American Idol Live 2011

Attending the American Idol concerts is a tradition of mine. I have been attending each concert since season four and have enjoyed each for the most part. On most occasions, the concert consists of the top ten from each season. However, this season, due to Casey Abrams being saved by the judges in the top eleven week, with this meaning two contestants would head home the next week, the entire top eleven was invited to go on tour. While this season followed a more scattered lineup, like earlier seasons, the concert was still a good one. With all top eleven at the concert (Katherine McPhee is the only contestant to miss a concert I've attended), this made for a complete show with a lot of excitement and variety.

Not only the order was different, but it wasn't always consecutive either. Most of the Idols got at least two solo performances. The exceptions to this rule were Naima Adedapo, Thia Megia, and Paul McDonald, who got one solo, Stefano Langone and Jacob Lusk each got one solo plus another with backup vocals, Lauren Alaina had two performances, plus one with backup, and Scotty McCreery had three solos and another with backup vocals, these backup vocals coming from other contestants. The others had two performances, not including duets, such as the memorable pairings of Scotty and Lauren, as well as Casey and Haley Reinhart. Pia Toscano, who already has a solo performance of her own, sang her new solo and "Empire State Of Mind."

I came to the show with a checklist of things I was looking forward to from the contestants, something I always do when attending. Let's see... Naima doing her entertaining African dance (to J Lo's "On The Floor" at that), check! Paul singing "Maggie May" and dancing like a headless chicken, check! Casey jazzing it up like he's a jungle man, check! Casey singing "Harder To Breathe," the performance in which kissed J Lo, check! Lauren singing "Like My Mother Does," which made the vocal talent part of the competition look like a dead heat, check! James Durbin, my personal favorite of the season, coming through the audience and making me wish I had front row seats, check! James rocking it out, check! Scotty singing his audition song ("Your Man") and "Gone," check! An excellent show all around, check! My checklist was satisfied.

I must say that this was the best season when it came to contestants, especially the top eleven. There was a wide variety of talent that satisfied the many genres of music that exist. This season was far more laid back and while Simon Cowell's departure was sure to shake things up, his departure also shifted the path in which the show would follow. It would be unfair to say that this path would automatically be a rocky one, because in actuality, this season of Idol was excellent!

I don't feel there is any need to rate of grade the Idols on their concert performance, because I felt that each of them did a fantastic job sticking out and giving me and the other attendees an unforgettable show. I would really look into attending the future Idol concerts and will also look into attending the concerts of the finalists from this season, especially if it was one of James's concerts. The only thing left to do is look to see what next season of American Idol brings and whether or not it could top or even match this season's group of talent. It'll be really tough, but it's still possible. As we wait throughout the fall, what's left to do is see how "The X-Factor" does on television. For now, for those of you who are waiting to attend the concert, I'm sure you're going to have a great time. For those of you who have already attended, I'm sure you could agree that you had a great time.