Idol Needs To Get A Clue

According to Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott she auditioned for idol twice, and was REJECTED both times. She told "Entertainment Tonight", quote, "I never even got to see (the judges). "I literally performed for the production assistants and the interns, and I just didn't make it."

Now if you ask me, the fact that the show has passed on so many talented people and has cranked out what I believe to be a little below average talent from the groups that make it to the finales, there is obviously something wrong with the show from the ground up. Hillary being passed over in the first stages of auditions and then going on to have a huge pop single with Need You Now says to me that somebody insinde the show thinks way to highly of their own talent judging ability. I know they have a show to produce and have to weed through tens of thousands of auditions. And it's near impossible for them to catch every rising star. But if you look at the number of "Idols" they produce compared to how many are never heard from again do they really have the right to call the show American Idol?

Lets compare the top contestants from each season shall we?

Season 1:
Kelly Clarkson
No brainer she's still huge and a real star.

Season 2:
Ruben Studdard
Was always following Clay Aiken's popularity and even he's dropeed off everybody's radar now.

Season 3:
Fantasia Barrino
Is most recently known for some unfortunate personal conflicts including having an affair with a married man. Not much of an Idol.

Season 4:
Carrie Underwood
Still a huge star, although its in country music. So not an everybody's favorite flavor of star but still has crossover appeal. She's good in my book.

Season 5:
Taylor Hicks
Ford commercials is all he ever did. And anybody can do those, the list of no name people that have been attached to car commercials is a mile long.

Season 6:
Jordin Sparks
She has some pop cred to her name but hasn't been anywhere near big enough to be considered an idol.

Season 7:
David Cook
Where did David run off to? Again he was always a hair less popular than his #2 David Archuleta and David the 2nd has even disappeared from everybody's radar.

Season 8:
Kris Allen
Again his #2, Adam Lambert, far surpassed his popularity. See above seasons 2 and 7.

Season 9:
Lee DeWyze
Who? We're about to crown Season 10 winner and Season 9 has disappeared. It doesn't take that long to put out an album, and if you listen to the quality of some of the earlier winners it shouldn't take more than 3-4 days. Not too much effort on the songwriting portion of some of these acts.

And I'm not excluding the notable exceptions such as Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson. But with Daughtry being kicked off earlier and eventually losing to Taylor hicks was there much to think about there? And Jennifer came in 7th behind Fantasia? Its easy to see who the real Idol from season 3 was.

Of course they have tried to revive it after Simon left by adding some actual big hitters in the music business. I love Aerosmith and Steven Tyler can probably definitely see some star talent when it walks through the door, but as a rock musician, and there being few to zero contestants that could ever be considered for a rock band he's wasting his talents on a show that doesn't cater to what he knows best. You would probably be better off inviting Chris Daughtry back as a judge. And while Jennifer Lopez is a huge pop star, she too has slipped from the top of the musical world, similar to Paula, so why not invite KC and his Sunshine Band? They were the biggest pop act the world had ever seen when they were big. but does anybody care now? No, because music has changed so much since they were relevant that its not a good fit anymore. So why J-Lo? I don't know.

So to sum up we are at best looking at a %50 success rate? and I'm being quite generous here. For a show that claims to have some of the top talent finders/discoverers/exploiters in the music business there's not a whole lot of talent on their roster. If it wasn't for the popularity of the show itself, much of that due to the horrible auditions at the beginning of each season, Idol would probably never have been let through the door at any label in Hollywood. I have a snkeaking suspicion you'll be able to find more exciting talent at your local high school year-end talent show or any open mic night. But being able to enjoy our guilty pleasures is part of the greatness of living in America. So keep watching your American Idol, and keep voting for your favorites because before you even miss last years "winner", this years season already has a brand new crop of favorites to wipe your mind clean.

No thanks, I'll pass.