Which famous people would do well on American Idol?

Published on March 31, 2005 By Jamie Burnside In Entertainment

I write weekly articles discussing the American Idol TV series. Yesterday when I was thinking about my weblog, I had a thought: Which already famous performers (present or past) would have made good Idol contestants?

Let me set out a few criteria:

The artist should be American (sorry Freddie Mercury, Celine Dion, Robert Plant, Seal, and Geddy Lee.)
The artist should have a melodic (or at least nice-sounding) voice with the ability to sing various genres of popular music.
Good looks, personality, and intangibles count for a lot.
Major, Major superstars need not be included. (No Madonna, Michael Jackson, or John Lennon -he'd be disqualified according to prior criteria as well. The likes of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, or Gwen Stefani would be acceptable.)

Here's who I think would do well. Tell me whether you agree or disagree, and feel free to add your own.

Jon Bon Jovi- Has the looks, the singing voice, a little bit of range, and tons of intangibles.

Skid Row's Sebastian Bach- Awesome voice, lots of charisma, and can probably sing a wide variety of music. Does power ballads and hard rock very well.

Styx's Denis DeYoung- Good voice, plus able to sing a few different genres. May suffer in the "likeability" area.

I can't think of any women off-hand. I doubt that my favorite female performers (Liz Phair, P.J. Harvey, Suzanne Vega, or a few others like that) would do very well anyway.

Comments (Page 2)

Iron Rob

on Apr 02, 2005

What about Paula Abdul???? She is cute, sweet, has a decent voice, dances like nobody's business. Was she too much of a superstar in her day? Or, do judges not get to also compete? I'd probably vote for Janet Jackson over Paula Abdul, though.

I think Debbie Gibson's chances would be good. She was great as Debbie but I don't know about as Deborah, I haven't heard any Deborah songs.

Bon Jovi's chances are also good. I think he's too much of a superstar, though.
I like Whitney Houston's chances but she's definitely a super star.
I think Christina Aguilera could do well if she wore more clothing. I don't think the AI audience would appreciate her look.
And Beyonce is an excellent singer. I think someone earlier was trying to make fun of her. But, she's really talented and beautiful! She'd definitely be in the top 3.

For the "rocker" entry I'd go with Sheryl Crowe over PJ Harvey or Liz Phair. PJ and Liz's words are a little explicit for network TV.. Sheryl's not too hard rockin' but she isn't too poppy sounding. Plus, her image and lyrics would go over well (although she's a little old). She was also a kindergarten teacher and the AI audience loves teachers! Frankly, let's go with Joan Jett for the rocker entry! She is the BEST! Is she a superstar, though?

Shania Twain is definitely Canadian and therefore not allowed to compete.

Karen Carpenter would do well but someone would have to make Simon stop making comments about the girls' weight. She was sensitive to the media and I think Simon would make her feel bad.

Jamie, this is fun!
Nancy

Jamie Burnside

on Apr 02, 2005

Good comment Nancy, but I never nominated PJ Harvey or Liz Phair. I said that my taste in music skews their way, but I'd doubt they'd make good idol contestants.

Sheryl Crowe is a good nominee!

Joan Jett? I doubt that she's cute enough to gather much of a following. (However I am always happy to crank up "Do you wanna touch me? (Yeah!)")

Dynosoar

on Apr 04, 2005

Showing my age here;

Male
Jim Croce and David Lee Roth.

Female
Wynonna Judd ( after trimspa ).

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