Talk:American Idol/Archive 2

Songwriting Contest
So far there is no mention of the American Idol Songwriting Contest in the article. Apparently there have been at least 5,000 entries as of April 11, 2007. ````Credible Bulk

recent edit
someone switched the album bestsellers 2 and 3 (clay aiken and carrie underwood) dunno which is right so not reverting, but plz check Qleem 20:22, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

Encyclopedic value of reality show participants
My brother, Erik Schuessler, was a participant in another Fremantle Media production, The Complex. I AM A FAT HOEslated for deletion on the basis that it was insufficiently famous. The Complex was not even vaugely as popular as American Idol but was still a FOX production and aired on American prime time television. To me it raises the (biased in my case) question of whether my brother is or is not encyclopedically (is that a word?) famous. If not, where is the cutoff? At this point I've taken an acedemic interest in the matter beyond my own obvious nepotism. Ean 23:24, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

Prize?
I read this whole article and nowhere did I see the prize mentioned. What are the contestants playing for? I assume it is some manner of recording contract, but can anyone include some information on the actual prize? 69.142.21.24 00:44, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

American Idol template
Great template for American Idol page.

However, not really necessary to add to each contestant's bio page especially if American Idol is linked on their page. The template is more about the show's history than the individual's. Otherwise, templates for any show (or whatever item mentioned in a bio) would be added to an individual bio page... cluttering the page.

Additional info for template:

AI albums missing on the template:

Bkstone 23:50, 17 April 2006 (UTC)
 * American Idol Season 2: All-Time Classic American Love Songs
 * American Idol Season 1 & 2: The Great Holiday Classics (released October 14, 2003)
 * American Idol Season 1: American Idol Greatest Moments (released October 1, 2002)


 * I've made a suggestion to unclutter the template at Template talk:American Idol. Please share your comments. Coffee 01:01, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Season 5 (current season)
I don't think this should be tampered with any further until after the show is over, IMO. This is an in-progress section, to see the edits in action go to American Idol (Season 5). &mdash;Chantessy 12:28, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

AJ GIl
On the young age of people 18 and under you did not mention 17 year old A.J Gil from season 1.

Most vandalized page
This is definitely, without a doubt, one of Wikipedia's most vandalized pages. &mdash;Chantessy 18:44, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Uncited claim about Mandisa Hundley in the Controversy section
There is a commented out paragraph in the Controversy section that violates Avoid_weasel_words and []. Please either cite it or remove it completely.

207.173.97.150 19:18, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

That's funny that it is as I came here more to ask the relevance of TV related junk in Wiki and Indymedia sites. I mean sheesh are we trying to create an alternative to the mainstream media or are we going to go along hum drum with all the junk they feed us? I say this article should be a canidate for deletion! American Idol has no bearing on my life and almost nothing to do with any others save some pop culture victims in North America.

On the other hand I can also see why it should remain as such shows represent the antithesis of the spirit of Wikipedia. Programming a very narrow and mainstream view of music/culture when they tell you it will be on the old television. Any thoughts?

Foner in Canada


 * I read the following on TV.com: "Idol 5 contestants Bucky Covington, & Mandisa have currently signed record deals. Bucky's first album will be released April 17th 2007. Mandisa's first album release date is still TBA." So, they will soon need to be included on the list of album sales.  --Le Grand Roi des Citrouilles 02:12, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

Semi-Protected
I have semi-protected the page for cautionary reasons. If anyone objects, they can remove the protection thingy. I have a feeling someone is going to regret this. Pacific Coast Highway blah • my tracks 02:33, 25 May 2006 (UTC)


 * I'm the one who removed the tag :-) Right now, there is a little edit war brewing between a new user and an IP. 3RRs are in order I think, but I think I might block for at most an hour or so at the moment. I'll semiprotect it if the vandalism escalates any further. Of course, another administrator would be most welcome to pitch in and help out too :-) --HappyCamper 02:42, 25 May 2006 (UTC)


 * I'll do what I can. The navigational pop-ups help out alot right now! : ) Pacific Coast Highway blah • my tracks 02:46, 25 May 2006 (UTC)


 * I know what you mean! Excellent :-) --HappyCamper 02:48, 25 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Come on. Why is it inappropriate to semi-protect the article? I think plenty of articles have been protected before they got this bad. Vandalism is continuing in full force on the page, and when those who use "navigational pop-ups" are offline, no one else will be able to halt the vandalism. &mdash; C RAZY `( IN )`S ANE 02:58, 25 May 2006 (UTC)


 * True, I gotta take a shower soon. Pacific Coast Highway blah • my tracks 03:00, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Bottom 3/2
There is a reference to "the bottom 3/2" which I removed. How is it possible to be in the bottom three halves? --HappyCamper 02:44, 25 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Nevermind...on the Taylor Hicks article, it means refers to "bottom three or two". --HappyCamper 03:12, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Article removed from Good articles
This article was formerly listed as a good article, but was removed from the listing because the Article is not well written, it does in fact read tediously. I would refer editors to Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, or The Chronicles of Narnia in which every installment of the series isn't gone into in detail, hardly even an overview. The season by season recaps need to be shortened more than they already have.

Also I take issue with the "Imitations produced by other companies" section. Calling something imitation has a negative connotation (like imitation Pepsi) and it can imply that the second product is inferior. And with serious or formerly serious competitors like Nashville Star labled as an imitator, I think this could violate NPOV policy. Also some things like Saturday Night Live sketches are listed as imitations when they are more technically parody.TonyJoe 03:03, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

comment - can also use Back to the Future trilogy as a guide. Lehla
 * Tedious doesn't even describe it, it's overly explained (yes there is such a thing) & i've found links that redirect to the same article, there is far too much detail but not enough explanation.ZlatkoT 08:27, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Season 6 template
I've been wondering which template we should use for next season. Do you think that the one that was used for season 5 should be used or the old one used for seasons 1-4? I prefer the one we used for season 5, but I would like to try and form a consensus so that I can create the template for season 6, which will be under Template:AI6ElimHist unless a different name is recommended. -- Evan Robidoux 22:45, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

I like season 5's better. Tennis Dynamite 21:15, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Instruments
Does AI have any rules concerning contestants and instruments? Are contestants allowed to play instruments (whether it be guitar, violin, piano, trumpet, flute etc.) at any point in the competition?--Secret Agent Man 01:33, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

In Season 5 the winner, Taylor Hicks, played his harmonica in a group song with the Top Six Boys in the Finale, but I haven't seen anyone else do it it except for when Bucky Covington played his guitar when the Top 9 were meeting Kenny Rogers. These weren't during their performances, so I guess it doesn't count as during the competition. Tennis Dynamite 21:22, 9 June 2006 (UTC)


 * AI is first and foremost a singing competition, so I guess they skip the instrumental stuff to focus on their vocals. I don't know that there are any specific rules against it, though. -- Anonymous Coward, 20:30, 16 June 2006 (CET)

Guest Judges
Where can I find a list of the ongoing / past judges from American Idol? That is my entire reason for visiting this article but there doesn't seem to be any real mention. I think a list of these would help increase the usefulness and reference of this article, as well as serve as a reference for AI fans. Table at the bottom or list form would both be OK. Bsharkey 23:20, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Idol Ranks section
I don't think we need that section. The American Idol finalist box on the side gives the same information and more. -- ArglebargleIV 19:01, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

By the way, that box needs to be Americinized. I'm just too lazy to do it. --Tennis Dynamite 18:57, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

Fixed. Also someone recently added "runner-up" to all the 2nd place finishers, I reverted that as well since it's pretentious. User:Arual 16:51, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for fixing it! --Tennis Dynamite 21:16, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

Wordiness
The season by season recaps are too much for this atricle itself. I'm going to move them into their proper place soon unless someone objects. Forthelulz 01:04, 20 June 2006 (UTC)forthelulz

I agree -- by the proper place you mean the individual season articles? Just one summary paragraph is needed, I would think. -- ArglebargleIV 01:15, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Contestant navigation templates... help needed
I've made these navigation templates for the individual contestant pages (finalists only). If anyone has the time and patience to add these to the ~50 articles of American Idol finalists, the help would be much appreciated. Actually, I made Template:American Idol 5 about a month ago and I've already added them to the articles of the 12 finalists. Just need help with the other four seasons. Thanks. :) Coffee 11:07, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Template:American Idol 1
 * Template:American Idol 2
 * Template:American Idol 3
 * Template:American Idol 4
 * Template:American Idol 5

Origins of contestant fan base names
I would like iti f we had a section for the explanation for contestant fan base names, such as Kathatine's McPheever, Taylor's Soul Patrol, etc. I believe it originated from the MLS Soccer teams having fanbase names of their teams. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Falconleaf (talk • contribs).

Considering the extremely low profile the MLS has in the US, I would doubt that. Groups tend to name themselves out of a sense of identity and separateness, and the most likely source of that tendency is probably both common to and much older than with AI or MLS. -- ArglebargleIV 18:42, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

American Idol is a big joke. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.113.89.160 (talk • contribs).

Age
What is the need in placing everybody who is under a certain age?

Title Card
I put the title card back, because in my opinon it looks better then the logo someone put up. --WestJet 19:20, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Spin-offs
Everything in that section was in list of American Idol spin-offs so I took it off. Arual

how do you reconcile these two statements:
There was much discussion in the communication industry about the phone system being overloaded, and that more than 150 million votes were dropped, making the voting invalid

After a nationwide vote of more than 65 million votes in total - more than the first two seasons combined - Fantasia Barrino won the American Idol title --Froth 23:32, 5 September 2006 (UTC)


 * 65 million votes were cast, but many times more calls were made, the vast majority of which ended in busy signals. Busy signals are not counted in the vote totals. -- Moondigger 00:09, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

Use of templates for elimination histories
Templates were used to show the elimination histories of contestants. In particular, Template:AI4ElimHist and Template:AI5ElimHist were used in American Idol (Season 4) and American Idol (Season 5), respectively. These templates are intended for these articles only. (A template should be designed for several articles.) This is not a good idea because whenever one of these articles is loaded, the server must load two files (the article and the template, not including other templates in the article). Whereas if the template was merged with the article, only one file is loaded. See Transclusion costs and benefits for more information.

I nominated the two templates above for deletion at Templates for deletion based on the above. The elimination histories have been merged into the articles.

I don't know what was the intent of separating the elimination histories. If the size of the article was too big, the elimination table does not count per Article size. For American Idol (Season 6) and onward, the elimination table should be within the article, not separated. Tinlinkin 06:30, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Moving the seasons
Why don't the seasons put their information on the individual pages? They're the biggest reason why the page is so excessively long. There could be brief summaries of each season on the main AI page but the long, unwieldy, currently standing season summaries should get moved. Some of the season pages dont even have much info in them, for instance season 1. Dan Guan 03:47, 30 December 2006 (UTC)