“Shout To The Lord” on American Idol
Hey to all the new folks hitting the blog! I know you’re looking for info on what the heck American Idol was thinking last night with their “Shout To The Lord” performance and I’m sure you’ve got your opinion. Leave a comment and join the conversation! If you want to read more about what I do, click here.
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Was that possibly the most awkward moment in the history of American Idol? Did someone really think that closing the show with “Shout To The Lord” (along with the required key change and confetti!!) was the smartest thing to do?
PS I’m sure lots of you are really upset that they took “Jesus” out of the song. It’s okay – I don’t think he minds being called “shepherd”.
UPDATE: Here’s the video in case you missed it -
UPDATE #3: Okay. This post has officially exploded. I think I’ll need to post some of the behind-the-scenes stuff later this week. Most of you who are hitting this site are doing it for the first time and I want you to know that I’m giving away a copy of the new Delirious? CD “Kingdom Of Comfort” over at this post – http://www.chrisfromcanada.com/?p=540 – so leave a comment here, head to that post, leave a comment to be entered in to the draw.
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That was probably one of the most courages things American Idol coul d have done. Absolutely awesome…the audience loved and so did I.
God is amazing!!!!!! He works in amazing, surprising ways!
I have been a big Idol fan, but now, I think I will boycott the show. If I don’t, what kind of example am I setting for my children? Its not lukewarm, it is wolves in sheeps clothing trying to dilute, devalue,re-direct focus, blasphemy……….Oprah kind of religion. I don’t think some of the contestants even thought about this…….? Its a free country,I know, but “Christ followers” must listen to the Holy Spirit when these events occur and know that this is not Christ Jesus that is beng praised. Its “whatever” God you believe in. I am very disappointed, but not surprised. If I was a Idol contestant and professed myself as a “Christ follower”, believe that Jesus is God and he is the only way to salvation through repentment, commitment, and belief……….I could have never sang the song the way they did.
wow, can’t say i watch Idol, but that was crazy. i guess this was all part of the special show? maybe they thought that giving back needed to involve God, or maybe they just wanted to make it seem like they’re giving back more than the Christians or church are (ouch, yeah that would be a pretty low blow, but we could always do better)? two things i enjoyed: white pants with white shirt and white tie, maybe they just wanted to be super pure while seeing about God; and the irony with the money they likely spent on confetti and such while doing a show on giving money away. plus, did you catch the ben stiller thing right after the song? what was that?
whatever there reason was, it wasn’t done bad and it’s just a song. who knows, some of the contestants might have had more heart behind than we do on a Sunday morning (yeah, that stings).
by the way, i love the parity in the two responses above, getting the extremists on the blog now Chris? haha.
check out david crowder’s blog to hear about another thing Idol almost did: http://weblog.xanga.com/emprise34/651388938/american-idol-atry.html
i agree with christine.
it was on as sort of ‘background noise’ while i was working at home, and when I heard it, I thought that they had gone to commercial break and one of those sub-par worship CD infomericals had come on (you know where it’s 1/2 Anne Murray, and the remaining half are covers of Darlene Zeusch songs…)
anyway, I was a little upset about the whole thing. just find it interesting that when it comes to a relationship and reverence for Jesus Christ the world has none, but when we can package Jesus to be a marketable item that promotes peace and hope….bring it on.
i think that although i won’t write hasty letters to simon cowell, i will stop watching. personal choice for me rather than a fellowship breaker.
props to chris for bringing up the issue…very relevant.
[...] conversations going on here, here, and [...]
I have to reiterate what Chris said earlier. Shepherd is actually another name for Jesus.
I too was surprised to hear this song come on. This is the first time I’ve watched Idol all year. I was sitting down at my computer and heard them say something like, “And here’s Shout to the Lord to end the show…” I ran to the TV to see what this was all about. First thing I noticed of course was the omission of “Jesus” from the song. That was understandable from their point of view, suppose they’d offend more people to include His name than to omit it. I personally believe it was just an attempt to reach out to that large Christian demographic that watches the show, it would surely touch a nerve in them and make them feel more compelled to donate.
As far as them wasting money to get money, it seems like a lot of Megachurches are guilty of the same thing nowadays. Look at these churches that meet in stadiums with jumbotrons. They could surely decrease some expenses and use more towards actually helping people.
I admit, I liked the performance of the song albeit strange, the show definitely ended on a high note… and then it all came back into focus with the Ben Stiller skit at the end. We have “Shout to the Lord” immediately followed-up with a cussing (albeit bleeped out) Stiller. And remember that just before the song, Robin Williams came out with a made up Russian name that implied sexual self-gratification. It seems then that the show was representative of our pop-Christian culture in general. Don’t really take your faith too seriously but sandwich in a praise song every now and then to feel good, and then continue to lead a life with one foot (or more) in the world. Christ had some harsh words about lukewarm Christianity (and I am probably guilty of it myself). That’s what all of this should remind us of.
I don’t personally see anything wrong with them substituting “Shepherd” for “Jesus”. It was probably an unsaved individual who did it to make sure that no one was offended. So what? The entire American Idol audience heard about the goodness of God last night on the biggest show in the world right now. And some of us complain about the way that it was done? Unbelievable! There are christians all over the internet arguing today over whether or not the name of Jesus should have been used. Maybe next time, Idol contestants should sing”We are the World” or some other nonsense like that. The fact that the song made it onto the playlist has to be a miracle, and as is the form of millions of believers worldwide, we can’t see the forest for the trees, and all the while compliment ourselves that we are taking great stands for righteousness, and quote volumes of scriptures to justify our opinions. What they did last night was good, and wasn’t the compromise that so many are claiming it was. And why is everyone so worked up over Oprah’s new religion? It won’t work. She isn’t doing anything but cluttering up the spiritual landscape with another ridiculous idea. She’ll fail. People will continue to return to the Lord, regardless of her efforts. I hope American Idol does this again. I don’t expect a fervent zealous stance for the Lord from that show. So it’s no shock what occured. It obviously bothered Ben Stiller who tried to sabotage the moment by dropping the F- Bomb a few times. That’s fine with me. If someone like him is mad, then it touched a nerve in him that needed to be touched. Believe it or not, Ben was confronted last night by Christ, I think. Millions were. You can’t sing a song like that without associating Jesus with it. No way. It was not the watered down thing that so many are making it out to be. Frankly, we got more than I ever would have expected. That song was chosen for a reason. God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit won last night. The name of our God was lifted up , and it doesn’t matter if the people singing it were saved or not. God was glorified. The Truth of His name went out yet once again into the earth. This is just one of the many ways that God will be getting His truth out to the world in the years ahead. I’m getting prepared to be suprised by God in areas like this routinely.
Okay this is starting to take on a life of its own. Hilarious.
By the way, if you made it this far you’re probably a fan of Christian music. If you want a chance to win a copy of the new Delirious? CD “King of Fools” check this post and leave a comment – http://www.chrisfromcanada.com/?p=540
I’ll be doing the draw for the winner later today.
Well, at least they were swaying back and forth in unison.
To be honest I didn’t watch the show. I hate American Idol. I did however watch the video that Chris and Russ posted.
My honest opinion—-What harm did it cause? I doubt anyone lost their soul from watching it! Sure is was a musical train wreck but what song wouldn’t be, being done like that?
As Christians we get soooo hyper sensitive over things that are supposedly “our thing” Like getting all hot and bothered over the changing of Jesus to Shepard? Wasn’t one of the many metaphors for Jesus Shepherd? Are you kidding me? We should be pleased as punch they actually sang a song with the word Lord in it, on national TV! Who knows what their motives were? The point is we should take the good out of this situation in that a WORSHIP SONG (no matter how awkwardly done) was sung on one of the biggest nationally televised shows in the world. It kills me that Christians would sit back and demand to see everyone on that shows Christian membership card along with a record of their tithe for the last 10 years in order to give praise to “Their” God. Come on guys!
For whatever reason AI chose to do a worship song on TV. If you “Boycott” (which is really lame and the typical knee jerk reaction Christians aways give to something that rubs them the wrong way) shows when they do stuff like this, it will send the message to the networks that anything religious should be kept out of TV because people stop watching when they do. It’s kind of funny that Christians will watch a show religiously (no pun intended) without it ever mentioning anything about God or His Son, but when they do, they stop watching the show? Somethings backwards.
Bass ackwords is what I think you were going for there. (and a big AMEN while I’m at it).
I wonder if perhaps one or more of the singers didn’t want to sing about “Jesus” because they didn’t want to explicitly endorse Christianity for whatever reason, so they compromised on something less blatant.
We can only suppose at this point, but I think if some sort of scenario such as that were the case, I’m sure most Christians would rather have seen the song there with the words as they were aired as opposed to not at all.
I personally wouldn’t have changed any words, but weather anyone wants to admit it or not, Jesus was glorified in that song. There are many names for Jesus, and at least they used them!!! My thanks goes out to them who put it on the show, just so Christ could be mentioned to so many. The whole song glorifies Christ, and if they couldn’t recognize that, then I don’t know if putting the word Jesus in there, would’ve made it any clearer. He is our Shepherd also! I’m so thankful that maybe my friends or family who aren’t saved, who don’t go to church, could hear that last night, and possibly be reminded of how great God is, and the power and majesty he deserves. Why would we want to “quit” watching the show, when Christ was introduced last night? Maybe if they see reviews or numbers go up they’ll realize it was when the “Christian” song was sang, and maybe they would be more apt to use a Christian song again! Come on!!!!
I was pretty amazed that they substituted the name of Jesus, when they’ve allowed at least four songs in the last three or four weeks on the show with His Name. Mariah Carey’s gospel song even ended with the name of Jesus last night. Maybe they’re comfortable with it when an individual artist uses it (like those disclaimers on DVDs about commentaries not necessarily reflecting the views of the parent company), but don’t want to commit the whole franchise to being labeled as religious. Anyway, they had to get permission from CCLI or Darlene Zschech to use the song, so it wasn’t used without someone’s knowledge or blessing.
The performance of the song wasn’t moving, so I don’t know what it did to promote the Lord, especially since the contestants (David A, Christy Lee, Brooke, and Jason) who may have actually been able to pull off a sincere, heartfelt solo were passed over for Carly (normally love her voice, but she was REALLY shouting her solo), David Cook (who believes we’re all innocent), and Syesha (who prefers to sing songs about extramarital affairs). Hopefully, those who have never been exposed to the song will seek out the original version.
Chris, you said the studio version leaves in Jesus’ name. Is that version any more powerful than the live one?
Thanks for this blog. It is just what I needed this morning!
God bless you!
Suzanne in Arkansas
Oh man – this is fun.
Suzanne – great point on AI not wanting their brand to be tied to the Jesus brand. I totally agree with that obvservation.
All I’m saying is….be it the way we sing it at church, or whether we felt like shouting to their version or not. God was broadcasted on national tv and we ought to be thanking Him that they even tried the watered down version that they did. We don’t always understand how God works, but he will use this for His glory whether we want to admit it or not. We sometimes put God in a box and think He can’t work outside our comfort zone, BUT HE CAN!!!
Consider this: American Idol is the number 1 show in the country if not the world. Last nights episode was watch by how many people?
All of my kids go to public schools where they discuss what happened on American Idol the night before. Ryan Seacrest mentioned that the song can be bought on iTunes. Well I bought it today and the Idols sing the original song with the precious name of JESUS in it.
What a huge impact for not only our kids, but everyone who downloads the original version.
As Christians we are called to be “Christ” like. Nobody has reached the level of compassion that Jesus had while He walked this Earth.
We should all be ready to use this as a blessing and opportunity to share how we have been saved.
We are all tools of Jesus and are called to be “Sheperds of Men”
How many of us are even brave enough to sing the chorus on national t.v.
We need to be strong and praise God everyday, not just on Sunday.
Use this. Jesus has just given you a door to use.
I thought it was awesome!!!!!!!! We must infiltrate the main stream media, try not to pick it apart people. Its a start.
I have to admit I’m really suprise at some of the opinions that are posted. We all know as Christians when God wants our attention he does in ways that we may not expect. This week little David sang a song that no doubt was spiritual. Tuesday, Dolly sang of Jesus and Gravity. Then last night’s performance was amazing. Yes they took out Jesus’ most precious name which saddens me, but I’m sure that was done not to offend other religions and not to sound to “preachie.” But with that said I know in my heart God’s presence was there I could fill him reaching to all of us. I for one cried and began to pray for forgiveness of my sins and for all the unsaved people that were watching this week. Hey, God is good and he is even cool. It’s okay for us to share him on primetime and on the most popular tv show ever. After all what better place for him to get the attention of the saved and unsaved all at once!
I guess whatever the motivation for concluding “Idol Gives Back” with “Shout to the Lord,” God can use it. Perhaps I should go even further to say that it definitely opens a door or provides a springboard for a God-centered conversation with friends and family who aren’t Christians.
What courage it took to perform that song last night. Shout to the Lord, regardless of the change in words was still an inspiration to all. Maybe those that had problems with it, need to take a long hard look at the words. And then they can Shout to the Lord. Thank you American Idol. You went up a notch in my book.
I found the choice of song very interesting indeed. Yeah, taking out the name Jesus was a little frustrating, but with the way that our society censors Church and State, I wouldn’t be surprised if FOX made the call that the name Jesus was too much. But honestly, they used Shepherd, Comfort, Lord, Tower of Refuge, etc…Those are pretty brazen confessions to make on national television. Are all the Idol hopefuls believers? I doubt it. But I think some legitimately are. And who knows how that song could have impacted people watching. Let’s give God some credit here! He can reach His people with or without the name Jesus. I am praying that despite that lyric change, people were impacted by the song.
Great dialogue, everyone. Just an fyi, the word is spelled “Shepherd”.
I just read Greg’s comment that the downloadable version of the song mentions the name Jesus. That’s amazing! I’m curious as to whether Darlene Zschech made that one of the conditions.
After reading through all of the comments I’ve come to this conclusion now: let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water! As most have commented, whether or not they mentioned the name Jesus should not be the main focus; what matters is that they even sang such a popular worship song like that to a WORLD-WIDE viewing audience of over 30 million people. Either way you look at it, God will use this to draw more people into His kingdom. We shouldn’t let it divide us; this is a great opportunity for the world to see the Christian community respond in love and kindness. We can all start by making large donations to the charity fund that was set up and put actions behind our words. Faith without works is dead!
Thanks Chris in Canada for setting up the blog, it’s been great!
“But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.”
Philippians 1:17-19
What kind of a line is “my jesus” anyway…
i think the change made for a much more meaningful lyric. If i’m talking to my wife I don’t call her “my Amy”. I’ll call her my darling or something…, well, descriptive!
i feel kind of dirty commenting about this, but thems my thoughts
I think it was a poor rendition musically. Good song choice though.
I don’t necessarily applaud AI for including the song however, they should have been tapping the “religious market” long ago.
You know, inclusion and all that.
Why are some so offended that the name Jesus was left out? HE IS our Shepherd, HE IS our Father, HE IS our Lord, HE has many names. How AWESOME that HE was praised, worshipped, glorified, and sung about on a secular program where millions of people watched and heard these wonderful words of rejoicing! This was definitely a miracle! PRAISE GOD!!!!!
Please Christians be thankful & joyful that you had the eyes to see and the ears to hear the performance last night. Go out and love and serve the Lord, spread THE WORD by your Godly example and not by your human attitudes.
[...] other fine discussions on this: mudpuppy, [...]
Hey, what say we all relax a bit?
Absolutely! Thank you, Paul!
That was my point…… you said it in fewer words.
It was definitely a bit shocking for a show like American Idol to include what’s essentially a “church worship song.” The song’s from 1993 and it took 15 years before the mainstream ever heard it, so I am glad they did. I think that song will become as ubiquitously common as “Amazing Grace,” sung in a variety of places, Christian or otherwise.
What really matters?
Close your eyes and listen. God’s Word says in
Psalm 46:10
“BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD”
God knows AI’s intentions, WHY? He created each and every soul. It’s not about a song. It’s not about what they did or didn’t do, it’s ALL about JESUS! Let it go and LET GOD! His Answer is the only one that matters.
More like … “Shout to the WHO?”
Apparently I am not the only one that finds this absolutely intolerant. There is no excuse about removing the name of Jesus, the One who is only capable of true salvation and redemption.
You can find out more on my website http://www.idolgivesin.com
I think if there was a candiate for a song to move from the christian sub-culture into what I’ll call the comfort songs of the world genre…Shout to the Lord is up there at the top of the list. Songs like Amazing Grace, I’ll Fly Away, How Great Thou Art…
As for changing the lyrics up…I’ll give the benefit of the doubt and say artistic expression is a good thing…sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t (I personally think it didn’t work too well this time)…of course there could be some other reason they were changed…but that’s kinda the network execs jobs…they always change stuff around (Christian and non)…Elvis couldn’t shake his hips, American Idols can’t say Jesus…(although of course they can…see previous posts)…
Anyways…I guess I’d put this in the “maybe we’re all getting a little older and the networks have caught on that we sit around and watch American Idol every night” file and AI’s job is to give us what we like…so they chose this…no big deal…
G
Personally when it’s all over….I’m just glad somebody finally changed something with that song…
Thank God. They are finally showing something on TV that is inspiring and a positive influence! Absolutley awesome. Thank you Jesus
You know, God will find a way to get his message out. If American Idol did this song because of Jesus, The Lord, or God, or not, why does it matter? If they did it for any other reason than glorifying God, he will deal with those people. God still got his message to the world last night. I’m know it touched the hearts of those watching all over the world, maybe those who has long lost the feeling of his glory. So whether the people’s hearts that made this happened, was in it for the right reason or not, God still slipped in and blessed people all over the world. And who are we to Judge the condition or the intent of the people’s hearts who sang the song or made it possible to air, it’s not our place to judge them, because we just don’t know the true intents of their hearts. Leave that part up to God as he will Judge these people in due time. You can’t disagree with the song being aired as it was, then turn around and Judge the people, because that in itself, is wrong. Praise God because he always finds a way to sneak in, even if the people that made it possible, did it for the wrong reasons. I am Amazed and Blessed that it aired and I know that God had everything to do with that. He’s sneaky, and he is Awesome.
do me really understand what has happened this past week? with the uproar of the oprah “megachurch” flooding the airways, we have thus seen the spiritual battle of “good vs evil” right before our eyes. tonight they sang the song correctly and millions of viewers are now downloading the song. those that might not realize the power behind the name of Jesus will be singing along to the song. maybe, just maybe, Christians were tested. Sitting back and accepting the way it was (Wednesday). whatever the reason, He Wins !!!!! SHOUT TO THE LORD !!!!!!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NQu4PhhmEI
My Jesus, My Savior !!!!!
I guess I missed the preformance on Wed night – my dvr cut it out… so tonight when the show began I heard the “Shout to the Lord” for the 1st time. (The UN-edited version) My mom and I just looked at each other in shock…. but in a good way. I mean christians are always being told to shut up and get out of the way for the most part when it comes to media outlets. I think this was an AMAZING step for christians to be able to get the name of Jesus out there!!! Over 31 million people watched this week in which all 31 million have now heard the name of Jesus… and to be honest with you I noticed that a few of the contestants were really singing it from the heart and it did mean something to them. For a christian to say that they are now going to boycott the show due to a christian song about Jesus and who He is being sung is absolutely ridiculous to me…. what a huge step back if we all had that attitude. Again I was very impressed that they were allowed and had the nerve to sing such a song on a show that is the MOST popular show in America right now… I could go on and on but I would encourage those whose christian to support this and to pray about it if they took offense to the preformance – in the last days it is important that Jesus use every avenue possible to reach those who need Him.
I was absolutely blessed to hear this song performed on American Idol. I was even more blessed to hear the song performed on the show again (4/10) with Jesus’ name put back into the song.
What a bold move by American Idol. I pray that eyes would be opened to God’s love because of it. I also pray that the Lord would bless those involved with putting the song on the show.
Buy this song from iTunes to tell American Idol that you enjoyed Shout To The Lord!
Your money goes to charity!
Any news on how and why the decision was made to sing the song again on Thursday’s results show with the name of Jesus? This gets curiouser and cursiouser.
Just thought I’d check out what all the fuss is about!
Man, I can’t believe someone has actually gone a set up a web site dedicated to it.
You’re one quick off the mark web developer Mr Bo Lane.
The version the top 8 did earlier in the show named `Jesus’ quite clearly. They substituted `Shepherd’ during the finale/reprise.
I’m confused. I watched the beginning of the show when they opened with Shout to the Lord. I clearly heard “My Jesus, My Savior”…I DVR’d it. I’m going to have to listen to it again tonight.