And now the continuation of IDOL LIVE's Top 10 most memorable moments of 2009. If you missed moments #10-6, catch up before you proceed.
05) Judges' save used on Matt Giraud
Season 8 was full of awkward changes and poor decisions from a production standpoint, but one of the worst ideas was without a doubt the introduction of the "judges' save" option, which enabled the judges to save a contestant from elimination anytime between Top 13 week and Top 5 week. The "threat" of the judges' tool for manipulation hung over each finalist upon elimination, each time giving said finalist hollow hope until they finally caved and granted Matt Giraud the gift when he was set to be eliminated in Top 7 week.
Matt was a good enough guy, but it was definitely his time to go, and the judges' use of the power seemed like an afterthought by the time they used it. Still, it marked a historic moment in Idol history and gained widespread media attention for the show that was supposed to let viewers decide who advanced. The action prompted many to accuse the tool as a fail-safe method by which producers could discreetly keep some of their favorites in the running, be it Adam Lambert or Danny Gokey had either failed to garner enough votes to remain on the show. The gimmick was largely panned, and will most likely be remembered as a mistake.
04) Ellen DeGeneres added as fourth judge
Alright, so Ellen DeGeneres's addition wasn't as big as Paula's departure, but it was still pretty huge. After word broke of the new face that would be joining Simon, Randy and Kara, weeks of speculation ensued with all corners of the media questioning how this would affect the show's dynamics and whether or not the talk show host was the right fit considering she has no experience in the music industry. Even Larry King had to get Tyra Banks's take on the news, which proves that Ellen's new gig gained all kinds of attention from across the media spectrum.
Of course, tons of the show's alums from seasons past had to give their two cents as well, which gave the media even more of a reason to talk about it. And Ellen being a talk show host also gave her a platform on which to talk about the big news. Ellen was careful in discussing the matter, though, as she tried to quell concerns that she would not be useful in critiquing performances and was in effect "stealing Paula's job," saying:
"I hope Paula is OK with it....I don't want anybody to think that I took Paula's job away."
Paula had nothing but nice things to say about Ellen, though, as she
wished her luck with the new role:
"Ellen DeGeneres is wildly funny and talented in her own right. I wish her and the show only the best of luck."
Whatever happens in terms of judge shuffling, there's sure to be plenty of material from Ellen, as she is first and foremost a comedian. But the actual announcement that Ellen would be joining the judging panel was one of the few big stories to penetrate the national media in the off-season, so for that it earns its spot on this countdown.
03) Adam Lambert loses American Idol
One of the greatest shocks of 2009 in the
Idol world was the fact that
Adam Lambert lost what was largely thought to be his title to lose, that being the title of the next American Idol. The majority of the season felt like a running coronation for Adam, as he received all ingredients necessary for a bona fide star, from tons of fan support to endless praise from the judges to extensive media coverage. But in the end, a dark horse from Arkansas named
Kris Allen stood in the way of what seemed to be the inevitable. Many did not expect Kris to make the Top 12, let alone win, so it was a big surprise for virtually everyone when Ryan Seacrest read his name aloud that night.
Even
Idol's own crew,
especially Simon, picked the glam rocker to take it all. The stunning defeat leads to many conspiracy theories, some of which are perputated by mainstream media outlets including
The New York Times claiming AT&T gave
free phones to Kris's fans in Arkansas, and the whole "38 million votes from Arkansas alone" garbage that was
spread around the net thanks to Little Rock's FOX affiliate KLRT, which also was picked up the media because of the overwhelming disbelief that Adam could lose the competition.
This combined with the usual rationalization from fans as to how their favorite lost, ranging from Kris absorbing votes from
Danny Gokey's fans because they were "both Christians" to overconfidence leading to a lack of power voting. Despite all this silliness, both Adam and Kris took the result in stride and were vocal about their continued friendship despite the outcome. But just like every other year, the final outcome of that year's installment of
Idol is among the top stories of that year's news cycle.
02) Paula Abdul finally calls it quits after eight seasons
Call it jealousy. Call it failure to meet in the middle. Whatever it was, the fact remains that
Paula Abdul is
no longer a member of the
Idol judging panel. After a public ping pong match with the back-and-forth mixed messages sent from both Paula's camp and
Idol's camp, the official announcement came on Tues., Aug. 4, via her official
Twitter account:
With sadness in my heart, I’ve decided not to return to #IDOL. I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all...I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent,but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day1become an international phenomenon.
This was obviously a memorable moment because it marks the first time that a judge has left the show. But considering there were conflicting reports on whether or not Paula would be sticking with the show due to her contract dispute literally for months beginning before the eighth season even concluded, the matter was magnified even moreso than it usually would have been. Evidence pointing to a departure included reports of a "crying fit" in her dressing room during meetings with show management and
statements from her reps that pointed to it not looking likely that she'd return. Not to mention her "performance" of "I'm Just Here For the Music" near the end of the season, which could have been taken as a sign that Paula was ready to move on and pursue other things including another run at a music career. But there was also evidence that
Paula would strike a deal to remain on the show, so there was much confusion shrouding whatever the real situation of the contract talks was at the time. So in that respect it wasn't a shock, but it still was a big deal.
The announcement was reported by the national media mere hours after it happened and played out in the media for the following weeks. The debate as to whether Paula should have sucked up her differences and accepted the contract offer was reignited when
Ellen DeGeneres was picked to replace her, but she remained steadfast in her reasoning for not sticking with the show. Of course,
Idol alums were not in short supply to
offer their viewpoints on how it all went down and how Paula would be sorely missed on the show.
01) Adam Lambert shocks audiences with controversial American Music Awards performance
Even though this event came late in the year, there's no denying it was by far the biggest most memorable
Idol-related moment of 2009 because it made
Adam Lambert a household name once again and even (the few) people who had not heard of him prior to the performance were finally acquainted with him, which either left a very negative or positive first impression of him with many.
What puts Adam's
performance of his lead single "For Your Entertainment" at the 2009
American Music Awards show ahead of Paula's departure from
Idol is solely the fact that it can be captured in a single moment that took the country by storm as opposed to a lengthy public battle that took all sorts of twists and turns before the announcement was handed down, which made the whole thing anticlimactic. But here, it was like a tornado tore through the American television audience, with people going to their DVRs and re-watching the spectacle to make sure they hadn't imagined the whole thing.
Aside from the performance and all its crotch-grabbing, flipping off and falling down glory, the discussion that ensued in the media and around the water cooler was unmatched by anything else at the time. All anyone could talk about for days was Adam, who actually lengthened the story himself by
lashing out at critics, then accusing some of having a double standard.
ABC's decision to cancel Adam's upcoming appearances on the network in promotion of his album also drew a rise out of his fans, who called for boycotts of the network, and every talk show scrambled to get Adam on their program in the hopes of grabbing ratings and one-upping ABC for what they believed to be a poor decision. All of this was carried out in the media for everyone to see, which was both good and bad for all parties involved.
The story finally died down when Adam admitted he didn't think the whole thing through and said he probably wouldn't have approached the performance the same way had he the chance to do the whole thing over, but still questions about the performance seem to follow him wherever he goes.
For better or for worse, 2009 was certainly the year of Adam Lambert, and so there's no better way to summarize this than by having this moment be the most memorable one of the year for this countdown's purpose.
So there are your Top 10 most memorable moments of 2009 as compiled by IDOL LIVE. Do you agree? Don't forget to voice your opinion in the poll of the week for your most memorable
Idol moment of the year.
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