American Idol Quotes

I've tried to move on with my life and my career for the last two years and do my own thing, and 'American Idol' and FOX, they've just been making it really tough for me to do that.

The people that go on 'American Idol' do want some recognition and fame.

My favorite type of music to sing and to listen to, you know, rock. It's not always metal, but you know, half the time it is. Metal's cool, you know? Not everybody on 'American Idol' listens to metal.

Well, we're just a couple of weeks from new President Barack Obama being sworn in. And he's been very busy naming a lot of cabinet positions. And today he announced that he wants the surgeon general to be TV Dr. Sanjay Gupta. That was the kid on 'American Idol,' wasn't it?

How many watched the President's speech last night? [half-hearted audience applause] How many watched American Idol ? [thundering applause] Okay, there you go! You get the government you deserve.

I’ve never watched an entire episode of "American Idol." It’s too mean. Why would anyone want to go on a show to be ripped apart? I don’t want to be tough with my singers, but I do want to tell them on "The Voice" that if you really want this, you’ll be kicked when you’re down. You have to be willing to roll with those punches. You have to really want it.

Clay Aiken ran for Congress in North Carolina. But he didn't make it. Clay Aiken is famous for coming in second in a TV popularity contest that most people got fed up with years ago. He also lost on 'American Idol.'

I don't watch 'American Idol,' but I wouldn't call it 'undignified.'

I auditioned for 'American Idol' at 17. They told me, 'No.'

I'm not trying to be evasive, but when I say yes and no, I say 'yes' because there are narrow-minded people that won't look past the logo and 'no' because 'American Idol' put me in front of millions of people and I would not have a career without 'Idol.

I do watch 'American Idol' sometimes. It's not really that pleasurable... I take that back. It is the epitome of a guilty pleasure. Sometimes there's some good singers on that show.

Well, being that, at the house and being in the competition, it was very hard to be with family. We couldn't have visitors out of respect for everyone else there. But, being the American Idol, the focus would have been on me.

Since we launched the original 'Pop Idol' in England, I've remained close with Simon Fuller. Working as executive producer on 'American idol' for its first seven years not only was an inspirational journey into the heart of American pop culture, it opened my eyes to the untapped potential of the incredibly dynamic young people in this world.

Have you seen 'American Idol' lately? I'm sure that some kids somewhere at this moment are thrashing themselves silly over what they call 'Rock n' Roll.

I can't watch American Idol... it's like karaoke without the booze.

Long before "American Idol" people used to call me a diva. And I be like, "Hold on, are you calling me something else on the sly? You gonna call me a diva, call me a good diva."

If millions of Americans choose to weigh in on the outcome of "American Idol" through text messages and the Web, then why not harness similar technological tools to encourage discourse on the political landscape?

Some people choose to go on 'American Idol' or another singing contest, and some people choose to beat down barrooms before anyone even knows who they are, in order to get a fan base, so when they do get a record deal, they have that to put in front of a label.

[My son] Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives.

These days, with 'American Idol' and all the other reality shows, young people become famous overnight, and that can be very difficult to handle, the way photographers follow you around and study your every move.

Last night, President Bush gave a prime-time press conference. It was such a big deal that Fox decided to preempt American Idol. Which made sense to me, you don't want too many amateurs on in one night.

I don't want to be the cliche American Idol dude. I want to be different, you know - that's the whole goal, me and music. It's about being yourself and being unique.

It's been a while. I haven't seen the actual gag reel they put on the DVD. I just saw the DVD myself, so I know that it's going to be some version of what we saw at our wrap party. Some of the funniest things probably wouldn't make it to the DVD and that involved Ryan O'Neal singing and they intercut that with the American Idol judges judging him, which was pretty funny.

You know, when I did 'American Idol' the three times, I tried to tell these kids you have to tell the story of the lyric.

I enjoy watching Fear Factor, Newlyweds and American Idol as far as reality TV shows go.

I think American Idol is a great career launcher.  A blessing for all of us.

Last year was the fourth or fifth attempt to get fall launched till 'American Idol' comes in January. To be honest, the reality programming we had on last year was considered filler until we could get to the good stuff. It was meant to hopefully get us to January andor to November. To get past baseball. But (it) didn't work very well.

American Idol' is a $900 million-a-year corporation. When you are dealing with that, you can't come off with lies - it's either the truth or nothing.

American Idol' has done a great job of defaming my name and throwing a lot of mud at me for the past two years, so that set up a lot of roadblocks for me.

I will always appreciate 'American Idol,' and I never forget about where I come from.

I would lose straight away if I went on 'American Idol.

I was always in bands before, but on 'American Idol,' it was about getting my voice out there. It was always my goal, though, to get a band together again.

This is basically the last resort. I've been painted into a corner, and now I've sort of got to lay it all out in order for things to be straightened up. I've tried to move on with my life and my career for the last two years and do my own thing, and 'American Idol' and FOX, they've just been making it really tough for me to do that. So in order for me to get through all the red tape and just allow people to just get at my talent, I've got to set the record straight. And you can't set half the record straight; when you tell it, you've got to tell it all.

I've told many people that I'm not looking to go out there and find the most beautiful girl in the world who likes me because I'm 'Mr. American Idol Scott McCreery.' If I could just find a nice hometown girl who just likes me for who I am, that's all I want.

I'm also a big American Idol fan. I think it's just great fun.

You know, something like 90 people who have now filed to run for governor in this recall election. They say there could be as many as 200 people on the ballot. You know, it's really easy to run here in California. All you need is like a couple of signatures, not many, thirty-five hundred bucks, you're on the ballot, like that. I mean, what does it say about California? We have stricter requirements to get on 'American Idol' than we do to run for governor.

The best advice I could give is be yourself. Before I was on the American Idol show I made goals for myself. I said, "Who do I want to be, and what will I compromise, or won't I compromise?" And then, I stuck with that.

I would never discredit anyone that is working their way up on a show like "American Idol." I think they work so hard overcoming all of the obstacles to get on the show in the first place and then every week they are judged in front of all of America... I give them complete credit for getting up on stage... I think they deserve all the success that they get.

The biggest risk I've ever taken is going on American Idol and trying to be myself. I wasn't going to try too hard to conform, and I knew that it could possibly not work out.

If your lifeguard duties were as good as your singing, a lot of people would be drowning.

This is my first week as an American citizen. It's amazing. Now I can vote in the general election - and for American Idol.

I was 19 when I first auditioned for 'American Idol.' I'd never been on an airplane; I'd never been outside of my hometown, except to go to Myrtle Beach. I'm 22 now. I'm learning a lot about life, and it's all in front of the cameras.

Anything that's ever gotten on the charts as a result of "American Idol" or "The X Factor" in the UK. It's born out of karaoke culture. It's been a long time coming, but it's absolutely affected radio.

My advice would be if you want to pursue a career in the music business, don't.

I'm a big 'American Idol' watcher, and sometimes I like to watch 'America's Got Talent.' Those are big, corny admissions, but sometimes it's so fun to see those kids really sing their hearts out.

I'm excited about the new judges on 'American Idol.' Jennifer Lopez was a real mentor to me my season and I admire her so much. And I kind of have a crush on Steven Tyler. It's going to be interesting to see is one person going to stand out among the judges or if everyone will sort of be equal.

Americans have been dumbed down to the point where more people watching 'American Idol' than listen to the state of the union address. And that's too bad. I'm not trying to take any bread out of the mouth of Simon Cowell, but if the president is speaking to the people of the United States, and people are going to watch 'American Idol,' that's sad.

The romance of circumvention is one of the most destructive forces at work in our society. The American Idol freeway to greatness, Instagramming one's way into popular consciousness with selfies of our ass folds beneath short shorts, human growth hormone and performance-enhancing drugs for athletes, Adderall for the idle mind, reality television that sacrifices our dignity for fifteen lousy minutes.

I got to play with ZZ Top and introduce Bryan Adams and George Michael. And to have it all topped off by me winning 'American Idol?!' It's pretty absurd.

It's easy to say that reducing a song to 90 seconds on "American Idol" strips off so many things, and how it's the 21st century and music doesn't mean the same things to people and that it's so disposable.