5 Things Every American Idol Contestant Should Know

American Idol has been a phenomenon for 9 seasons. If you're an American Idol contestant or you're aspiring to be one, there are some things you need to know to avoid getting booted. Each season of the hit show is a bit different from the others, but some things stay consistent. Here are 5 things that every American Idol should know.

1.Song Choice is Key!

If you're in the Idol Top 24 and contemplating your song choices, do yourself a favor and mine some data over at WhatNotToSing. They have scores for every performance ever shown on Idol and every song ever performed on the show.

Don't sing "You Keep Me Hanging On". Vanessa Olivarez and Leah LaBelle were both eliminated the week they sang it. Blake Lewis survived it, but he turned it into techno which is different (see rule #3).

"Feeling Good" is a great song, but it's Idol poison. AJ Tabaldo and Leslie Hunt were both eliminated in the same week after singing it, and it landed Adam Lambert in the bottom 3 for his first and only time.

Don't sing Mariah, Xtina, or Whitney. Don't sing "Copa Cobana" and don't make people throw things at the TV by singing "I Who Have Nothing" again.

2. Stay in Your Box

You may be young, but you have a lot of experience in the music field and you can perform many different genres of music. American Idol does not care. The Idol producers will portray you as "type" on the show and you can never deviate from that label. You are a rocker, a country singer, an R&B artist, a jazz singer or a pop star. Once you are in a box, you can't step out of it. You will be given many different themes and genres to sing, however, which leads us to our third rule.

3. Make it "Your Own"

No matter what theme you're assigned, you can never sing the song the way the original artist did. If you do, the judges will accuse you of Karaoke, or say that you sound like you're singing at a wedding. Change the song up to sound like your assigned type (see rule #2). But don't change it too much lest you have a "Ring of Fire" situation to deal with.

4. Be Nice

No matter what the judges say, be nice. Don't be surly, cocky, or whiny. Don't argue with the judges. When Simon Cowell says that you should argue with him ignore the advice. Viewers don't like it when contestants argue with the judges. It doesn't matter if the judges were completely wrong.

Do be gracious and humble when the judges give you praise. Don't act like you deserve the praise or you will look arrogant, which is death on Idol. If the praise is effusive, it never hurts to cry a few tears of joy because you feel so honored.

5. Try to Find Some Relatives in the South

Texas, Alabama, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arizona, Texas, Arkansas

Those are the states that the previous Idol winners are from. If you're from the Northeast, the North, the Northwest or California you're probably not going to win. There is a workaround for this, however. If you've ever lived in the South for any length of time you can claim the city or state. David Cook did this very effectively in Season 7. He lived in Missouri, but was originally from Houston. David is a smart cookie, so he claimed allegiance to both states.

If you have relatives in the South that you've spent time with or went to college there, mention it as often as possible. This is particularly effective when the town is small and large groups can be assembled for cell phone parties on performance night via peer pressure.

If you don't have connections to the South, don't sweat it too much. The runner up often makes a good living.