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And as someone else mentioned a few posts above, they add these corny camera shakes and door slams to everything which just further adds to the comical/parody effect of the show. Also, the show has become extremely predictable. Every challenge ends in a tie and it's up to one contestant to win it all. It was especially noticeable in the last challenge for the finale this season when Kristin and Ariel would alternatively get either an 8 or a 9 in each round so that it ended in a tie. Every time Ramsay says "Stop!" or "AWL OF YOOOO COME ERE!!!!" you know he's about to ride someone's ass for sending up raw meat or fish or whatever. Every time a contestant brags about how great they are on a certain station, they immediately tank right after. When a contestant gets called up for elimination you know when Ramsay is going to do a fakeout and say "Back in line!" or when he's going to switch them to the other team. "Etc. etc. etc. You can predict the results of everything at this point if you've watched long enough. That's another reason why it feels so stale. It's the same effing show with the same effing formula, same menu, same challenges, same cast, and the same script, season after season after season. The only thing that changes literally is the actual contestants.

Part of its issue is that they never change up the formula. Even the contestants are copy and paste versions of ones from past seasons. There's always a fat dumb guy, a misogynistic guy, some woman that looks and sounds like she came from the local prison, someone who has to fill the "angry black woman" stereotype, a doofy Italian guy that can sort of cook, someone over 40 that has no shot of winning, etc. Same contestants, different names. That's one thing. The teams are always men vs women. The menu has been the exact same since season 1. How many times can you watch someone burn scallops or send up raw beef Wellington before it stops being entertaining? They have to play Jaws-esque music over everything, even when someone is just picking their nose or making mashed potatoes. Making every possible thing dramatic ironically makes everything less dramatic. The teasers for upcoming episodes are completely stupid (shows a guy and girl contestant laughing together... ARE THEY IN LOVE???... 2 contestants argue for 10 seconds... THE BIGGEST FIGHT IN HELLS KITCHEN YOU HAVE TO SEE TO BELIEVE!!!!) Like I said, the show has just become so ridiculous at this point that it's actually become a parody of itself. It was always ridiculous, but now it's like they're aware of it and just make fun of themselves and don't even attempt to be serious. IMO they should change some things up like the menu or the teams. Just make something feel like new again, anything.

That's why I'm wondering if the walkout was staged. And they told her to show up again at the end. There wasn't enough drama going on on Ariel's side so they had to do something I guess. Presumably yes, they do it for the drama, but on the other hand, the contestants are better off doing their best job because in the end it makes them look better, especially to any future employers. Sabotaging them on purpose only makes them look like a bad sport (and a bad chef). She's always had long hair. She just kept it pinned back most of the time.

I thought Kristin would win but am not shocked it was Ariel. She handled the issues on her side really well, like Dannie walking out and Jackie cutting the fish. I think the contestants who can handle problems during their service are the ones who typically win, as opposed to those who have a perfect service with little to no problems or drama, because it shows they can handle it. It was a really close final 2 though, I think either could have won. I wonder if production told Dannie to make a scene and walk out. Ariel chose Jackie first because they were friends throughout the season. I liked the scenes at the end of the contestants dancing. It was nice to see some lighthearted moments. Wish they'd show more of the contestants goofing off and having fun during the season instead of all the fights and drama. I imagine HK is a challenging experience but also a fun one. I remember in older seasons they would show funny things that happened in a blooper reel at the end of the season and wish they would bring it back. The show has become too dramatic sometimes and showing these funny, light moments makes it a bit more human again and fun.

IMO the show has just become a parody of itself, to the point that it's comical.

The other day I watched the episode "Mozart," where Marie teaches Ray to play the piano. As someone already mentioned, I love when Ray doesn't remember things and she has to keep getting out the progressively easier training books. But one of my other favorite moments is when Marie is talking about when she was teaching Robert and he used to get nose bleeds. "A mother shouldn't be disgusted but... oh." Doris Roberts always had just the perfect delivery for her lines. Ooh another line I just thought of from "Anniversary": Marie: "Frank, close your mouth before you eat." Frank: "Close your mouth before you talk." Doris and Peter were just perfect together.

One episode that I've never liked is "Angry Sex." While it was a known fact throughout the series how much Ray liked sex, I thought this kind of went overboard and painted his character in a really bad light, to the point it might even be out of character for him. To make your wife angry on purpose for sexual pleasure is just far too dark and twisted for a comedy.

True but perhaps Ramsay would appreciate a good strategist? Who knows. I remember the quality control test that they do was actually invented by the first winner, he decided to sabotage the other contestants by putting wrong ingredients in the food, and lo and behold Ramsay adopted that into the competition so I think he does have some appreciation for a good strategist as well.

I love the scene when Ray finds out his parents lied to him growing up and he says "Other parents don't lie, Ma, they believe in their children!" and Marie goes "No they don't..." Her delivery is just fantastic.

It's not like it matters because Ramsay is gonna choose whoever he wants, but if Kristin was smart she would have voted to keep Ashley in because she's a much weaker chef therefore Kristin could have easily won over her. She and Ariel are about equal in terms of skill, it's going to be a much closer competition between them than if it were her and Ashley.

There was that episode though "Somebody Hates Raymond," where at first Robert delighted in the fact that that sports guy hated Ray, but then when the guy acted mean to Ray, Robert stood up for him and defended him.

To add to what Snarklepuss said, there is a fine line between being confident and being cocky. Granted almost all of the contestants who enter HK are cocky to some degree and I think that is a common trait in chefs in general for some reason. But I've seen moments from Ariel where she does act entitled or has outright said she is the best person there. That's a huge turnoff for me. Ariel is a good cook, so what she's saying could be justified, but it just looks arrogant to say that out loud. Being confident is "I'm good at what I do." Cocky is "I'm the best/better than everyone else." Putting down others, especially if they actually happen to also be strong chefs, is just a big big turnoff for me. In her own mind Ariel thinks she's better than she really is. IMO.

I find Ariel to be overly cocky. Would rather see Kristin win and I think she will. She has been given a stronger winner's edit than Ariel IMO.

Yes I heard Trent clearly say "you didn't do open calls." He possibly went straight to the producers round, not sure if he just went straight to the judges. Usually on shows like this when a contestant is scouted/contacted to try out they get to skip the open/cattle call but still have to do the producer round before the TV round. It still amuses me how like non excited Dalton was when he got his ticket to Hollywood- because he had already been there and lived there for like 3 years as a teenager LOL I mean I'm sure he was excited to get through but the difference between him and the newbies when they score a ticket was hilarious.

It helped that Dalton had drama in his group for Group Night which of course bought him tons of camera time. In fact he had a little something interesting to grab him screen time in every round of HW: the "rivalry" with Jaci (green hair chick) which they made a point of discussing in the first round, group round drama, and the guitar "malfunction" in round 3. Dalton was also presumably asked to audition by the producers (his former boyband IM5 was created by none other than Simon Fuller) so naturally they were going to include him a lot. They must have felt he could bring a lot to the early rounds and make interesting TV (and he did).

I don't think Scott cared about who had more votes or who the better singer was. Jena Irene and Jax both had a lot of votes on their seasons and Scott even pulled for Jax all season yet never signed her and Jena was not signed by anyone until recently. I do think LP has a sizable fanbase and he must have believed she could sell a record. Ironically her single on iTunes sold the least of any of the finalists though and MacKenzie's actually sold the most.

Like others, I think Idol will return once The Voice is off the air, whenever that will be. Once the air is clear of singing shows and people start to miss it, that's when I think it will creep up again. As for what format, Simon did say he wants to bring it into the "digital age," which could mean anything. Rising Star tried to do that with having real-time voting, apps, and all that stuff and it didn't really work. A lot of people do have Netflix but I'm not sure how putting it on there would work either because don't they usually release an entire season at once? And it wouldn't be live either. I think it would return to FOX, especially since other than Empire they really don't have any successful programming.

Trent was one of my favorites all season, and barring a couple performances (Counting Stars), he had a really solid, consistenly good run on the show. I heard he worked harder than any of the other finalists. He fought through mono, as we all know. Rick Barker, the social media coach for the contestants, said he worked on it harder and more often than anyone else, which I believe to be true because Trent does a LOT of Periscopes. Trent himself said he was always rehearsing and practicing different things. We saw him in a video package standing in front of the mirror, trying not to make faces. He brought out the journal onstage where he said he wrote down all the judges' comments. He showed hard work really can and does pay off. That work ethic is what will ultimately take him very far in the music industry.

Well it's a long shot that anyone who tries out is going to win. The other dozen who make it to the finals that don't win still get great exposure, which is why I imagine she and others try/tried out. Nobody really goes in expecting they're gonna win and you don't have to to still get something out of it. There are many other benefits to being on this show besides winning.

I read somewhere the release day is 90 days after the end of the show but I could be wrong of course. It used to be after the tour was over but there's no tour this year so hopefully Freedom Day comes soon! Avalon is hopping on tour with someone so maybe the contestants have a bit of freedom already with what they can do in the meantime. Glad the rumor has been cleared up. I knew that sounded way too good to be true at all. I think Dalton will be fine, with or without a label. He just needs some endorsement deals with Maybelline, Monster, and Doc Marten and he'll be good to go. ;) Yes! Lost and Found is a fantastic record and I'm very excited Dalton is working with the same people again on his next project. I have very high hopes about it. :)

That is a great article by Billboard! Dalton has the best attitude about everything and is such a class act. I loved how he was genuinely happy for Trent when his name was called. His approach to all of this is what will take him far in the industry, not what place he finished. I've always sensed since Rebel Yell that something changed with him as a performer. He didn't seem quite the same as what we saw in the early rounds. It kind of makes sense now. I keep seeing rumors he was signed by Fueled by Ramen but it doesn't sound like that happened (honestly don't know where those rumors came from to begin with as there is nothing out there that indicates this), it just sounds like he plans to work with Blue October again, same guy who produced the Lost and Found EP. No mention of a label yet. I do hope he'll get signed but not counting on it. Regardless he seems to have plans set in place about doing an album which is great and I honestly didn't expect he would have something this soon. I like Strike A Match but I do honestly think his own stuff is much better written. Wish he could have released Hercules.

I was honestly surprised they wanted to acknowledge the Mariah/Nicki feud and some other unpleasant moments of the show. I'm glad they were candid about it and didn't just sweep those moments under the rug. Some weeks ago I was in Walmart and picked up the Idol edition of People magazine. I'm saving it to read once the finale is over. It's going to be so hard to let go of Idol once it's all over. :(

This was a fantastic documentary! I only wish it could have been maybe another half hour just to get even more in depth. But overall it was such a treat to see. I almost teared up by the end. It was so great to see the beginnings of the show and see how big it became and to explore all the various aspects of the show and its impact on pop culture. I'm going to be a mess on Thursday night. :(

It IS interesting to note that in the early rounds Dalton had his guitar (Phantom, California Dreamin, Hopelessly Devoted) and his "thing" was to rearrange unexpected tunes like Its Gonna Be Me and Rebel Yell. Ever since the lives started I felt something changed and he wasn't quite the same artist as what he showed in the rounds before the lives. I do wonder now if they forced him into the emo rocker box. Once the show is over we just might find out in an interview. MacKenzie was quite candid that he did not really want to sing that Cheap Trick song and that it was like his 5th choice. Who knows what they make these kids do.

I agree, his voice is very suited to acoustic stuff, yet he hasn't done it in ages on the show. Bandzilla keeps drowning him out which takes away from his performances. I'd really like him to get to do one of his originals on the show with just his guitar. I think he'd blow everyone away. Unfortunately I don't know if he'll get that opportunity. I wish he had done Calling You with just his guitar like he did at his homecoming concert, that was beautiful. I wonder if he, like a lot of contestants, feels pressure to use the band because it's there? It's freaking Ricky Minor, I think a lot of the contestants feel like it would be an insult to say "Nah thanks" and go solo, so they take advantage of the opportunity and use the band, even if it might not suit the song choice.