 15

I definitely agree that this season focused more on past Idol alums, and less on the current contestants. Despite this, I also enjoyed seeing some old faces.  Regarding the Top 2, I thought that they were evenly-matched, so it was really anyone's win (though I had a feeling Trent would win.) I really liked MacKenzie Bourg and Dalton Rapattoni. MacKenzie always put a unique twist on every song he touched, which I loved. Plus, I was obsessed with his song Roses. Dalton really caught my attention after Rebel Yell, so he served as my back-up favorite in case MacKenzie flopped. 

 

8 hours ago, Crisis said:

11. Season 16

I thought that this season was pretty good, considering that it was a reboot. I totally agree that there were WAY too many audition episodes...  My favorites from this season were Gabby Barrett , Jurnee, and Michael J. Woodard. Gabby was just a great vocalist (though you obviously don't agree ), Jurnee had a beautiful, clear voice, and I loved Michael's personality, as well as his performances (yes, even Flat on the Floor.)

 

8 hours ago, Crisis said:

10. Season 2

I haven't watched this one yet, so I don't really have anything to say. 

 

8 hours ago, Crisis said:

9. Season 10

Season 10 was amazing, especially considering it was basically a fresh start for Idol. And yes, I caught your joke about the judges' comments toward Haley Reinhart, which is a topic for another discussion.  I also find it hilarious that this season still managed to have a shocking elimination, despite the fact that the save was in it!  I thought it had the weakest Top 2 out of all the FOX seasons, so I kind of agree with your point about that. Anyway, my favorites from this season were Pia Toscano , Haley Reinhart, and Lauren Alaina. Pia really speaks for herself. She was an all-star vocalist that didn't deserve to go home when she did. Haley Reinhart had a bit of a rocky road with certain judges, but I think this allowed her to really push herself and deliver three performances that many consider some of the best in Idol history. Lauren Alaina just had a beautiful country voice, though admittedly, I like her more because of her post-Idol work.  

Edited August 19, 2020 by Bk1234

[Bk1234]

10 hours ago, miss denise said:

The save went away?  Shows how much I paid attention.

Technically, the judges used an unofficial “save” on Ada Vox in S16, so you could argue it didn’t go away.

Edited August 19, 2020 by Bk1234

[Crisis]

15 hours ago, blackfield said:

if there is one thing i DO agree with you is the ranking of the seasons. although i would have added season 6 to the bottom ranked as well. i think you stated very clear what was wrong with each season and it was discussed thoroughly and there is nothing more to add. 

 

017. Season 12 - the worst season ever!! stopped watching and didn't bothered to come back. 

016. Season 9 - i would have ranked it slightly higher but i get your point and being so lackluster. many good contestants were eliminated during the semis but most of all i think it was simon cowell that was clearly not interested in the show anymore or that he was having post paula abdul syndrome.. 

015. Season 14 - like you mention the way they did the eliminations was terrible. the twitter save was terrible. the contestants were terrible. the finale was awful especially the way they eliminated jax.. 

014. Season 13 - it had the strongest top 4 but many issues with the productions like the try to save to sam woolfe, twice! the semi finals format, the double standards regarding criticism: praising a guy for the same thing that they criticize a girl.. 

013. Season 17 - lackluster and boring season. 

012. Season 15 - although i loved the top 3 and it produced one of my most favored idols, there were too many things against, starting with the short season, double eliminations, being ignored completely at the finale and not being allowed to perform.. no tour. 

011. Season 16 - it was a good start however the lack of criticism from the judges doesn't allow the contestant grow. 

010. Season 2 - the one season i didn't watch and not interested to. 

009. Season 10 - it had potential but got lost early on. this season suffered from the post simon cowell syndrome and made me miss him as a judge even more. it had a few highlights (paul mcdonald original song, james durbin singing heavy metal, steven tyler rhyme after scotty audition.. ) but too many downfalls that included the most lackluster finale. 

 

and thank you for keeping season 18 out of the ranking. i feel it COULD have been one of the best talent wise if it wasn't for the pandemic and the quarantine. 

 

 

Nice to see you again! We'll see where S6 ends up...

 

017. Completely agree about it being the worst season

016. Not much to say but agree here

015. Again, pretty much agree. Although JAX is one of my least favorite contestants, the way they eliminated her was not a good look, though it would've been just as bad if it were Nick or Clark

014. Again agree here

013. Can't say I disagree with this claim

012. I feel like I'm a parrot at this point, but I agree again

011. Not much to say but agree

010. Fair enough

009. Agree with most of what's written here

 

Yeah, I felt it was the right thing to do because of the circumstances surrounding it.

 

8 hours ago, Bk1234 said:

I definitely agree that this season focused more on past Idol alums, and less on the current contestants. Despite this, I also enjoyed seeing some old faces.  Regarding the Top 2, I thought that they were evenly-matched, so it was really anyone's win (though I had a feeling Trent would win.) I really liked MacKenzie Bourg and Dalton Rapattoni. MacKenzie always put a unique twist on every song he touched, which I loved. Plus, I was obsessed with his song Roses. Dalton really caught my attention after Rebel Yell, so he served as my back-up favorite in case MacKenzie flopped. 

 

I pretty much agree with what was said about the season, so I don't have much to add here. 

 

8 hours ago, Bk1234 said:

I thought that this season was pretty good, considering that it was a reboot. I totally agree that there were WAY too many audition episodes...  My favorites from this season were Gabby Barrett , Jurnee, and Michael J. Woodard. Gabby was just a great vocalist (though you obviously don't agree ), Jurnee had a beautiful, clear voice, and I loved Michael's personality, as well as his performances (yes, even Flat on the Floor.)

 

Agree about the season. Hey, I think Gabby is a very good singer; my issues with her have very little, if anything, to do with that.  I agree about the other two, except I didn't care for Michael's Flat On The Floor.

 

8 hours ago, Bk1234 said:

I haven't watched this one yet, so I don't really have anything to say. 

 

Fair enough.

 

8 hours ago, Bk1234 said:

Season 10 was amazing, especially considering it was basically a fresh start for Idol. And yes, I caught your joke about the judges' comments toward Haley Reinhart, which is a topic for another discussion.  I also find it hilarious that this season still managed to have a shocking elimination, despite the fact that the save was in it!  I thought it had the weakest Top 2 out of all the FOX seasons, so I kind of agree with your point about that. Anyway, my favorites from this season were Pia Toscano , Haley Reinhart, and Lauren Alaina. Pia really speaks for herself. She was an all-star vocalist that didn't deserve to go home when she did. Haley Reinhart had a bit of a rocky road with certain judges, but I think this allowed her to really push herself and deliver three performances that many consider some of the best in Idol history. Lauren Alaina just had a beautiful country voice, though admittedly, I like her more because of her post-Idol work.  

Edited 2 hours ago by Bk1234

 

I wouldn't go as far as calling it amazing; however, it was fine considering it was pretty much starting anew. Maybe after I'm done here there can be a discussion about it.  That is true about having a shocking elimination despite having the save.  I can't say I disagree about the contestants, except I'm not as big as a Lauren Alaina fan although she has grown on me some over the years.

Edited August 19, 2020 by Crisis

[Blirel]

On 8/17/2020 at 11:14 PM, Crisis said:

Right now, I'm going to rank my bottom five seasons. After that, I'll post four at a time.

 

17. Season 12

I’ve gone between three seasons when it came to deciding my least favorite season, and I have decided that S12 is the one to receive this dubious title. For starters, this was the most manipulated season, bar none; it was clearly obvious the show was aiming for a female winner after five consecutive WGWG winners by casting one of the weakest male group of contestants in Idol history and not sending any WGWG through to the voting rounds. Fortunately, the female cast was pretty strong, and the winner was certainly the best of the group, IMO. In addition, there was Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey feuding throughout the season, which put a huge damper on it and often took focus away from the contestants. I was happy to see Mariah sign on as a judge, but I was disappointed with her; maybe she would’ve been better had Nicki not been around. Speaking of whom, if I were to do a judge ranking, Nicki would definitely be last. The season was such a mess that Nigel Lythgoe was replaced as executive producer and the judging panel with the exception of Keith Urban was changed. It would be the last season the remaining OG judge Randy Jackson would sit at the judges’ table, though he returned the following season as the in-house mentor. With everything mentioned, I have zero qualms placing this season at the bottom.

 

16. Season 9

S9 is a season that is often considered to be the worst season in AI history in a number of circles. For me, it’s one spot above last. It was a season in which Paula Abdul was replaced by Ellen DeGeneres who, while it appeared she was trying to be insightful, was clearly a fish out of water as a judge. In addition, this would be Simon’s final season before he moved on to the X-Factor. As for everything else, the cast of contestants is considered to be one of the weakest AI has ever had, and I can’t say I disagree with this claim. A common complaint is a number of the eliminations left a lot to be desired due to some of the stronger contestants being axed too early, the most glaring example being the Top 16 Results Show where there were three highly controversial eliminations (Alex Lambert, Katelyn Epperly, and Lilly Scott). The main reason I have the season ranked so low is because I just didn’t enjoy it all that much. There were times I would get so bored and do something else with it playing in the background. If there is one positive about the season, I was happy they went back to the semifinals format employed in S4-S7 after the brutal S8 format. Overall, when it comes to re-watching Idol seasons, S9 is one that would be far down the list.

 

15. Season 14

S14 is another season that is highly maligned compared to other seasons. It is often said this season led to AI being cancelled on FOX after S15. I don’t know about that, but there is a number of reasons why S14 is one of my least favorite seasons. First, there was the format in which the performances and the results where in the same episode as opposed to the performances in one episode and the results in another. In addition, there were also the light up chairs, from which I understand the contestants absolutely hated because it made them tense throughout the episode not knowing if they were safe or not and therefore, their performances may have suffered. Next, there was one of the worst concepts ever conceived with the Twitter Save, the main reason being it pretty much excluded some time zones and hence, some voters wouldn’t be able to participate in who stayed or left. There was also a huge water-cooler moment in which there was a spat between Harry Connick Jr. and Quentin Alexander. Finally, this was the season that introduced Scott Borchetta, who was the worst of the in-house mentors (this was especially true in S15). With that said, there were a few positives. One was the group of finalists were certainly the most eclectic bunch. Another was I liked that they held the semifinals in Detroit instead of L.A. for a change to honor Motown. Other than those two things, I can’t say I have too many positive feelings about S14.

 

14. Season 13

Another heavily maligned season is S13. This season had a lot of things not going well for it. First, there was the dumb twist in which a group of hopefuls who received a Golden Ticket were cut on the bus without getting an opportunity to participate in the Hollywood Rounds. Also, there was the worst semifinals format in AI history with the Rush Week format in which ten semifinalists (5 male and 5 female) were eliminated without even getting a chance to perform for the voters, which was not cool at all. Plus, there was this atmosphere I can't quite put my finger on that wasn't pleasant. Finally, there was the Top 5 twist which was thought to have been conceived in order to keep Sam Woolf around as long as possible; fortunately, that blew up spectacularly in the producers’ faces.   These were all the brainchild of new executive producer Per Blankens, who replaced Nigel Lythgoe after S12. This was also the season in which along with S12 holdover Keith Urban, J-Lo came back as a judge after a one year hiatus, and Harry Connick Jr. was added to the judging panel. With that said, there were a couple of things I liked about S13. For starters, some of the themes were cool, such as Competitor’s Pick and Audition Songs. In addition, I think the Top 4 was one of the strongest in any season, even if the least marketable one was crowned the winner (though I liked said contestant). Unfortunately, those two things weren’t enough for me to think favorably about the season.

 

13. Season 17

The second season of the ABC reboot AKA S17 is the next to fall. Excluding S18, I felt it was certainly the weakest ABC season, which is too bad because it started off with so much promise. One thing I particularly didn’t care for was the judges being overly complimentary to everyone. They were like that in S16 as well; however, there was at least some constructive criticism sprinkled here and there (them pretty much criticizing Gabby during Finale Night immediately comes to mind). Here, however, they thought everyone was a star, which was not only annoying, it did the contestants a huge disservice because they wouldn’t know if there was anything they needed to work on in order to become better performers. As a result, the season felt stagnant as a whole. Also, this was the season Bobby Bones became a permanent mentor, in which outside of him filling in for Ryan one episode when Ryan was sick, his presence didn’t mean much in the long run. Finally, this was the season in which the save returned, which I wasn’t too fond of to be honest. Speaking of the save, it provided a water-cooler moment in how it was used. The decision to use the save was a controversial one as many felt the wrong contestant was saved. Overall, I can't say S17 wasn’t really a bad season, but it wasn’t one of the better ones either and therefore, I can’t justify putting it any higher than this.

 

017. Season 12

016. Season 9

015. Season 14

014. Season 13

013. Season 17

 

Alright, the first batch is up. Hopefully, I'll have the next batch ready within the next couple of days.

When I look back at one of the main things wrong with Season 14 is Sarina Joi Crowe going out so early. She was clearly the second best vocalist of the season technically speaking next to Clark and had style going along with that. A fairly strong top 5 saved the season as Jax, Clark, and Rayvon even Tyanna were decent. But if you look at the entirety of the season Quentin and Joey were intriguing but after that it was a lot of fodder. Not a particularly deep season.  I didn’t hate Nick but looking back I’m not sure how he won. 
 

 

[Bk1234]

11 minutes ago, Blirel said:

 I didn’t hate Nick but looking back I’m not sure how he won. 

This sums up my feelings about him perfectly.

[Blirel]

3 hours ago, Bk1234 said:

This sums up my feelings about him perfectly.

I’ll even go further to say I bought Beautiful Life as it was a solid winners single and sounded less 90s than most of his stuff and voted for him a few times. Just didn’t think he should win. 

[Bk1234]

Just now, Blirel said:

I’ll even go further to say I bought Beautiful Life as it was a solid winners single and sounded less 90s than most of his stuff and voted for him a few times. Just didn’t think he should win. 

I thought Beautiful Life was a pretty good winner’s single too. In all honesty, when I first watched the season, I preferred his voice to Clark (now I obviously feel differently ). 

[Crisis]

3 hours ago, Blirel said:

When I look back at one of the main things wrong with Season 14 is Sarina Joi Crowe going out so early. She was clearly the second best vocalist of the season technically speaking next to Clark and had style going along with that. A fairly strong top 5 saved the season as Jax, Clark, and Rayvon even Tyanna were decent. But if you look at the entirety of the season Quentin and Joey were intriguing but after that it was a lot of fodder. Not a particularly deep season.  I didn’t hate Nick but looking back I’m not sure how he won. 
 

 

 

Yes, it was disappointing to see Sarina eliminated as early as she was. I can't say I really disagree with everything else, except I'm not a JAX fan by any means, though I understand how she can appeal to others. As for Nick, while he's my least favorite winner, I don't dislike him; however, I believe he won because he was the safest pick out of everyone. He was consistent, if boring, and he wasn't as polarizing as the others. Beautiful Life was one of the better coronation songs, though I can't take the part where he sings "haters can hate and fakers can front" seriously. 

[miss denise]

22 hours ago, Crisis said:

 

Hello there and welcome! I knew I could count on you and Bk1234 to be around!  I do have some ideas for what I want to rank next; however, after I'm done with the seasons, I might take a request if more posters show up.

 

013. Completely agree. The judges don't have to be Simon Cowell mean; however, I don't want them to be overly nice either. I think Keith Urban had the best balance in which he was complimentary to the contestants yet added some critiques on what they could improve on. Yes, the save came back this season after being absent in S15 and S16, even though my favorite contestant this season was the recipient of it. 

 

It looks like you came at the right time because I'm about ready to rank some more seasons.  

 

Aww!  Hmm, I'm trying to think of some request ideas. One that always comes to mind is ranking group performances. I think that would be fun, but also difficult, as I'm not sure how many of those are even available online.  A judges ranking would be more simple and interesting. 

 

I agree with what you said in response here too.  I also loved Keith as a judge. I don't even remember the save being gone, oops.   

 

Yay, I'm ready! 

 

012. Season 15: I have a lot of love for this season because I love Dalton so much, but without him in it, I don't know where this would rank for me.  Thankfully I had him, but ugh also hated how short the season was. I did really enjoy that judging panel as well.  Oh yeah, I was so bummed there was no tour.  

011. Season 16: I have not loved the ABC seasons as much as the FOX ones, but this is also my favorite. Not a fan of the judging panel, formatting, and other things though.   I enjoy the celeb duets, but wouldn't mind if they did more alumni ones too. And ugh, don't get me started on them referring to this as season 1.   I just can't stand it.

010. Season 2: I agree with most of your thoughts here. This was a strong season and group of contestants.  I liked most of the changes they made with the formatting as well. And when they stopped doing a Top 12 on later seasons, I was not happy.  

009. Season 10:  Again, I have a lot of love for this season because I love Lauren so much, but then there were several other contestants I was (and am) a big fan of too. It can be hard for me to judge seasons apart from just how much I love the contestants and how many of them.  I wasn't thrilled with the new judging panel, although Jennifer became one of my favorite judges. It was just sad to see Simon gone. Wow your least favorite Top 2 ever.  It's one of my favorites, but I know we disagree.  

[Crisis]

1 hour ago, miss denise said:

 

Aww!  Hmm, I'm trying to think of some request ideas. One that always comes to mind is ranking group performances. I think that would be fun, but also difficult, as I'm not sure how many of those are even available online.  A judges ranking would be more simple and interesting. 

 

I agree with what you said in response here too.  I also loved Keith as a judge. I don't even remember the save being gone, oops.   

 

012. Season 15: I have a lot of love for this season because I love Dalton so much, but without him in it, I don't know where this would rank for me.  Thankfully I had him, but ugh also hated how short the season was. I did really enjoy that judging panel as well.  Oh yeah, I was so bummed there was no tour.  

011. Season 16: I have not loved the ABC seasons as much as the FOX ones, but this is also my favorite. Not a fan of the judging panel, formatting, and other things though.   I enjoy the celeb duets, but wouldn't mind if they did more alumni ones too. And ugh, don't get me started on them referring to this as season 1.   I just can't stand it.

010. Season 2: I agree with most of your thoughts here. This was a strong season and group of contestants.  I liked most of the changes they made with the formatting as well. And when they stopped doing a Top 12 on later seasons, I was not happy.  

009. Season 10:  Again, I have a lot of love for this season because I love Lauren so much, but then there were several other contestants I was (and am) a big fan of too. It can be hard for me to judge seasons apart from just how much I love the contestants and how many of them.  I wasn't thrilled with the new judging panel, although Jennifer became one of my favorite judges. It was just sad to see Simon gone. Wow your least favorite Top 2 ever.  It's one of my favorites, but I know we disagree.  

 

Yeah, the group performances one would be tough; however, a judges ranking is something I will consider. I'll see where I'm at when I finish the seasons.

 

 and  at not remembering the save being gone.

 

012. Yeah, I wasn't a fan of how short the season was either. It did suck this group didn't get to experience a tour; I guess a lot of it had to do with tours from the previous seasons not selling well. Still, it doesn't make it any less disappointing. 

011. Fair enough about everything here. I guess ABC wanted to differentiate themselves from FOX and therefore, there were a number of changes to the formatting. Yes, them referring to this season as S1 was something.

010. Pretty much agree with everything here.

009. It did take a while to get used to the new judging panel, though to be honest, I didn't miss Simon all that much, especially with the way he acted during his last few seasons. I had a feeling you weren't going to like my opinion on the Top 2 being my least favorite.  I try to be understanding and respectful, but at the same time I have to be honest; it's difficult finding a balance at times I admit. 

[Crisis]

8. Season 8

S8 is a rather polarizing season. Some feel it’s one of the better seasons, whereas others feel it wasn’t as great as it’s made out to be. For me, S8 wasn’t a bad season per se; however, it was probably the most disappointing season because it had great potential to be better than it turned out to be.  For starters, after the Top 24 (12 males and 12 females) semifinals format from S4-S7, S8 decided to employ a semifinals format similar to the first three seasons in which there would be a number of contestants per group with the top vote getters advancing to the finals. As a result, there was a lot of talent left behind, and I felt that the final group could’ve been stronger. Also, this was the season in which Kara DioGuardi was added to the judging panel, which was iffy to be honest because it disrupted the chemistry of the other three judges. Finally, this was the season in which the save was introduced, and those who have followed me know how I feel about it.  With that said, one of the most compelling aspects of the season is there were two underdogs in the finals: one went on to finish fourth (though it was felt she should’ve made it further), and the other went on to win the whole thing, pulling off what may be the biggest upset in AI history. With everything said, I decided to put S8 somewhere around the middle of the pack at the end of the day.

 

7. Season 1

At lucky number seven is the one that started it all! Admittedly, based on the overall talent level in the finals, this would be one of the weaker seasons though it was pretty top heavy; however, I’m looking at the season as a whole, and this one is placed here due to pure nostalgia. While the singing was important, the first season had a heavy emphasis on image because they were looking for a pop star, and they wanted someone to look the part as well as sing well enough. As a result, this may have been overall the best looking cast. With that said, it certainly didn’t lack drama, from having a disqualification replacement, Randy and Simon nearly coming to blows, and the original shock elimination. Also, this would be the lone season where there were two hosts (Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman) before Ryan would host the show solo in subsequent seasons, which I felt was for the better because it looked like he and Brian had no chemistry with each other; also, Ryan looked far more comfortable with the role. Finally, it can’t be overlooked that the winner went on to be one of the most beloved contestants and have a huge career after the season because there may not have been any future seasons I would say after S3 had she not done well. S1, while not the best season, is one I still have fond memories of, and it was a great way to introduce the show in the U.S.

 

6. Season 3

Of the first three seasons, it appears S3 is the least popular. However, it was actually my favorite of the three (those who followed my finalist rankings list know I can have quite a few contrarian opinions ). I’ll admit, on the whole it was probably weaker than S2 as far as the talent was concerned; however, it was certainly a memorable group of contestants, with some giving some of the best performances in AI history. It was also the first season in which there was a gender imbalance in the finals, with eight females and only four males with the last male finishing fifth, which probably explains why they changed the semifinals format the following season. There was certainly no shortage of things to talk about regarding this season. First, there was the strange wildcard round where a number of contestants who were invited to participate didn’t even get to sing, with Lisa Lesuchner being the most notable one. Then there was the infamous Top 7 Results Show in which the “three divas” – who were considered to be the three best singers of the season – were in the B3. There was also controversy surrounding a certain red head who many felt overstayed his welcome; it even got to the point where said contestant received death threats.  Finally, there was a controversial elimination at the Top 4 which engendered some outrage. Overall, S3 is one I can say I genuinely enjoyed (Oh and  at Camile in this picture).

 

5. Season 6

This placement is certainly to be a controversial one.  S6 is considered to be one of the weakest seasons of the AI franchise. However, I feel it’s probably the most underrated one, and it’s one I enjoyed a lot. I guess a reason as to why it's not one of the more popular ones is it followed S5, which was a very popular season and therefore, there were huge expectations for it, which weren’t quite met. Probably the most notable thing about the season was a shy, seventeen year old kid from Federal Way, WA who received a lot of buzz.  Outside of said kid, this group had a number of contestants who attempted the buck the trend and change things up from being the pure singing competition it was in the past and in a way, I look at it as a transitional season to the more creative and artistic seasons that followed it. This was also the season in which Idol Gives Back was introduced, which we would see in two other seasons. If there is one complaint I have about the season, it’s that there was more emphasis on the celebrity guests and mentors than there were on the contestants; this was the most evident during the Season Finale in which the Top 12 were MIA for the most part (with that said, it was still better than the treatment the S15 finalists got) . While it may not be the most popular season, S6 is one of my personal favorites when it’s all said and done.

 

008. Season 8

007. Season 1

006. Season 3

005. Season 6

 

Only four more to go! I'll try to have them up tomorrow evening.

[Bk1234]

9 hours ago, Crisis said:

8. Season 8

Since Season 8 is the only one of these that I have watched a good chunk of, this is the only one I'll comment on. So, Season 8 wasn't going to be better than Season 7, but I thought it definitely held its own. The addition of Kara DioGuardi wasn't too much of an issue for me since she knew what she was talking about (unlike a judge that would come a season later).  I didn't really think that she disrupted the chemistry of the previous panel, but whatever.  I would strongly agree with your point about the save, but after it was used on Makayla Phillips in S18, I am forever grateful for it!  I think you forgot to mention the fact that Season 8 was HUGELY focused on Adam Lambert, which seems like a knock on the season, but I think it made Kris' underdog story even more exciting!  In terms of Kris' win being the biggest upset in Idol history, I'll just say   Had I actually watched the season in 2009, Kris would've been one of the few times where my favorite actually won (the only other time was Kelly Clarkson in Season 1.) Anyway, my two favorites from this season were the two underdogs, Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta (who was also Michael Johns' favorite, rip ). Kris showed so much artistry during that season (Kara's dream contestant) and I just loved his voice so much. Plus, out of all my all-time favorites he probably has the best personality, besides Archie, because he's perfect in every way.  Allison Iraheta had such a cool voice that I loved. She should have definitely outlasted Danny Gokey and Adam. I haven't really gotten into her original music unfortunately, but I'll probably give it another try in the future. 

Edited August 20, 2020 by Bk1234