Back in May, ABC announced that they hired Katy Perry to be a judge on American Idol. Now almost 4 months later, they have not hired anyone else to sit next to her. According to TMZ, time is running out to find the other 2 judges and it might cost them their $25 million girl.
TMZ says that they are just weeks away from filming the auditions with the judges and they need judges to film those auditions. If they do not find anyone to sit next to her, then they might have to delay filming and Perry is already committed to her tour. That means they might have to lose her if they cannot find any other judges to fill those seats. If they lose her, then they will have more money to pay the likes of Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. The latter is reportedly balking at his $6 million offer and who can blame him? I think he is worth more than Perry. Country does better with Idol’s viewers and he is still hot while her career is starting cool.
Even though, it sounds like Idol is in trouble. This is not the first time, they have gone this late to find judges and it all worked out in the end. They have also had guest judges during the audition phase and they can do that again. Letting Perry continue her tour and still remain with the singing competition. It is all not dim at this stage.
But in general it is. But we will talk about that, once we know what shows it is against and what other reality shows ABC is planning on airing in the Spring. Two factors that will definitely hurt the show that no one was asking for to return so quickly but ABC.
After months of speculation whether or not Ryan Seacrest will return as the host of American Idol on its new network ABC. Right before Live with Kelly and Ryan aired, Seacrest announced that he was going to break some big news on the show. It did not take a genius to realize what the news is. Then a few minutes into the show, Ripa stole his thunder and revealed that Seacrest is in again.
When he got to talk about it, he said, “I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a 15 year relationship and then for a reason you that really don’t know you break up, You know, it’s like all of a sudden the show was going, we thought well and then all of a sudden we broke up. And I thought, ‘Gosh it’d be great to get back together at some point,’” That point is obviously now.
Seacrest also revealed that the show will tape in Los Angeles and the eliminated contestant will appear on Live the next day.
Am I excited for his return? No. I think they really needed to change things up because what they were doing was not working and that is why it was cancelled. Having Katy Perry and him on the singing competition is not going to get people to tune in and ABC really needs us to tune in. I do think people will tune in for the first episode, but after that they will be outer than Seacrest.
Are you excited for American Idol’s return or did you need to miss it a lot longer?
Simon Cowell has already made it clear that he has no interest in the American Idol reboot on ABC, but what about Paula Abdul? She told The Insider, “I just think, the judging thing, I feel I’ve hung up my judging skills.”
But how does she feel when it comes to the show returning after only a year off. She said, “My feeling is, is it really too soon to have an outlet and an amazing platform for young hopefuls to become superstars? I don’t think so. I think there is never enough.” I think you can have too many, which is why so many of the talent shows have been cancelled over the last few years.
You have to admit it is pretty interesting that the biggest names from American Idol 1.0 want nothing to do with the ABC show. In fact, not only have 2 of the 3 original judges said no, Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson have committed to doing The Voice over AI 2.0. That sings volumes, don’t you think?
As we know Katy Perry is going to be a judge on ABC’s version of American Idol and it is rumored that she is getting $25 million for the gig. A number that reportedly isn’t sitting well with Ryan Seacrest. According to Page Six, he was only offered just over $10 million and he feels as the only original member of the singing competition left, he should make more than the newcomer.
While I get his point, I can see ABC thinking why should we pay him twice since they are already paying him for Live with Kelly and Ryan. Plus, Idol is costing ABC a lot of money and the chances of them making it back are going to be hard. At least according to CBS, who said it would take a 35 share to break even and that is why they turned it down.
Oh and Page Six also says that Perry isn’t making $25 million to do Idol. Which is a good thing because I don’t think she is worth that. Heck I don’t I even think she is worth a quarter, but that is me. I just don’t see people tuning in for her. Would you tune in for her or do you think they should have gone with someone else, anyone else?
Last week ABC announced that were bringing American Idol back for a 16th season after it only being off the airwaves for just a season. Today, they announced their first judge and it is Katy Perry. She needs them more than they need her because her career is tanking. Her last few songs have been failures and now she is going on a World tour. It used to be if you did Idol, it helped your sales, but I don’t think people will tune in for her. Yes, she is a name, but she is not well liked. In addition, she screams desperation. It is going to be all about her and she will talk over everyone. She is just so last Friday night.
And that is one of the problems Fox had with Freemantle and the show. Fox wanted a new panel for season 15, but Chairmen & CEOs, Fox Television Group, Dana Walden said they wouldn’t do it. Then she elaborated why they wouldn’t do it and the consequences, “They felt it took a long time to find the chemistry that existed with Jen and Harry and Keith. They ultimately said to us they would rather rest the show after this season than make any changes and try out a different panel and we respected that. That’s when we decided to call it the Farewell Season.”
She was right, and Freemantle was wrong. The Voice knows how to pick they type of Coaches that people like and will tune in for, while Idol did not and seems does not. I mean Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban was so turn of the Century and Harry Connick Jr was so last Century. And that is why their ratings plummeted 70% in the last 4 years. Because of the declining ratings, Fox asked them to make some trims and they wouldn’t.
Fox also feels that it is too early to bring back the show per their research and fan boards. Fox wanted to wait until 2020, but on the conference call Walden said that Freemantle wanted to bring it back now. Walden’s theory on why they might have rushed to get it back on the air so quickly is because as she explained, “Then I think probably all of you saw RTL’s earnings call last week. They lost revenue from not having this show on in the U.S. That’s meaningful, when you’re running a public company.”
All in all Walden felt during their initial meetings that, “…it would be extremely fraudulent to bring the show back quickly, that our fans would not appreciate being told one thing and then have the show brought back right away. We and Fremantle just had very different points of view.” Come Spring of 2018, I am sure ABC is going to feel the same way as Fox.
How do you feel about American Idol coming back in 2018? How do you feel about Katy Perry as a judge?
