Top 10 American Idol Fansites

If you listen to the doomsayers and the Nielsen reports, American Idol is circling the drain. It may still handily win the night when it’s on and end-of-year reports always have it at the top of the rankings, but it can’t be denied viewership has dropped for several years. However, while there may be fewer people tuning in, those who do are as passionate about the show as they were when Kelly Clarkson won the hearts of America or watercoolers buzzed with the Clay vs. Ruben debate. These passionate, opinionated, and creative devotees can be found at one or more of these top 10 American Idol fansites.

10. David-Cook.org: Last year’s winner has a plethora of fansites devoted to him but none are as eye-catching and thorough as David-Cook.org, which bills itself as the official fansite for David Cook . With its grungy, dark blue-accented design, it appeals to the “rawker” side in all the fans who propelled Cook to the winner’s stage. The forums are the meat and potatoes of the site, offering fans an active, organized and well-moderated place to post their thoughts on Cook, American Idol, and many other topics. David-Cook.org also offers an extensive multimedia collection, most notably their large photo gallery, as well as sections for fan fiction, polls, and a charity and volunteer drive. David Cook would be proud of what this site and his dedicated fans have accomplished in his honor.

9. Masterclass Lady: Masterclass Lady, aka Rosanne Simunovic, is a singer, pianist and vocal coach who offers a unique and experienced take on the performances we watch. Her commentary on vocal technique may not be as succinct as Randy Jackson’s “that was a little pitchy, dawg” but her site is the place fans visit when they want to learn exactly why a singer blew them away or made them want to cover their ears. Masterclass Lady is a must-visit for any Idol fan wanting to experience the show on a deeper level.

8. Television Without Pity: TWOP prides itself on its hypercritical snark and it truly holds no punches when discussing the contestants and powers that be involved in American Idol. The recaps and forums are not for the faint of heart but beneath the sarcasm and pitiless commentary lies thoughtful analysis on what makes the Idol machine tick.

7. DialIdol.com: The wait between the Tuesday performance episode and the Wednesday elimination episode can be maddening. Dial Idol makes the wait a little easier with its weekly prediction of who will be going home, based on those who use their dialing software. The sample data is limited since it relies on those who still use a dial-up internet connection but Dial Idol has accurately predicted every winner since it began measuring call data and it had a 97% overall success rate in season 7.

6. What Not To Sing: WNTS is an exhaustive catalogue of American Idol data, including but not limited to contestants, songs, artists, episodes, and themes. It also provides news, rankings, and collects reviews and analysis in order to advise future contestants on what to sing or not to sing based on what has or hasn’t worked for past contestants. A statistics geek could happily spend hours browsing this thorough site, even if they’re not an American Idol fan.

5. Rickey.org: Every Idol fan worth his or her salt knows that if an episode is missed, Rickey’s blog is the place to go for high quality video and audio clips that go up seemingly as soon as they’re first aired on FOX. Rickey also provides an arena for good-natured battles between fans of different contestants. You haven’t lived through Idol fandom until you’ve seen the David Cook Word Nerds and David Archuleta Archey Angels throw down.

4. Vote For The Worst: The denizens at VFTW would probably vehemently deny that they’re a fansite but even an investment of negative energy demonstrates how much VFTWers care about American Idol. Dedicated to thwarting the perceived desires of Idol’s producers, they organize mass voting for those contestants who they feel would provide the highest entertainment factor for them and highest annoyance factor for the average Idol viewer. It’s hard to say for sure how much impact VFTW has had, although they claim season 5 winner Taylor Hicks as one of their successes. They take a tongue-in-cheek approach to the whole Idol madness and are always a fun place to visit for any fan who doesn’t take the show very seriously.

3. MJ’s Big Blog: Don’t let MJ’s simple, low key design fool you; this site is jam-packed with news, reviews, spoilers, pictures, videos, appearances, and chart information about the show and every contestant past and present. It should be a daily visit for every American Idol fan even during the off season, and when Idol’s on the air the chat and blog comments are the place to be. MJ’s Big Blog would be at the top of this list except the server frequently goes down on spoiler days (usually Tuesday afternoon right after the performance dress rehearsals) during the height of the season, frustrating many devoted fans.

2. IdolForums.com: IDF is a direct reflection of the size and passion of the Idol fanbase. As of the time this article was written, it boasted over 85,000 members and 18 million posts. The forums may be enormous but their user-friendly organization, simple registration process, customizable features, and helpful and welcoming members keep them from being intimidating. And unlike many other Idol fan forums, this one doesn’t grind to a halt during the off season. Their forums dedicated to Idol favorites and other shows that appeal to their membership keep IDF an active place all year long.

1. AmericanIdol.com: No list of top American Idol fansites would be complete without including the official site, and this superb one deserves to be at the top. It offers contestant information, behind-the-scenes exclusives, episode clips, photos, games, polls, contests, mobile content for AT&T wireless users, a store, and an active and fun social network that allows enthusiastic fans to post blogs and interact with each other on groups and discussion forums.