American Idols Live!

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More About

• American Idol
• Simon Cowell
• Siobhan Magnus
• Television
• Reality Shows

The sad truth about American Idol Season Nine is that it'll be remembered less for who battled for the crown than for who was loitering near the exits: acerbic, resigning judge Simon Cowell. Don't believe me? Force yourself to remember the contestants. Winner Lee DeWyze (pictured) had a voice that was perpetually on the verge of failing; good-natured Crystal Bowersox wanted to be the new Ani DiFranco; a picture of Siobhan Magnus shows up in most dictionaries near the word "quirky"; Michael Lynche was really, really lucky. As most Idol seasons wind down, there are usually a few vocally blessed humdingers whose debuts everybody around the water cooler plans to check for; this time, not so much. So why should you buy tickets to this iteration of American Idols Live? Because the pagentry will probably be out of this world. Because your nieces and nephews will never forget that you treated them to this. Because Idol's sell-by date passed a few years ago, and it's unlikely that there'll be too many more of these tours.
Fri., Aug. 27, 6:30 p.m., 2010