56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Missing top notch performances!, December 14, 2005
This review is from: American Idol - The Best of Seasons 1 - 4 (DVD)
This DVD is good yet disappointing at the same time. This should have been nothing but the best of the best performances. Simply put, there are not enough of them here. Those that are included are true showstoppers, especially those by Clay and Bo, but too many have been left out including Clay's amazing rendition of Neil Sedaka's "Solitaire" which prompted the singer/songwriter Sedaka to say he would love to write and produce Clay's first CD. There are other omissions on this DVD from other finalists but the most serious and blatantly obvious omission is Tamyra Gray's beautiful, moving and haunting performance of "A House Is Not A Home." I'd like to know who the idiot is who chose not to put this on the DVD. I'll never forget a tearful Paula Abdul giving a standing ovation for that one. Did the people who put this DVD together not realize we would like to see more of the actual musical performances. I would have liked to see not only more of the performances by talents such as Clay, Kelly and Bo, but some of the other talented finalists as well including Kimberly Locke and George Huff. At least they were smart enough to put LaToya's amazing "Don't Rain On My Parade" in this collection. But, there should have been so much more. This DVD is a must for American Idol fans but it could have been so much better. That is my biggest complaint: There should have been many more performances and less of the forgettable nonsense.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five Star review from the Washington Post?, November 20, 2005
This review is from: American Idol - The Best of Seasons 1 - 4 (DVD)
The following is a review from the Washington Post that someone posted on the Fox American Idol site. I am posting it for people that want to know more about what's on the DVD's.
High and low notes of `Idol'
New DVD set explores popular show's first four seasons
By Curt Fields
Washington Post
Fans of TV's insanely popular "American Idol" fall into one of two camps. They watch because they enjoy rooting for the occasional discovery of genuinely talented performers, or they enjoy the train wreck of seeing people who have no business being near a microphone destroying a song and acting amazed when they're told they stink.
Whatever your motivation for watching, Tuesday's upcoming DVD releases should tide you over until the show returns in January as "The Best of American Idol: Seasons 1-4" ($19.98), "The Worst of American Idol: Seasons 1-4" ($19.98) and, combining the two and tossing in a bonus disc, "The Best & Worst of American Idol: Seasons 1-4" ($34.98) hit the market.
"The Best Of" disc contains some of the show's more memorable moments, including Fantasia Barrino's "Summertime," Kelly Clarkson's "Respect" and Bo Bice's a cappella "In a Dream." It focuses primarily on the top two finalists from each season, so there's lots of Clarkson (the most successful post-"Idol" performer so far), Justin Guarini, Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken, Fantasia (she's dropped the Barrino since winning in Season 3), Diana DeGarmo, Bice and Carrie Underwood.
A few other contestants are represented. Season 1's Tamyra Gray sings "Feel the Fire" and reminds you what a joke it was that Guarini made it to the final two that year.
A collection of season recaps is a fun bit of nostalgia for fans, as is seeing the full-length auditions of the winners and runners-up and watching them evolve musically and stylistically. (Watching Aiken's look steadily transform from geek to pop singer in the photo album feature is a testament to the power of stylists everywhere.) Even the most devoted fans will learn new tidbits. For example, Underwood was flirty and animated at her audition, much more so than during the rest of the season. Who knew she had a personality?
There is a certain amount of filler. I, for one, need never see the skit of Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul on a "romantic date" ever again. The photo gallery is a bit boring because there's no sound with it, but it is fun to see how many contestants you can still name.
"The Worst Of" features all the note-cracking, tuneless delusional favorites from the audition shows. The guy who did "Like a Virgin"? Yep, he's on it. The crazy blonde chick? Yep. The guy who needed subtitles? Yep. And many more abysmally bad singers, a large number of whom felt compelled to argue with the judges about their abilities. And, of course, breakout success William "She Bangs" Hung is featured.
If you get the combined package, there's a bonus disc with lots of interviews of various Season 4 contestants, extended footage of Underwood and Bice on their "hometown trips" and an "exclusive" Abdul interview.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great DVD, but annoying techno glitch, February 24, 2006
This review is from: American Idol - The Best of Seasons 1 - 4 (DVD)
If you like American Idol, you will love this DVD, especially if you were not tuned in to the early seasons. You get the highlights without being dragged through the debacles, and there is a minimum of filler. There is a manufacturing glitch in the current version however, which makes 3 out of 4 of the season reviews (I'm guessing about 25% of the content) unwatchable. A replacement disk had the same problem, and on different DVD players. The good news is that Amazon.com was fantastic in their response (replacement and eventual refund).
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