As we
all know, former reality show juggernaut American Idol has reached its lowest
ratings this 12th Season. The glory days of this pioneer show are
long forgotten and although I do congratulate eventual winner Candice Glover,
the first female to win since Jordin Sparks in Season 6, the show needs some
serious rehab. Idol geeks have been weighing on how to salvage American Idol
and I thought I’d throw in my two cents.
1.
ELIMINATE THE JUDGES
Calm down!
What I meant was to fire all the current judges and have a panel with 3 members.
Having 4 judges takes up too much airtime that could be spent learning more
about the contestants. The major downfall of this season’s judges is their lack
of chemistry. What use is there to hiring Nicki Minaj if she doesn’t interact
with the other judges? We want a little more action from the judges table, if
that’s too much to ask. Or maybe that’s a separate fee? Which brings me to my
next point.
2. NO
MORE CELEBRITY JUDGES
Enough
with the celebrity judges!! We want honest, unbiased critique. I understand that the sympathy the celebs have for the struggles of the contestants can cloud their judgement but the only way to
truly help these contestants is to give them constructive criticism. I suggest
having music executives and producers as judges, people who know what they are
talking about and aren’t afraid to speak their minds. Plus, having potential
bosses as judges would up the ante, don’t you think? It would make the
contestants work harder to impress them. Why not have Jimmy Iovine as a judge?
My
basic argument against celeb judges is that the focus is taken away from the
contestants and to what the judges are wearing or what new material they are
promoting. In short we don’t want judges who are more focused on furthering
their careers than helping these contestants break in to the music industry. As
a compromise, why not have a fourth judge, a guest celebrity judge every week?
3.
SONG RETIREMENT, SONG BIRTH, THEME MAKE-OVER
We
hear judges going on and on about song choices but in truth, the contestants
only have a short list of songs to choose from. You ARE American Idol, surely
you can get license to more songs, right? We are so tired of the some old
songs. Give the contestants the freedom to choose a song within the theme and do
whatever it takes to get it approved. We want something fresh, exciting and
unexpected! Enough of the stale Motown Week and Year You Were Born Week. Give
the contestants themes that will challenge them and bring out the best in them.
Why not have Rap Week? Original Song Week? A Capella Week? Songs That Made You
Cry Week? Retire songs that have been performed three or more times on the Idol
stage. Do not let anyone else sing songs that have been immortalized by
previous contestants. Retire songs synonymous to its performer: Adam’s Mad
World, David Cook’s Hello, Fantasia’s Summertime, Clay’s Bridge Over Troubled
Water and Kelly’s Natural Woman to name a few.
4. FIX
THE VOTING SYSTEM
Idol
should take notes from The Voice and include iTunes sales in the voting system.
Idol wants to produce winners who will do well beyond the bubble that is
American Idol. iTunes sales is a great litmus test to see how well the public
feels about the contestants. Reduce the number of times a single person can
vote for a contestant. It’s hard to compete with viewers who have the luxury of
time, effort and money to power vote for their favorite contestant. Votes
should reflect the number of people who would most likely support a contestant’s
post-Idol career not a handful of uber dedicated fans.
5.
REMOVE SAVE
It’s
a slap in the face of the voters. Why not just let the judges choose who is
going home among the bottom 3?
6. REINVENT THE RESULTS SHOW
Who
needs awkward dancing and bad lypsynching? Lose the group numbers and condense
the show to accommodate 3 performances. Feature other former contestants. We
want to see some Melinda Doolittle, Siobhan Magnus, Michael Johns and Paul
McDonald. Make it happen.
7.
DIVERSITY, DIVERSITY, DIVERSITY
No
one wants to sit through a two-hour show full of balladeers. A major turn-off
for me this season was that a lot of the contestants where from the same music
genres. The judges should select contestants that have a different styles, tones,
ranges and personalities for the viewers who have equally differing tastes.
Give us a good selection and let us decide who to put through our Top 13 or 12
or 10 or whatever.
8. “REAL”
ITY COMPETITION
Enough
with the manipulation!!!! Viewers are smart and can see through the obvious favouritism
towards some contestants through more airtime or the pimp spot aka the last one
to perform. Determine the performance order through draw lots. Give ample
airtime to the contestants, especially to those who will make it through to the
live rounds. Enough with the cannon fodder. Was I the only one who was disappointed
when my early favourites such as Josiah Baier got eliminated and I didn’t even
know why?
As
much as it is a TV show, Idol does make dreams come true. However, I can’t say
so much about the contestant’s, even the winners, second albums. Idol needs to
go back to its roots and be a show about people struggling to make a career out
of music. Make these contestants real to us. Show us how they grew up, where
they grew up. Who wouldn’t go aww shucks seeing a braced faces contestant?
Making them real to us makes us want to root for them, vote for them, buy their
albums and be invested into making their dreams a reality.
Of
course, I’m just an American Idol fan. What do I know?
