--- description: Even those who tuned into the juggernaut show after years away found something they knew they were going to miss. title: Review: The Finale of 'American Idol' Was a Glorious Mess image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb17d03d62c405681/69888e3ecd1bba13bc700264/gettyimages-519701682.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Review: The Finale of _American Idol_ Was a Glorious Mess, Just Like the Show Itself ## Video: Trent Harmon Wins Final Season Of American Idol [Watch (HLS stream): Trent Harmon Wins Final Season Of American Idol](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4FcISURA.m3u8) (2:43)  _Published 2016-04-08_  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 8, 2016 3:03 AM CUT  Season 1 judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson and the cast of Season 15 present host Ryan Seacrest with a gift onstage during FOX's "American Idol" Finale For The Farewell Season at Dolby Theatre on April 7, 2016 in Hollywood, California. Season 1 judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson and the cast of Season 15 present host Ryan Seacrest with a gift onstage during FOX's "American Idol" Finale For The Farewell Season at Dolby Theatre on April 7, 2016 in Hollywood, California.Kevork Djansezian—2016 Getty Images  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 8, 2016 3:03 AM CUT Thursday night’s farewell episode of _American Idol_ was poorly produced, at times slack in pace, and subject to simply bizarre decisions as to staging and song choice. It was, in short, _American Idol_, and even those who tuned into the juggernaut show after years away found something they knew they were going to miss. [The series](http://time.com/4283634/american-idol-last-episode-legacy/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined") — in recent years a victim of its talent-show component taking a backseat to its judges’ celebrity — was at its best all about democracy. And on Thursday night it provided a sort of recall election, placing the vast majority of its alumni performers into stagings chosen seemingly at random. Viewers at home got to re-evaluate just how well past decisions had been made. Yes, [Kelly Clarkson](http://time.com/4284630/kelly-clarkson-tweet-american-idol-vote/?iid=sr-link3 "undefined") and Carrie Underwood, the show’s two most successful winners by far, got showcase performances, proving the show’s success at launching real superstars; several other winners, though, got relatively limited stage time. All of them, too, were subject to song choices that felt outdated. (Five of them, the so-called White Guys With Guitars who marked the show’s later years in which tween girls were the major voting base, were limited to 20 percent apiece of a David Bowie tribute.) Jordin Sparks and Taylor Hicks, two relatively early winners, had arguably less to do than Pia Toscano, who came in ninth place five years ago. It seems like a historical accident that season three competitors LaToya London, Jennifer Hudson, and Fantasia Barrino were at the time adversaries rather than a girl group, but with their sublime “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” we got a moment to pretend as though the opposite were true. The giddy randomness was a delight on its own merits and because it distracted from the bits that were, unfortunately, thought out. _Idol_ tended, over the course of the show’s run, to push jokes until they weren’t funny anymore, and so it was that there were performances by [William Hung and the “Pants on the Ground” guy](http://time.com/3853664/worst-american-idol-auditions-cancelled-fox-last-season/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") (who, in one of the evening’s most noticeable moments of poor decision making, wasn’t just left to flail on his own but was pitted in a sing-off against an actually talented _Idol_ alumna, Allison Iraheta. Weird!). Past judge Kara DioGuardi, for some reason, got a solo singing spot of her own, as did Jennifer Lopez, whose elaborate number was a tribute to the sort of flashy showmanship that has never helped a single _Idol_ competitor win. _Idol_‘s history was, it became clear over the course of the evening, far more fun to have lived through than to relive. Take the meta reappearance of season 1 cohost Brian Dunkelman, joking about how his career has flatlined since, or the long and strained appearance by the show’s first judges, featuring the overblown “chemistry” of Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul. They felt like happy reminders that this was out of our lives, that watching Abdul pretend to be angry at Cowell, or whatever, was in the past. It was only the music that created a real sense of loss. Not because it was all well-executed or judiciously chosen, but because sitting at home thinking about _why_ it was poorly executed or a poor song choice was the sort of fun _Idol_ generated for years. Surely no one believes that in this era of _24_ and _Prison Break_ revivals at Fox, _Idol_ won’t be back within, say, five years. The show itself did more than hint at the possibility; the “farewell season” ends with host Ryan Seacrest saying “Good night, America… for now.” But it’s worth believing, if erroneously, that Fox might leave well enough alone. Its moment seems conclusively over. This final episode had a lot of good in it, but if I’d been offered the opportunity to vote on which contestant I liked the best, I wouldn’t have known what to do. ### See American Idol's Most Successful Alumni  Carrie Underwood, winner of American Idol season 4, performs at the 2014 American Country Countdown Awards at Music City Center in Nashville on Dec. 15, 2014. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Kelly Clarkson, season 1 winner, performs "Heartbeat Song" onstage during the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Awards at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on March 29, 2015. Kevin Mazur—Getty Images  Chris Daughtry, who came in 4th on season 5, performs at Pompano Beach Amphitheatre in Pompano Beach, Fla. on Nov. 12, 2014. Larry Marano—Getty Images  Clay Aiken, Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress in North Carolina's Second District, poses for a selfie with supporters after casting his vote in the midterm elections oat Mills Park Elementary School in Cary, N.C. on Nov. 4, 2014\. Aiken was runner up on the second season of American Idol. Grant Halverson—Getty Images  Fantasia, winner of season 3, performs at the 7th Annual Music Festival at Boardwalk Hall Arena in Atlantic City, N.J. on May 9, 2015. Donald Kravitz—Getty Images  Ruben Studdard, season 2 winner, performs at When Georgia Smiled: The Robin McGraw Revelation Foundation And Verizon Unite For Second Annual Domestic Violence Summit at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, Calif. on Oct. 3, 2014. Mathew Imaging—WireImage/Getty Images  Scotty McCreery performs during "FOX & Friends" holiday special at FOX Studios in New York City on Dec. 4, 2014\. McCreery won season 10 of American Idol. Slaven Vlasic—Getty Images  Kellie Pickler, who came in 6th on season 5, performs at 2014 USO Gala: Honoring Those Who Serve at the Washington Hilton in Washington on Oct. 17, 2014. Paul Morigi—Getty Images  David Cook, season 7 winner, performs at the Soles4Souls charity concert, sponsored by Barefoot Wine & Bubbly at the Bridge Building in Nashville on April 1, 2014. Jason Davis—Getty Images  Jennifer Hudson, who came in 7th place on season 3, performs at We Day at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. on April 30, 2015. Timothy Hiatt—Getty Images  Jordin Sparks, winner of season 6 of American Idol, performs at Jeffrey Sanker's White Party in Palm Springs, Calif. on April 25, 2015. Chelsea Lauren—WireImage/Getty Images  Phillip Phillips, season 11 winner, performs at Hard Rock Live! in the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. on Nov. 15, 2014. Larry Marano—Getty Images  David Archuleta, season 7 runner-up, performs at the KIIS FM's 10th Annual "American Idol" Finale Viewing Party at Regal 14 at LA Live Downtown in Los Angeles on May 25, 2011. Jonathan Leibson—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Adam Lambert, season 8 runner-up, is seen onstage at 102.7 KIIS FM's Wango Tango at StubHub Center in Los Angeles on May 9, 2015. Chelsea Lauren—WireImage/Getty Images  Josh Gracin, who came in 4th place in season 2, performs during the 2012 Downtown Hoedown at Comerica Park in Detroit on June 8, 2012. Paul Warner—Getty Images  Taylor Hicks, winner of season 5, performs at Tony La Russa's 3rd annual Leaders & Legends Gala at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas on Nov. 22, 2014. David Becker—Getty Images  Bo Bice, season 4 runner-up, performs in concert following the 2012 Colt Ford & Friends Celebrity Golf Classic at Legends Golf Course Club in Braselton, Ga. on Sept. 24, 2012. Chris McKay—Getty Images  Elliott Yamin, who came in 3rd in season 5, performs at the Malaria No More Reception With American Idols To Celebrate Recent Progress In The Fight Against Malaria in Washington on March 7, 2012. Paul Morigi—Getty Images  Katharine McPhee, season 5 runner-up, walks out on the field to sing the national anthem before the 2015 NFC Championship game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers at CenturyLink Field in Seattle on Jan. 18, 2015. Ronald Martinez—Getty Images  Diana DeGarmo, season 3 runner-up, arrives at the "American Idol" XIII season premiere event held at Royce Hall, UCLA in Westwood, Calif. on Jan. 14, 2014. Michael Tran—FilmMagic  Kris Allen, winner of season 8, performs at the Soles4Souls charity concert, sponsored by Barefoot Wine & Bubbly at the Bridge Building in Nashville on April 1, 2014. Jason Davis—Getty Images More than that, too, it seems like too much of a good thing. _Idol_ produced enough talented and employable singers to bulk out a two-hour special that only went to the well of comically bad singers or serviceable past judge-singers a couple of times. It seems like enough singers were trained on this show’s particular brand of showmanship, one that’s applicable to nothing in the contemporary media but itself. The difference between the performances of the superstars and the rest—between, say, Underwood, allowed to do what she wants, and LaToya London, placed in a trio to sing Simon and Garfunkel—on the final _Idol_ were glaring. Singing (often beautiful) group covers of retro songs, the _Idol_ alumni were existing, in some cases more than a decade after their TV run, in a competition bubble that looks nothing like modern music. It’s time to let them, and _Idol_‘s fusty concept of old-fashioned showmanship, go. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4286253/review-american-idol-finale-recap-season-15/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4286253/review-american-idol-finale-recap-season-15/"},"headline":"Review: The Finale of American Idol Was a Glorious Mess, Just Like the Show Itself","datePublished":"2016-04-08T03:03:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:00:09.126Z","description":"No revival, please: It's time to let the show go","url":"https://time.com/4286253/review-american-idol-finale-recap-season-15/","keywords":["Television","Music","American Idol"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb17d03d62c405681/69888e3ecd1bba13bc700264/gettyimages-519701682.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel D'Addario","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb17d03d62c405681/69888e3ecd1bba13bc700264/gettyimages-519701682.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-519701682","caption":"onstage during FOX's \"American Idol\" Finale For The Farewell Season at Dolby Theatre on April 7, 2016 in Hollywood, California. at Dolby Theatre on April 7, 2016 in Hollywood, California.","creditText":"Kevork Djansezian—2016 Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4286253/review-american-idol-finale-recap-season-15/","name":"Review: The Finale of American Idol Was a Glorious Mess, Just Like the Show Itself"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trent Harmon Wins Final Season Of American Idol","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/4FcISURA/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-04-08T14:18:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4FcISURA.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4286253/review-american-idol-finale-recap-season-15/","duration":"PT2M43S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4286253/review-american-idol-finale-recap-season-15/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```