Posts tagged American Idol
Is Ryan Seacrest REALLY Worth $45 Million To American Idol?
Jan 6th
We’re just a few days away from the 11th season premiere of American Idol – and there’s a new rumor doing the rounds at the moment. Is long time Idol host Ryan Seacrest on the way out – set to be replaced by a cheaper alternative?
As everyone knows, Ryan has been with the Idol franchise since day one and along with Randy Jackson is the only remaining member of the original on camera team. Co-host Brian Dunkleman famously departed after season 1, judge Paula Abdul left at the end of Season 8 and Idol’s main mean man Simon Cowell split in 2010 after 9 seasons with the show.
Through it all the Idol juggernaut has remained as strong as ever – still regularly pulling in audiences in excess of 20 million on a weekly basis. So now apparently Fox are starting to wonder if Seacrest is really essential to the franchise. With a salary of $15 million a year and a deal that expires at the end of the new season, the network are reportedly wondering if they could opt for a cheaper host going forwards. But is Fox risking its smash hit franchise in order to save (quite a few) bucks? More >
NETWORK SCORECARD: FOX
Dec 12th
Time for another end of year Network Scorecard – and this time around we’re heading to Fox…
WHAT’S WORKING:
AMERICAN IDOL / THE X FACTOR: Did Fox make the right decision in adding ANOTHER music competition show to their line-up?
Sure The X Factor is nowhere near the ratings league of the mighty American Idol – but then again, what is? The new Simon Cowell show is generally delivering between 10 – 12 million viewers a week versus Idol’s 18-20 million. Plus it’s an expensive show to make. Sounds like a flop right?
Not really. Many of the costs of The X Factor are borne by deep-pocketed brands like Pepsi. Plus the show is a hit among the advertiser coveted 18-49 demo and has been instrumental in increasing Fox’s Fall ratings year on year (they’re up 17%). Fox can now legitimately claim to be a year round network, instead of a channel that only kicks in in January.
As for Idol – well rumors of its post-Simon Cowell demise proved to be totally unfounded. Sure the show slipped a tad from seasons past – but the new lineup of Steven Tyler, J. Lo and Randy Jackson proved a hit with viewers (though not with myself) and More >
American Idol: 10 Reasons Why Season 10 Sucked!
May 24th
So here we are again – the end of another season of American Idol!
This time last year I was bemoaning Idol’s Season 9 – nicknamed the Season of Suck – and suggesting how the show could be improved next time around.
Well here we are and unfortunately Idol didn’t get better this year. In fact it got WORSE! A lot worse. And with competition from The Voice and Fox’s own X Factor in the Fall I think the Idol production team have dug themselves a big old hole this season…
So here’s my take of what went wrong…
Are Reality Show Results Fixed?
May 12th
I’ve largely given up on American Idol this season but last night I tuned in for a while to see what Lady Gaga could do with the remaining four contestants.
As predicted even the new Queen of Pop struggled to get a performance out of Lauren and Scotty (whose act was straight out of the 1950’s). But what most caught my attention – and judging from the blogosphere, everyone else’s to – were the blatantly biased critiques Hayley received and the free passes handed out to her three fellow finalists. Hayley was crucified on the show – and not for the first time. So have the judges got an agenda this season?
Um – yep! But since when has that been news? American Idol has a long history of ‘pimping’ certain contestants over others. Sometimes the audience fall in line but more often than not we all see it for what it is and do our best to undo the judges’ blatant favoritism.
The Voice: Uh-Oh We Got It Wrong!
May 5th
I’ve certainly predicted a fair few hits and misses over the last few months here at Remote Patrolled but when I get it wrong I go in with all guns blazing!
Sure I may have predicted that Hot In Cleveland and Body Of Proof would be hits and the likes of Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen, Live To Dance, No Ordinary Family and Outlaw were all heading for flopsville – but I have to hold my hands up and admit when it came to NBC’s Voice I got it VERY wrong!
A few weeks ago I posted my Five Reasons Why The Voice Is Going To Flop and what happened! The show’s only gone on to become the biggest new hit of the season, far buzzier than the revamped American Idol and bigger than even hot sophomore hits Glee and Modern Family. Plus ratings climbed from week 1 to week 2 – and that hardly ever happens these days!
So what did NBC do right, can the rosy ratings continue and what does this mean for the competition…? Here’s an update…
Quick Take: American Idol ‘Carole King Night’
Apr 28th
Question time. Are you still watching American Idol? And if you are can you honestly tell me you’re invested in this year’s contestants? Do you really care who wins?
I ask the question because honestly I’m puzzled as to how anyone can say they’re as committed this season as in years past. I’m not saying the likes of Scotty, Lauren and James aren’t talented – just that I’m finding it very hard to emotionally invest in this season. In recent years I was really rooting for the likes of David Cook, Adam Lambert and Crystal Bowersox and genuinely excited to see what they would perform each week. But this year I’m finding myself reaching for the fast forward button with ever increasing frequency. Idol season 10 is a big old bore…
Sure last year wasn’t much better but at least in previous seasons you could rely on Simon Cowell to deliver a ruthless assessment every few songs. But this year’s judges are getting worse by the week. Steven Tyler is now officially a total waste of time. I don’t think he’s given a single critical – or constructive – note all season. Every performance is ‘perfect’, ‘great’ or ‘amazing’. It’s like he’s More >
The Voice: First Impressions
Apr 27th
Okay everyone – here we go!
NBC’s The Voice premiered last night on NBC and later today we’ll get the first ratings in. So will the show be a big old bomb as I predicted or will American Idol finally have some competition on its hands?
Personally I think the show will debut to decent numbers – around 8 million viewers and a 3.2 18-49 share – but just like Paula Abdul’s Live To Dance it’ll slip week after week and be dead by the start of summer. I’m afraid I still stick by many of the comments in my original post – and with Fox scheduling a 90 minute Glee as a spoiler I think there’s an additional reason the show may struggle in the ratings. But what about the show itself – was it any good.
So here’s the thing – I watched about 45 minutes of The Voice last night and thought it was okay. It’s certainly not a train wreck and the format itself – with its revolving chairs – played less goofy that I thought it would.
American Idol: And In 7th Places It’s…
Apr 22nd
Hey everyone – I’m back again after a short break and straight into American Idol land….
Yep, and for the first time in a good few seasons I actually missed Wednesday night’s performance show – and wouldn’t you know it, the contestants finally took on some modern music after weeks of hackneyed themes like Songs From The Year You Were Born, Elton John Week and Motown Week.
Still, even though I missed Wednesday’s show I heard all about Hayley taking on Adele’s Rolling In The Deep, Jacob tackling Luther Vandross (again) and Casey planting a kiss on J. Lo… come to think of it maybe I didn’t miss much!
I must say though it was actually quite refreshing watching the Results Show having not seen any of the week’s performance episode. Not that that results were exactly surprising of course. Hayley, Jacob and Stefano ended up in the bottom 3, while James, Lauren and Scotty haven’t made a single trip to the Silver Stools. As for Casey – well I’m still not sure he’s convinced America that they got it wrong in Week 3 in sending him packing. I think we all know where the Judges’ Save should have gone!
More >
American Idol: The First Guy Heads Home
Apr 15th
No great shockers on the American Idol front last night as fading rocker Paul McDonald found himself the first male contestant of the season to be eliminated.
I was a fan of Paul at the start of the live shows but for me never really lived up to his potential and became somewhat of a one trick pony. There was the Russell Brand style dancing, the rose covered suits, the permanent grin and the good, but never great, vocals. Plus I didn’t really care for the songs Paul picked – Ryan Adams, seriously?
That said Paul had a really winning personality and was good for the mix of the show – so I wish him the best. I honestly don’t think we’ll hear much from him again (essentially he’s the new Michael Johns, who also finished in 8th place back in Season 7) but who knows, stranger things have happened in Idol history! Plus he’s perfect for a teeth whitening endorsement deal…
Quick Take: American Idol – Songs From The Movies
Apr 14th
So here’s the big question from this week’s American Idol – do you think Fox can get a refund out of Steven, Jennifer and Randy’s agents?
I’m thinking such a deal should at least be on the table because when it comes to actual ‘judging’ this year’s panel of JUDGES should be sued for false advertising.
Seriously did you hear, once again, the endless stream of drivel that came out of all three judges’ mouths? If this was the first American Idol you’d ever watched you might be wondering why every performance was ‘amazing’, ‘perfect’, ‘beautiful’ – when your eyes and ears clearly told you they weren’t! But in this season’s kindler, gentler Idol all the rules have changed and the bar is lower than ever… unless you’re a girl of course!
Yep, hot on the heels of last week’s controversial Pia Toscano elimination the ONLY contestant to get any kind of negative note last night was Hayley, whose version of Blondie’s Call Me certainly wasn’t perfect – but also wasn’t that bad. Hayley definitely deserved some criticism but was she really the ONLY contestant who did anything wrong last night?
