American Idol 2011 Season 10 Recap And Thoughts

I can’t believe this is the 10th season of “American Idol”. I’ve never watched this show in its entirety before up until this year when I became addicted. It was pretty bad. I would schedule everything around the show. If I had to miss it due to family stuff, Clyde knew he had to record it for me because I wanted to see how my favorites did.

The only episodes I’d ever watch were when I was channel surfing. My favorites were the ones during the audition weeks. Those were hilarious!!! I can’t believe some of the things people do. I also can’t believe some of them really think they’re awesome singers. Whatever. I’m not going to hate on them. I’m just glad Simon (when he was on the show) gave them a pretty thorough reality check.

That brings me to the main reason why I didn’t watch the show. I think Simon was too brutal. I don’t think he should sugar coat the truth and coddle these already too-soft kids but I don’t think he should club them in the head either. You know who’s really good at giving good critiques? Nigel from “So You Think You Can Dance”. He tells it to them straight but he’s never mean. Sure, you can argue that “American Idol” wouldn’t be anywhere as successful without the mean and crochety ways of Simon but I’m going to point at the success of “So You Think You Can Dance” and disagree.

So why did I start watching this year? Two words – Steve Tyler.

Crazy! Crazy! Crazy…for you, baby

Omg, the man is beyond awesome. I love Aerosmith. I’ve loved Aerosmith from before I knew what the hell the lyrics actually meant and why my mom wouldn’t let me sing them out loud. I really thought “Love in an Elevator” was about one man’s love of riding an elevator. I didn’t get the uh….finer nuances of the song until after puberty.

As much as I love the band and his voice/crazy style/mouth, I never knew how funny he was….until American Idol.

Thanks to PopSugar, here’s a clip of my favorite Steve Tyler moments :

What’s with the jujubes on your ooh-ooh-bees…oh man….he’s hilarious!

When he got on that stage and sang “Dream On”, I went into nuclear fangirl mode. It was fantastic. The man is a LEGEND and he is so awesome. What a great addition to American Idol.

Baby, Lock The Doors And Turn The Lights Down Low

I’ve been trying to deny something for a very long time. I always thought I hated country music but what I didn’t know was that a lot of the songs I love ARE country songs! Who knew?! I finally decided I didn’t like “country” country. You know, with the twang and the banjo and stuff.

That is, up until Scotty McCreery strode up on that stage, opened that mouth of his and showed me how wrong I really am. How could you not fall in love with that voice and that face? Speaking of, doesn’t he kind of remind you of a hotter version of that cartoon boy on the cover of all those “Mad” magazines?

I had a sneaking suspicion Scotty and Lauren had a lil sumthin going on throughout the whole season. Clyde was like “Nah…I don’t think so” but I stuck to my guns and whaddyaknow. I’m right. They are so cute. I can’t wait for them to record something together.

Bonnie Likes

I loved it when Hulk Hogan made an appearance. That was so awesome!!!!!

I liked seeing JLo’s makeup every week. She’s super pretty! I think she’s a good addition because she was a huge pop star back in the late 1990’s – early 2000 and she’s a good performer. I felt bad when she had to tell people they weren’t good enough to continue. You get the feeling that she cares so much about all of the contestants and that she’s their biggest fan. I watched her bop in her seat almost every week and thought “Wow….she must be an awesome mom because if she’s like this with other people’s kids, you know she’s easily 10x times more into it when it comes to her own”. I like also like how she tells every contestant what she thinks they did right, even if it was just looking really nice, before she tells them her honest opinion. I think that’s awesome.

I loved hearing Pia, Thia, James, Scotty, Haley and Lauren sing every week.

Bonnie Dislikes

I was so mad when Pia got voted off. WTF??!!!

I was so sad when James left too.

I know I said I thought Simon was being too hard on the contestants but I don’t think the current judges were hard enough. They were super supportive and want the best for every single one of them but sometimes that means you have to put the smack down. Again, they don’t have to be harsh and mean like Simon. I really think they could learn a thing or two from watching Nigel critique the dancers on “So You Think You Can Dance”.

I felt like Randy didn’t step up to the plate. He’s the veteran of the show so he should know better. There is nothing wrong with giving your professional opinion even if it goes against the popular vote. I was so mad when he praised what *I* thought was a crappy performance. When he attempted to give feedback that might hurt feelings, he wasn’t strong and sure about it. When he gave it? All the things he said? Were like questions? And not statements? Come on!!! No one’s going to take you seriously! Put your freaking foot down and state what you think instead of making it sound like you’re questioning the words coming out of your mouth! Then again, he’s sitting in that judge’s seat and not me. But I’m the one who has 3 different ways to vote people off. Muahahaha!

I also didn’t get why he keeps screaming about how someone’s in it to win it. Of COURSE they’re in this to win! Why else would they be competing?! God. Just once, I’d love to see him yell “THEY’RE IN IT TO LOSE IT!”

American Idol has come to an end. I’m happy Scotty won. So far, from what Clyde’s been telling me (I think he’s watched every season), there hasn’t been a very strong male winner. The female winners have done great but the boys….not so much. I have a good feeling Scotty McCreery’s going to break that barrier. I also hope he and Lauren go far together as a couple and as artists.

Steve Tyler, I’ll be waiting to see what you do next year.