I do not agree that only ‘trained’  and ‘non-industry working’  talent be allowed on Idol. American Idol’s rules only prohibit artists that have signed a record contract. If they disallowed artists that have been working their whole life to break into the music industry, we would be missing out on some amazing voices and music today. If you look at the majority of people who make it into AI top 10, they have some type of experience in the music industry, either performing, or producing their own album and/or winning other singing competitions. David Archuleta, as young as he is, won Junior Star Search and performed on several TV shows, including ‘The Early Show.’  Several contestants already had self produced albums ((David Cook (his album won several local awards), Kris Allen, Brooke White, and others)). Kelly and Adam did demo work for a record company and Adam worked in local theatre, not Broadway. Carrie was about to sign an album contract right before auditioning for Idol, but the deal fell through. She also won some singing competitions. All of these are extremely talented musicians and the Music Industry would be a sad place without these exceptional artists. If it were not for AI, we might never have heard their musical voice. There is more untapped talent out there so hopefully, AI sticks around.

I totally agree with you on this. I think that there is some level of experience needed. THe contestants that have been most successful also have had their own musical identities also, and this comes with experience. Of the seasons I’ve watched, I’ve seen that especially in Season 7, where almost everyone had their musical identity and stuck to it throughout most of their performances.

On the other hand, the contestants that have had little experience struggle more on the show to find a song that really give them a good performance or to make it sound like more than a karoke performance. The contestants that really do well on Idol can take a song and really make it their own in thier own style.

Also, the ones that have been sucessful after Idol had a lot of experience. I doubt if someone with little training and little experience would be able to write a cd that did well, and do a tour and have it be successful, like what David Cook did the past year.