American Idol Quotes

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

  Simon Cowell

  Sight, People, Singing

  "Reality Check: 'Bikini Girl' Brings Out the Fight in New 'Idol' Judge Kara DioGuardi" by Diane Macedo, www.foxnews.com. January 14, 2009.

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

  Simon Cowell

  Careers, Advice, Would Be

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• 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.

  Adam Lambert

  Taken, Idols, Work Out

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• 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.

  Mandy Moore

  Thinking, Idols, America

  "Mandy Moore and Chris Klein Talk American Dreamz". Interview with Julian Roman, movieweb.com. April 19, 2006.

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• 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.

  Carmen Rasmusen

  Being Yourself, Idols, Giving

  Source: www.beliefnet.com

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• An American Idol is someone that has all the qualities that America thinks is positive, attractive and alluring.

  Mario Vazquez

  Thinking, Idols, America

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• Just the title of 'American Idol' is something that people can look up to. I'm not Saint Scott, I'm not Mr. Perfect, but I want to be that role model.

  Scotty McCreery

  Idols, People, Role Models

  "Scotty McCreery Talks Fans, Faith & Post-'Idol' Fame". Interview with Beville Dunkerley, theboot.com. June 15, 2011.

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• I don't think rap really fits in to 'American Idol' in the sense that I believe rap is an art form in itself more akin to poetry, more akin to drama, if you will.

  Nigel Lythgoe

  Art, Drama, Believe

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• I was terrified of graduating college and not knowing what I was going to do. I saw the auditions for Idol and thought, Why not? I always liked to sing. You know when they asked, "Are you the next American Idol?" I said yes, but I didn't mean it.

  Carrie Underwood

  Mean, College, Idols

  Source: www.glamour.com

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• I doubt the terrorists saw 9/11 as a teaching opportunity. And we're not really a culture geared to anything as humble as 'learning.' But I was disappointed in how quickly everyone wanted to get back to normal. It was as if we watched terrorism on TV for a while, then got bored and turned back to 'American Idol.'

  Jess Walter

  Teaching, Humble, Opportunity

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• I think it's really hard to say now what makes a show kind of sink or swim, and what creates longevity. For instance, I think that Survivor is a very well produced show. It's very simple, it's very elemental, and I think it gets into big issues. I think American Idol has been an amazing show for many, many seasons.

  Dan Cutforth

  Simple, Thinking, Idols

  "Reality Check: Dan Cutforth On What Keeps ‘Top Chef’ Sharp, Cutting Through The Clutter & What’s Next". Interview with Dominic Patten, deadline.com. June 16, 2014.

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• I think there ought to be some serious discussion by smart people, really smart people, about whether or not proliferation of things like The Smoking Gun and TMZ and YouTube and the whole celebrity culture is healthy. We've switched from a culture that was interested in manufacturing, economics, politics - trying to play a serious part in the world - to a culture that's really entertainment-based. I mean, I know people who can tell you who won the last four seasons on American Idol and they don't know who their [bleeping] Representatives are.

  Stephen King

  Smart, Mean, Thinking

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• I definitely wanted to be an actor. I didn't want to be on TV, I didn't want to be famous, I didn't want to be anyone in particular; I just wanted to do it. I see young people now who look at magazines, or American Idol and their goal is to have that lifestyle - to have good handbags, or go out with cute guys from shows, or whatever. But I definitely wanted to be an actor.

  Lauren Graham

  Cute, Idols, People

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• That makes entertaining television. That is the circus of American Idol . We go for the very, very best and the very, very worst. It's the boring people that we don't want to see on television.

  Nigel Lythgoe

  Idols, People, Television

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• From American Idol to The Matrix participatory media - where old and new media converge by involving fans - is influencing our culture by creating new forms of interactive storytelling. Yet by enabling people to participate in such various media they can converge as a crowd to alter the story to create new modes of engagement, some not necessarily endorsed by the creator - or the brands that back them.

  Henry Jenkins

  Media, Idols, Creating

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• In all honesty, I'm not able to talk about contracts. It's nothing with 'American Idol' in particular, it's just things I really need to take care of in my life.

  Mario Vazquez

  Honesty, Idols, Needs

  "Mario denies rumors about 'Idol' departure". Associated Press, www.today.com. March 14, 2005.

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• Because you have things like 'American Idol' and you've got radio stations that play music made entirely by computers, it's easy to forget there are bands with actual people playing actual instruments that rock.

  Dave Grohl

  Rocks, Idols, Play

  "Dave Grohl Just Continues To Dominate" by Brett Michael Dykes, uproxx.com. January 11, 2012.

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• I was on TV for almost sixteen weeks during American Idol. It's at the point now where it's old.

  Clay Aiken

  Idols, Sixteen, Tvs

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• At the time, the only options were playing the local county fair. Now with American Idol and younger recording artists that have come out, there is more of an opportunity.

  Marla Sokoloff

  Artist, Opportunity, Idols

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• American Idol, I love. I think it's a passing fancy but not passing so soon.

  Diane Sawyer

  Thinking, Idols, Fancy

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• I've been wanting to sing for a long time. I've been singing all my life, and I've tried different record companies, but it seemed like - it was such a struggle and so hard to get out there. So, I said, 'I'm gonna go on American Idol and see how far it takes me.'

  Fantasia Barrino

  Struggle, Idols, Long

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• The TV is often on in our house, but I really only keep up with three shows: 'American Idol,' 'Modern Family' and 'The Walking Dead.' Sometimes I'll sip red wine - it's a nice way to slow down and relax.

  Carrie Underwood

  Nice, Wine, Idols

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• I think after coming off of 'American Idol'... people kind of expect you to just be awesome all the time, and we're still learning. I had a lot of stage experience, but it was in a 200-seat theater, you know - it wasn't thousands of people in front of me.

  Carrie Underwood

  Thinking, Idols, People

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• What I have noticed which I'm not nuts about that the trend that a lot of shows are hiring the American Idol type of talent without real training and real technique and I think that audiences are smart and sometimes seeing that things are not as high caliber as they were before.

  Hugh Panaro

  Real, Smart, Thinking

  Interview with Pati Buehler, www.broadwayworld.com. June 18, 2008.

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• "American Idol" has done a lot for me. It's a stepping stone in my life.

  Diana DeGarmo

  Idols, Done, Stones

  Interview with Nick Orlando, www.broadwayworld.com. March 16, 2006.

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