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?
ABC picked up American Idol for a 16th season this week and they are having a problem finding people from the Fox version to join their show.
The Voice announced in the last 2 days that they hired Oscar winner and American Idol season 3 contestant Jennifer Hudson and the original American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson as coaches for their upcoming seasons. That means those are two alumni that they cannot hire for Idol.
What about their most famous and loved judge Simon Cowell? He told Extra they asked him, but he told them “no”. They he explained why, “I have no interest. My memories are when we first started. It was a different time with Randy [Jackson], Ryan [Seacrest] and Paula [Abdul]. You can’t recreate that.” He also revealed to Terri Seymour that he left the show for a reason and has not regrets for doing so.
What about host Ryan Seacrest? He told Extra, “I would love to do it, but I got this job right now.” Of course that job is Live with Kelly and Ryan. My theory is he wants his old salary and ABC doesn’t want to pay him twice. Therefore, money not time is ABC’s biggest problem with him signing on for the reboot.
Who can Idol get? I am sure they can Randy Jackson, because what else is that dog doing? When it comes to the other possible Judges, I am sure they can get William Hung and Sanjaya Malakar, That is if they can find them.
Granted after having said all of this, I think that American Idol should start completely over. New faces would be a good thing.
After just a year off, American Idol has a new home for its Sweet 16 season. ABC made it official today by announcing they beat out Fox, NBC and CBS to reboot the musical competition.
What we know so far. The show will air on ABC next season, most likely not until 2018. What we don’t know is everything else.
What does this mean for Dancing with the Stars? Does this mean it will still air in the Fall, while Idol will air in the Spring? Normally, they air The Bachelor in between Dancing’s seasons, so will they air Idol instead and move The Bachelor to a new night? Most likely it will be Dancing, The Bachelor, Idol, but we will know more next week.
Why did I bring up Dancing before the host and judges that have not be decided yet either? Because I think ABC should look at some of the past contestants of Dancing to be their host. Yes, I am saying it again, I don’t think they should go with Ryan Seacrest. They need to start completely over if they want the show to succeed. Who do I think should host? I think Joey Fatone would be a great person to fill Seacrest’s shoes.
When it comes to the judges, they need to compete with the names on The Voice. No hasbeens like they used to do on Idol. I think Josh Groban would be a great choice because he has a natural voice and that is important to coaching these kids. I also think they need a former Idol, and I would go with Kelly Clarkson or Kelly Pickler. They are sweet and have down stuff in music since their time on the show. I don’t like Adam Lambert and I think he would be bitchy to be bitchy. When it comes to the third judge, I think it needs to be a musician like Jay-Z who also has managing a record company on their resume. No fourth judge. That doesn’t work. ABC see Dancing.
We also don’t know where it will be filmed, but it needs to be LA. That is its home, not NY. As someone who lived in both cities, I don’t think Manhattan has the same feel as LA.
When it comes to if I am excited the show is coming back? No. I stopped watching after they added Jennifer Lopez and I don’t miss it. I am more excited about everything else like the who, what, when, where and why, then the show itself.
How do you feel about American Idol returning to our TV’s next year?
For the last few weeks, everyone has been talking about American Idol coming back to TV after just a year of hiatus. There were rumors NBC wanted it, then CBS, then Fox and finally last week ABC became the frontrunner. Which was doubly good for them because they just hired Ryan Seacrest to host Live with Kelly and Ryan. Does that mean that the former host will also be the current one?
Kelly Ripa asked him that very question today. He told her, “I don’t know about that part yet. We haven’t gotten that far.” Then he revealed, “This was news to me actually last week.” When he heard the rumors, just like we did, he made a call and they told him yes it is a possibility it is coming back. When it comes to him coming back with the show, he doesn’t know if he can do it. To which his work wife told him, she will do everything in her power to make sure he can.
In fact, she was so much more excited about him hosting the show than he was. Which makes you think that is the case because she wants him out of her and that is a good way to do it. I am sure she didn’t want a name as big if not bigger than hers to co-host with her.
When it comes to Seacrest hosting, I would be OK if they found a new host. I think it is time to try something different because what they were doing wasn’t working which is why Fox cancelled it. I think ABC is too loyal to their Reality show people and it hurts their shows. I would love love love to see new Judges on Dancing with the Stars, but they have kept the same old ones for all of these years. Variety is good.
Do you want American Idol back? Do you want it back with Ryan Seacrest?
After 15 seasons, American Idol is saying goodbye tonight at 8p on Fox. Even though I haven’t watch the show in years, I have to admit I am a little teary eyed about it.
Back when the show started, I enjoyed watching it every week. Calling my friends and family in NYC for results. Getting in fights with friends over who should win. I still say Clay Aiken won the second season.
On that note, look at all the stars that came from the show. There’s Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry, Katharine McPhee, Carrie Underwood and so on…
But the most important thing about American Idol is that brought it people together. Hopefully after some time off, it will come back as strong as it once was. Television needs a show like what the singing competition was its first few seasons.
Will you miss American Idol?
