Savage American Idol moments as fans demand ‘honesty’ from judges
American Idol judges like Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson delivered harsh critiques in early seasons, ripping contestants like Chewbacca girl Trista Giese.
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While American Idol has launched superstars like Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson and Adam Lambert to fame, the reality singing competition is also known for its judges delivering harsh feedback to contestants over the years.
In the show's early seasons before Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie joined the panel, original judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell didn't hold back their savage critiques.
Take season 9 contestant Shadaii Harris, a 22-year-old college student from Arlington, Texas.
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During her audition singing Alicia Keys' Fallin', Simon cut her off, saying, "Thank you."
He told her the rendition made him "allergic" to the song.
"She hadn't gotten the melody," the judges said, with Randy bluntly telling Shadaii: "You just can't sing."
As Shadaii broke into another song, singing: "She's out of my life," Simon quipped over her: "...hopefully you're out of mine soon."
Another memorable audition was Trista Giese, dubbed the "Chewbacca girl," from season 6.
Her audition, which Simon described as "one of the strangest he'd ever seen," had the judges laughing as the woman from Brainerd, Minnesota performed animalistic vocals from her day job playing the Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz."
Steven Thoen from season 7 received the harsh assessment that his audition was "one of the weirdest" Simon had ever heard, prompting Steven to tell host Ryan Seacrest: "I'm just going to get my stuff and go."
In season 1, contestant Tamika Bush fired back after Randy told her: "I don't think you're a solo singer at all." Tamika said she was "hurt" by the comments before Simon told her, "Go to an audition where they lie to you. Thank you very much."
That same season, Derek Stillings was labeled by Simon as the "worst singer in America," who added it would likely be his "first and last audition."
