History YMMV / AMERICANIDOL

** On a far more serious note, fans are ''still'' angry at Simon for the infamous eye-roll incident from 2007. For those who either don't know or don't remember what happened, during season 6, the Virginia Tech Shootings occurred and contestant [[MrFanservice Chris Richardson]], a Virginia native and VT alumni, made an impassioned plea for America to keep the victims and their families in their prayers, and at that exact moment, the camera cut to Simon, whose apparent reaction was to roll his eyes. He later said that he was rolling his eyes an unrelated statement that Paula was saying and ''not'' in reaction to Chris' words, and even though he, as well as the rest of the staff and producers, are sensitive to the tragedy and sorry for both it and the misunderstanding/poor timing, it still left a bitter taste in many fans mouths and cemented his reputation as an unfeeling and smug {{Jerkass}}. (Plus, it looks extra bad that seemingly neither he '''nor''' Paula were paying attention to a very serious, earnest moment.)

** On a far more serious note, fans are ''still'' angry at Simon for the infamous eye-roll incident from 2007. For those who either don't know or don't remember what happened, during season 6, the Virginia Tech Shootings occurred and contestant [[MrFanservice Chris Richardson]], a Virginia native and VT alumni, made an impassioned plea for America to keep the victims and their families in their prayers, and at that exact moment, the camera cut to Simon, whose apparent reaction was to roll his eyes. He later said that he was rolling his eyes an unrelated statement that Paula was saying and ''not'' in reaction to Chris' words, and even though he, as well as the rest of the staff and producers, are sensitive to the tragedy and sorry for both it and the misunderstanding/poor timing, it still left a bitter taste in many fans mouths and cemented his reputation as a unfeeling and smug {{Jerkass}}. (Plus, it looks extra bad that seemingly neither he '''nor''' Paula were paying attention to a very serious, earnest moment.)

** Most top 2 performances and finales turn into this, with each side arguing about how their favorite should/should have won.

* TheScrappy: While the judges tended to be base breaking as a whole, one judge considered to be universally disliked was Kara [=DioGuardi=]. Aside from being unnecessarily rude at times, she never found her element among the show (something even she agreed on). Furthermore, the executives and sponsors also had a problem with her addition to the show, since her critiques made the show run over schedule and interrupted local programming. As a result, very few were upset with her departure, especially since she helped to bring in another unpopular judge, Steven Tyler.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Nicki Minaj is either the best or the worst judge in the history of the show.

* NeverLiveItDown: In Season 12, American Idol was beat in the ratings... by Duck Dynasty

* BizarroEpisode: Season 6's Top 10 episode which was mentored by [[Music/NoDoubt Gwen Stefani]]. It had no real theme since only three contestants sang Gwen Stefani songs. It seems like it was just an excuse to get her on the show.

** John Stevens from season 3 qualifies. With a singing style comparable to Tony Bennett or Michael Buble, Stevens, while far from untalented, didn't really fit in with the pop-oriented nature of the show, and the judges, particularly Randy and Simon, did not hesitate to let him know it. Far from being a woobie, however, he would go out, perform, and listen to the critiques with an earnest smile and no complaints, something that Simon complemented him on. He would ultimately finish sixth.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: In the early seasons of the show, some people watched it ''solely'' because they wanted to see Simon tear into people with no talent.

* JustHereForGodzilla: Many watch only the audition phase to see the candidates fail.

* CriticalResearchFailure: One contestant decided to impress Simon by singing a song that he co-wrote, but as Simon quickly pointed out, she got the title wrong.

* GrowingTheBeard: The show in regards to Season 10. After the disaster of Season 9, the show brought out true talent like Lauren Alaina, Haley Reinhart, James Durbin, and Pia Toscano. Scotty [=McCreery=] also made good success in the country scene as well.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Jermaine Jones was nicknamed the GentleGiant. However, [[spoiler: when he was disqualified for having a criminal record,]] this name became somewhat ironic... [[spoiler:Following his disqualification, clips of his rehearsal performance of "[[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail Somewhere Out There]]" interspersed with the scenes of his arrest, which was more ironic now that his dreams of being "the next American Idol" would not "come true".]]

* TheScrappy: While the judges tended to be base breaking as a whole, one judge considered to be universally disliked was Kara [=DioGuardi=]. Aside from being nearly indistinguishable from Paula, she never found her element among the show (something even she agreed on). Furthermore, the executives and sponsors also had a problem with her addition to the show, since her critiques made the show run over schedule and interrupted local programming. As a result, very few were upset with her departure, especially since she helped to bring in another unpopular judge, Steven Tyler.

** Another example from that same season would be Paris Bennett, who also had a very cheerful and energetic disposition while on the show.

** The wins of five straight [=WGWGs=], short for White Guys With Guitars (though some people count out Scotty [=McCreery=] [[MisBlamed since he only played the guitar a few times]]. He's also not 100% percent, being Puerto Rican on his grandmother's side.) in the last five seasons.

*** It can be explained due to Vote Spliting. All three of those ladies had, at the time, very similar styles and appeal, and thus, caught the interest of the same part of the public.

* IKnewIt / TransparentCloset: Season 8's flamboyant runner-up Creator/AdamLambert. While the show was still running, he never outright admitted that he was gay, but he didn't deny it either. At times, he seemed to be ''daring'' interviewers to ask about his sexuality, knowing that they couldn't bring themselves to do it. It was... quite amusing, at times. When he finally came out in an interview with ''Rolling Stone'' after the show ended, he said that he didn't think people should be surprised that he was gay, and that his parents knew about his sexuality since his early teen years.

* EarWorm

** Season 5 was full of 'em. One notable example being [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcf4z33PvdI Will Makar]], who was often compared to Bobby Brady (by both Paula and the audience), and for the most part, came across as very cheerful energetic, and just about ready for anything.

** Season 5 was full of 'em. One notable example being [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcf4z33PvdI Will Makar]], who was often compared to Bobby Brady (by both Paula and the audience), and for the most part, came across as [[Keet very cheerful and energetic]].

** Season 5 was full of 'em. One notable example being [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcf4z33PvdI Will Makar]], who was often compared to Bobby Brady, and never seemed to run out of energy.