This is the first year that I have watched American Idol. For some reason, I avoided it like the plague before now but I'm a huge fan of Steven Tyler and so decided to watch this year (though I'm not impressed with him as a judge).

I didn't know Adam Lambert ...................... errmmmmmm ....... from Adam until a couple of months ago. I only know him because I looked him up on Youtube after James mentioned him and I saw his name mentioned by some on here and elsewhere as a result. I also noticed that his is one of only two former contestants' appreciation threads on here that are still active years on.

Votefair has the plus of being one person one vote but as with any other site in any other contest, the results are very dependent on which contestant's fans mostly visit it and which fans feel they have more of a point to prove. Looking back at their stats over the past few seasons, I can see that according to Votefair (and just about anywhere else) no one else but Adam Lambert need have bothered showing up in season 8 but he still didn't win, and Votefair had the first contestant to go out in the live shows that year as one of the favourites after Adam among their voters.

Isn't that a contradiction? You're suggesting it's some people on forums and blogs that are speaking against James while showing polls from these showing James leading or close.

Most of the anti-James posts I've come across (or anti-anyone) have been on non-AI specific sites which may refute your point that feelings among the more general public may be different.

I don't think whatever the sitiuation is or feelings are is anything to do with previous contestants. I just think a lot of people are either resentful, ridiculing or just plain sick of the whole "best contestants ever" schtick of this year's show.

I think James has a great chance of winning this but though his performance may be popular with some, I think his support is sadly mostly down to the wrong reasons. It's difficult to see a young man behaving like a little boy at the sight of his hero, totally starstruck at the sight of a couple of people who have been down the same route he is going now and twitching uncomfortably on screen without feeling a tinge of sympathy and more than a few people will be led to support someone for this reason alone. How that translates to sales after the event and to the prospects of a career we have all seen before.

Anyway, back on topic......

Pia - Pleasant voice when not straining for notes she can't reach without being flat. Movement of her big toe would be a bonus.

Lauren - I've liked a couple of her performances but for some reason she's still to demonstrate the potential she showed in auditions.

Thia - Lovely voice and showed last week that she's not just able to perform ballads. Pia take note.

Haley - Best of the girls in my opinion but she is typical of the girls who tradtionally don't do well in AI.

Naima - Probably the best all-rounder this year.

Stefano - I find it difficult to be constructive about someone who I can't work out why he is there at this stage of the competition.

Jacob - Good voice and probably the best control of this year's contestants. However, is there an equivalent of Imodium for vocals? Jacob needs it.

Casey - I'm glad they saved him. Partly for his reaction, partly because he didn't deserve to go out at this stage and partly because the save that I don't like is gone now.

Scotty - Love his voice and love that you know what you get with Scotty.

Paul - One week I like him, the next week I think WTF?

Not really. It was suggested there was a general consensus on American forums that James had no likeability. I was intrigued by that, so sampled the first 3 polls I found on a search engine and they all appear to like him. Unless of course they love his performances but cannot stand him.

Bear in mind that there will be people who are happy to anonymously take part in polls, or read forums, but rarely if ever post. In reality forums all it takes is a small bunch of regular posters eulogising about someone to give a distorted sense of that person's popularity, and the forum will go quiet with shock the day after they've been voted off because the wider audience didn't agree. They're like racing pundits who lost their bets, which in some cases they actually will have done. For a more reliable test of wider popularity it's better to look to polls rather than forum commentary.

Alternatively the forums explode with accusations of vote rigging or dodgy lines.

Polls are no show of wider popularity as they can be hijacked by a contestant's rabid fans. Even the ones that are one vote per person per day.

There was a reason for that called "fix". Bible belt voters allegedly being given 'phones with fast dialing (faster than anyone else could buy). Apparently, the one state that the winning contestant came from (who was he by the way?) had more votes than inhabitants from babies to the oldest person by about 5 times.

The last part of your statement has been shown to be true (if people look far enough and know where to look, though the evidence in all but the most well concealed places was deleted by TPTB) but the reasons for that and for Kris Allen's win (yes, that was his name) had nothing to do with the Bible belt and it wasn't Bible bashers who organised it.

I know the bible belt didn't organise it, I've always assumed that the tv company or its sponsor did, but I doubt they would have had as much success if they'd tried it in California for instance.

I agree that it is way too simplistic to blame the religious right for the season 8 result. I was a huge Adam fan in his season, and his post AI career would tend to bear out a lot (and there was A LOT) of the hype surrounding him on Idol. But I always though there were a number of factors in him coming second beyond the straight fix theory.

He was basically too good from the beginning so he couldn't show that story arc of improvement which gets a large part of the audience voting momentum behind a contestant. He was gay - which turned a certain section of the US voters away from him. His big rival Danny Gokey (culturally and personally I think) went out 3rd and those votes transfered to Chris. And fab though he was, he was massively over pimped by the judges - no one likes being told it's a foregone conclusion - all making Chris the cute, likeable, straight, middle america underdog.

I always thought that it was a bit of a perfect storm.

Sorry lady gardener and Raquelos but you're both wrong.

The reasons for Kris' win would have led him to win any season of the contest that he entered, whoever he had been up against in the competition. The reasons for it were such that he would even have toppled sweet safe Country girl Carrie.

How pimped was Carrie? She won.

How pimped was Leona from about the third week in on XF? She won.

Has there ever been a more pimped contestant in a talent show than Alex Parks on Fame Academy? She won.

Most people will take guidance from the judges and the media rather than rebel against it as so many people think.

The only pimped contestant, other than Adam, who didn't win was Rhydian.

Also all these contestants stood out from their audition/first appearance, even if Leona took a few weeks to show her full mite. A journey/arc means nothing to many when there is a contestant who stands out from the pack from the start or early on.

Pia - Needs to give dynamic performances that sound current. She is boring me more and more every week now.
However, having heard some of her pre-idol songs, I think that it is possible that she is deliberately avoiding to peak too early by singing ballads on the first episodes.
But, imo, she has now reached the point when she has to step it up before it is too late.

Lauren - She is improving and her last performance was quite good. She needs to keep practicing and connecting to the lyrics. And must be careful with how she comes across as a person.

Thia - She lacks maturity and I don't know what she can do about it.

Haley - She is improving and I like her voice. She needs to keep doing what she is doing, keep showing her legs and working hard.
I love her studio version this week, and if ITunes ratings are an indication of popularity, I am not the only one.

Naima - She needs to keep practicing to get her vocals to the level of the whole performance.

Stefano - Leave the show and take two years practicing a non cheesy singing style.

James - Tone it down, switch to softer songs at least for a while, and concentrate on singing rather than theatrics.

Jacob - Practice toning it down with a mentor that slaps you everytime your vocals or expressions raise on the OTT scale.
Last week was good, but you have reverted to type this week and it is a no no.

Casey - Keep doing what you have done this week, and go even further with original arrangements. You are supposed to be an amazing original artist, prove it.

Scotty - You can keep the same style fro a few more weeks, but at some pint you will have to surpise the public with something different, otherwise they'll get bored.

Paul - Show us the Paul from the Grand Magnolias. Change the arrangements to make the songs close to your real style, which is not as slow and whispery as your Rocket Man, but not frantic either.
And when you leave the show, take singing lessons. I like your album and your voice, but you must improve your technique.

All true.... but I didn't say I thought that was the only factor, just one of several which combined to put him second. The phone vote fix conspiracy theory seems a bit too far out there for me tbh - that said I haven't studied the data!! It just seems more sensible that a number of different factors combined to deny him his deserved victory.

To be extra clear, I really thought he should have won, he was a bajillion times better than any of the others. That said it doesn't seem to have done him any harm in the long run, so I just can't sustain the levels of annoyance I felt at the time....

I don't agree that not winning hasn't done him any harm but having a fair idea of what BLB is referring to I have to agree that Kris would have won whatever season he had entered, regardless of how good any other contestants had been.

Sorry I am bit mystified what are you referring to BLB??

Oh (penny drops), is it the phone fix thing? Because I have to admit that once the show ened that season I didn't hang around for the post mortem - I was too PO'd at the glee that Adam didn't win from some quarters - so I took my bitterness elsewhere. I never really got the whole low down on it tbh - can you give me the highlights?

I think his AMA appearance did him more harm that coming second on Idol really - It played into the hands of those who wanted to paint him as some kind of deviant who couldn't be allowed to pollute their children... sigh. It lost him a tremendous amout of latitude in the mainstream media. And frustratingly it wasn't even one of his best performances - so that huge audience didn't even have to acknowledge his talent. The way it played out really annoyed me. I am glad he managed to overcome it and have a successful career regardless, but it wasn't a good start. Anyway, given the comparative lack of profile for Chris, who actually did win (however that happened), I don't think winning ultimately made that much difference.