I'm really not that entertained by the awful auditions we have to see for the first few weeks. It makes me uncomfortable to watch these people, many of whom appear to be borderline 'care in the community.' And I don't like that the successful acts are allowed a sob story, yet the freaks whole lives are probably a sob story, but we don't get to hear of them.

Am I bizarre in wanting to see some ok/borderline auditions? or am I just not the target audience?

I think the freaks' sob stories would be too disturbing for young viewers.

I'd rather they cut back on the sob stories altogether. They take up too much time and really aren't very interesting. I'd rather see more auditions.

They should leave the personal background part until the final 24.

^ Or just see background stories of the top 12, as they ar e the ones we will be most interested in. I hate it when shows like Idol and X Factor concentrate too much on sob stories, they are meant to be talent shows not "whos got the biggest sob story" shows!


Haha, rant over!!!

It seems to me that these shows now spend far too much time on the initial auditions and far too little on the bootcamp/Hollywood part of the show - which for me is when it starts to get interesting ...

Help? I'm not watching AI yet because I can't be bothered with the auditions. Could anyone tell me what stage they are at, i.e. have they reached bootcamp stage AND when are the final 24 shows due to start? Thanks.

Rosie

The terrible auditions and the judges' comments are the best part of the show.

I think next week are the last audition shows and the week after (Thurs 14th Feb) will be Hollywood week, but im not 100% sure..

These apparently are the US dates, source

Tuesday, Feb. 5 (8:00-9:00 PM) Auditions Episode

Wednesday, Feb. 6 (8:00-9:00 PM) Auditions Episode

Tuesday, Feb. 12 (8:00-10:00 PM) Hollywood Round, Part 1

Wednesday, Feb. 13 (8:00-9:00 PM) Hollywood Round, Part 2 Top 24 Semifinalists Announced

Tuesday, Feb. 19 (8:00-10:00 PM) Top 12 Male Singers Perform

Wednesday, Feb. 20 (8:00-10:00 PM) Top 12 Female Singers Perform

Thursday, Feb. 21 (8:00-9:00 PM) First Results Show (ET live/PT tape-delayed) Two Male and Two Female Contestants Voted Off

Tuesday, Feb. 26 (8:00-9:30 PM) Top 10 Male Singers Perform

Wednesday, Feb. 27 (8:00-9:30 PM) Top 10 Female Singers Perform

Thursday, Feb. 28 (8:00-9:00 PM) Results Show (ET live/PT tape-delayed) Two Male and Two Female Contestants Voted Off

Tuesday, March 4 (8:00-9:00 PM) Top 8 Male Singers Perform

Wednesday, March 5 (9:00-10:00 PM) Top 8 Female Singers Perform

Thursday, March 6 (8:00-9:00 PM) Results Show (ET live/PT tape-delayed) Two Male and Two Female Contestants Voted Off; Top 12 Finalists Revealed

Tuesday, March 11 (8:00-10:00 PM) Top 12 Finalists Perform

Wednesday, March 12 (9:00-9:30 PM) Results Show (ET live/PT tape-delayed) One Contestant Voted Off

I agree. Last year I was surprised how quickly they fly through the Hollywood part.

We only got about 15 seconds of the singers which was a shame as it's quite interesting to see them sing to accompaniment and have to sing something outside their "comfort zone".

Also many singers, who'd done really well in the audition rounds, weren't shown at all and you never see them again. It would be nice to see their eventual demise

Thanks very much for the dates. I will start watching when AI reaches the Hollywood shows. Hopefully the callibre of contestants will be better than last year. At least I won't have to endure Cat Deeley's awful interviews!

Rosie

I agree - last year was absolutely infuriating - loads of people whom I really liked in the auditions disappeared after a few seconds exposure, loads of people whom I couldn't remember seeing before got through to the finals. Given that last year was so weak let's hope they don't repeat the pattern!