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Fox Looking For Ways To Improve American Idol

By Jason
May 2, 2008 in Television

Even before the Paula Abdul, two-reviews-for-the-price-of-one-performance fiasco, Fox has had their eyes on the numbers for American Idol.  It’s no big secret that the numbers are down this season.  That in itself isn’t too surprising since the show is in it’s seventh season.  Heck, everyone’s numbers are down this season.  American Idol is still number one and is still pulling in 25 million viewers a week so don’t believe for one second that Idol is going off the air anytime soon.  The rumors that the show is on it’s last legs are greatly exaggerated. 

However, the rumors that Fox is looking to tweak the show are not exaggerated.  After all, the viewer numbers are still down and the show will be entering it’s eight season next year.  Even those of us who watch the show are getting a little fed up with some of the things we’ve seen year after year and are wishing for a few changes.

Ben Grossman over at Broadcasting & Cable got his hands on a 10 page online market research survey Fox put into play last week that gives us a good idea of the kinds of things Fox is looking at.  And the answer to that is pretty much everything.

It appears like they may have a special interest in changing up the audition and Hollywood rounds.  I found this surprising as those rounds have been some of the more entertaining.  One of the questions they’re asking is: “Suppose the first few weeks of American Idol started in Hollywood with flashbacks of the auditions; would that increase or decrease your enjoyment of American Idol?â€Â?  What?

I guess I see what they’re going for there.  They’re thinking they could spend more time concentrating on the people who actually make it through because we’d see them in Hollywood and then we’d sort of “meet them” in flashbacks.  It’s not an altogether bad idea, but I’m not sure how it would play to the middle American idiots who stand in line for three days to make fools of themselves in front of the judges by wearing costumes and singing worse than a tone deaf Tasmanian Devil.  Would they even make it on the air?  It would be fine with me if they didn’t.

There’s also questions asking about Ryan Seacrest and the judges: Is there too much Ryan?  Not enough Ryan?  Are the judges (Simon) too negative?  Do you like the banter between the judges?  Etc.  Not that those questions matter.  Fox has already stated that Ryan and the judges aren’t going anywhere.  The show will continue with all four of them right where they’re at.  (They might think about sobering Paula up a bit, though.)

Several of the questions ask for new ideas.  We’ve had some of our own here at Pop Critics.  Getting rid of theme weeks altogether is at the top of my list.  It’s pointless.  Quit trying to get me to buy Neil Diamond CDs and try harder to make a good show.  Let the contestants pick whatever song they want in whatever style and let the chips fall where they may.  If America doesn’t like their style then they’ll vote them out.  Who knows, maybe we’ll get a really good reggae singer who couldn’t possibly hope to win singing Dolly Parton but who might do just fine by singing reggae songs every week.

So, what do you think?  What are your ideals for making Idol better?  What do you like and dislike about the show the way it is now?  Are you really going to stop watching after this season if it stays the same?  Am I?

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Viewing 13 Comments

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    My 10 Ideas

    1. Stop trying to create the next Clay Aiken by having the contestants sing songs that were lame when they first came out 30-50 years ago and Diane Warren-esque pap.

    2. Play up the reality show angle by showing the contestants backstage and so forth.

    3. Those group sings are ultra-lame. Dump them!

    4. Dump Simon. He's too in love with bland, uber-commercial, music and overly critical of edgy performances.

    5. Dump Paula. That woman is too messed up to be on stage.

    6. Keep Randy. He's cool and knows the music industry well.

    7. Keep Ryan. He's a good MC although the Simon banter is tiresome at times.

    8. The flashbacks idea sounds good although trainwreck auditions should still be a major part.

    9. Idol Gives Back, noble idea but zzzzzzzzzz.

    10. Elimination immunity. Judges can give one contestant a week immunity from elimination.

    Frank Cs last blog post..OpTempo Ramblings
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    I disagree with the "do the songs of somebody from way back" BJs they've been giving, but I think theme weeks of 60s/70s/80s/90s would still be appropriate. Put them slightly out of their element, but not necessarily so awkwardly. "Here, kiss ass to this no longer terribly relevant star."

    Paula can still be stupidly positive, but if she were less stupid and more coherent that'd be a plus. She's IMHO useless, but still a part of the show.

    They might get some mileage out of whatever they do to prepare for the week. Coaching, that sort of stuff.
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    @ Frank - I like the idea of the reality angle...once you have a top 12, show a little bit of them off the stage. Those little interviews are lame.

    @ Robert - I too like the decade theme shows...I think they need to keep 'em.
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    Well, we know the judges aren't going anywhere. I think the producers definitely should give them some directions, though. If Paula is going to be a judge then she needs to actually say something worthwhile. I don't agree that Randy is better than Simon. I think Simon usually gets it closer to right then Randy does.

    Frank, I think you're idea of letting the judges give immunity to one contestant each week would either be really awesome or a total train wreck. I think they'd have to maybe say it couldn't be the same contestant two weeks in a row or something. Plus, it would have to be only one contestant chosen by a vote of all three judges. It would be interesting to see if they'd use it to save their favorite or save the ones they think might be in danger when they shouldn't be for some reason.

    I HATE theme weeks - yes, even the decade ones. It's the same problem. It happens every year. They make them sing songs from the 60s then tell them they sound "old-fashioned." I don't see the point. Well, I do because I know they do it for the older audience, but it's still a problem.

    They're already talking about doing Idol Gives Back every two years or something (assuming the show keeps going that long). A better idea, but the show still sucks.

    I agree that the reality part of the show would be interesting but I know the producers think it's pretty important to shield the contestants from a lot of stuff so I don't know that we'll ever see them hanging out at their apartments or whatever. Still, the little interviews are pretty sorry.

    I'd also say to dump the stupid call in questions. It's awful.
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    Broadcast the vote numbers, and dont let fox do it, have Quest or whatever phone compnay is tallying the results, or make it an independent 3rd party thats comes on with a sealed envelope and gives the result #'s of each contestant.

    Make the shows shorter in length, we dont need an hour of ads for the results, just get to it...

    Agree with the above, let them pick their own songs... see if people will vote out the likes of a cheesy same after same week sounding Archuletta, or the variable talent of a David Cook...
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    I am all for them picking their own songs. no issue when Idol requires them to pick from a certain decade. however, the requirements of picking from a specific artist has clearly run its course.
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    I think the banter has gone too far. I'm sure they allow this to an extent because they have to fill so much fluff in each show. Which is also why they will never shorten up episodes or stop dragging out audition weeks. That's one of the main problems of the show... everything is dragged out so long that by this time of the season, you just want it to be over and see who wins.
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    I like the theme weeks of 60s/70s/80s/90s. I'd like to see the mentors that're chosen be more relevant, though. Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond, Sir Weber? Those folks are nice, but c'mon! Let's get some mentors in there who've even had a song on the radio or an album that more than 12 people bought in the past two decades.

    Sadly, I find Ryan's insights to typically be more worthwhile than Randy's crap. Enough of the "Yo, check it dawg." crap. The guy obviously knows a little about the biz so why doesn't more of his expertise come through in his commentary?

    Paula needs to cut back on the pumping of sunshine up everybody's ass! She only rarely offer constructive commentary. More often it's lame platitudes like, "You're authentic in the you-ness of you and that's what we love about the YOU you." C'mon! Step up to plate and tell these contestants what they need to hear.

    I actually like Simon's commentary most of the time. Sure, he's harsh, but more often than not, he's right on. He does tend to get blinded by the cutesy little kids like David Archuleta, though.

    I'd like to see some effort put into dampening the effect of the prepubescent 13 year old girls who routinely skew the results so horribly but I'm not sure what the fix would be...

    Rob O.s last blog post..Shut Down For a Day on Shutdown Day
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    What if we voted for who we wanted OUT?
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    I agree with the Cap'n, publish the results. It feels fixed or like they're at least hiding something when they don't let us know what's really going on.

    Here's another idea; less is more. Limit the results show to 30 mins, dump all the filler and group sing and let's just get to it. Sometimes too much or good thing isn't, that's def the case with Idol.

    Scotty Dubs last blog post..Casual Dress Friday; Mr Mom
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    Here are my ideas.

    They should have the show be an hour long when they sing, and a commercial break on Wednesdays to say who got canned.

    Lets all vote for who we want OFF. That is definitely a great idea. Good job, Jason. That way the one who sucks the most gets the boot.

    Paula needs to find a drug that will make her understandable to the American Audience.

    The banter btwn Simon and Ryan is dull. They just need to get a room already.

    Cut the stupid theme weeks. Let them sing what they WANT to sing.
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    @AnaDVR (that still cracks me up everytime btw) LOL.."Paula needs to find a drug that will make her understandable to the American Audience."... perhaps Paula should be singing Hewey Lewis, I want a new drug.... (now isnt song stuck in your head?)
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    Perhaps. That'll keep her busy until she has to give her prewritten critiques.

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