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American Idol: Can This Show Be Saved?
I just posted a blog for the first time in ages without doing it in Word and pasting it over. It posted and then disappeared so I’m re-writing. If the other shows up later, I apologize.
What I tried to say was that although I am a huge Idol fan and have watched every season, and while I acknowledge that this season had some of the best talent ever, I was bored. And I wasn’t the only one. The ratings stayed high but there was a noticeable drop from last season.
I watched the show live last night and wanted to pull my hair out. It could have been done in a tightly edited half hour without all the bloat.
I was touched by David Cook and Syesha being moved to tears by the support of their hometown fans, but I honestly cared nothing about seeing the hometown visits.
The group song was bad. It didn’t even sound like them when they were singing together.
I love Fantasia but had no interest in seeing her at all. Last night was about finding out who was in the finale.
The only thing that interested me last night (except for who was going to the finals) was Ryan getting after Simon for showing too much chest. He said something to Paula about buttoning him up and I just didn’t get it. A little chest hair has never scared me, but the extreme boobage of Ms. Abdul looked like it was about to escape her low cut dress and pop out right there on the desk.
In the end, Syesha went home and she wasn’t distraught or surprised. It will be David vs. David next week and I am looking forward to the finale.
But what can be done for next season? I’m looking forward to hearing your ideas. Here are mine.
***
Only do two audition shows. Show a good mix of who got through and who was a mess. Too much of anything (stupid auditioners) isn’t funny after awhile.
Spend more time in California letting us get to know those who are battling for the top 24. THAT is the time for personal stories and letting us see who is working hard and who is hardly working. Which kids practice to all hours and which ones party? Let us care about the people who make it to the big stage.
Let the kids sing entire songs.
Get rid of the mentors. Period. Let the artists find some other way to promote their new albums. Don’t take up our time with it.
Keep the results shows to a half hour.
No more cross promotion. If companies want to advertise, make them buy commercial time. And no more movie plugs either.
AND AS FOR THE JUDGES:
Paula is a train wreck and that’s part of the fun so leave her alone.
Randy needs to stop all the “dawg” talk and judge. He needs to stop waiting until Simon starts cutting someone off at the knees to yell how he really feels down the table. Of all the judges, Mr. Jackson is the most expendable.
All three judges need to be banned from getting on the kids for singing Whitney, Mariah, etc. They need to judge the performances and not get after them for daring to sing something “so well known”, etc. They are to judge the Idols, not compare them to other recordings.
So, what are your suggestions?
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May 15, 2008 8:22 AM
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This is actually my 3rd attempt to post.
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May 15, 2008 8:23 AM
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I can't seem to make a post take, so this might not show. I'll try.
I think, Vickie, all your suggestions are good ones. They need to do something. I think mentors might be good, but not the way they do it now - find real ones not just pimping a new song with a real interest in the kids. I hate the theme thing, actually. Either lose the themes or make them more flexible.
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May 15, 2008 9:07 AM
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I don't know if or when this will show up.
The site is all fouled up today.
Check your messages, you may have PMs that belong to other members in your in box.
Don't read them, just click on the next page, and they'll all disappear.
Yeah, last night's episode was painful and I watched maybe 5 minutes of it total. Thank god for DVR and FF!
My suggestion is when the season starts to show more good auditions or the people who make it to Hollywood. That way, all the people who make the Top 24 get some early air time. Add a third show that just has all the bad auditions. That episode will probably get them the highest ratings.
Once in Hollywood, show more of that week. Maybe 2 two hour shows, or 3 one hour shows. Again, this way the people in the Top 24 are ALL people that we've seen. This year, 4 of the guys (including Jason Castro) had never had air time until the Top 24.
Once into the Top 24, don't make any changes. Let the kids sing whatever they want. The only change might be to let each of the singers sing 3 minutes, instead of 1.5 minutes, and expand the show to 2 hours. I'll watch 2 hours of AI as long as it isn't all fluff and filler.
Once into the Top 12, let the kids sing at least 3 minutes. Make the show 90 minutes. Results night, eliminate the group sing (always terrible) and any fluff and filler. Make the results show 30 minutes. With 90 minutes on performance night, and 30 minutes on results night, they're STILL getting 120 minutes of AI on the air, but it's better used.
Once they get to the Top 5 or 6, let them sing the whole song. As far as mentors, keep it down to one or 2 CURRENT SUPERSTARS. Eliminate theme nights associated with decades or particular artists. Theme nights could be Rock, Country, R&B, Broadway, Standards, Songs from the 2000s, and then have them do Top 100 Hits every other week. That way, it's much more "current."
This year, they had waaay too many "old" theme nights and the shows were bloated with filler. I also think the kids didn't argue with the judges, which makes it bland (I hate that if the kids talk back they get voted out,) and the 2 David's stood out so early that it made it kinda boring since it seemed obvious how it was gonna end.
Here's hoping that next week they make a finalé like 2 years ago. Last year's was so so, but 2006 was great!
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May 15, 2008 9:31 AM
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Hi Cinder, What a mess this morning! I did have about 6 copies of this up and I tried to delete and they wouldn't go but now as I came back to check, I was down to two! That's much better  I've tried to post to Darclyte's blog and it didn't take at the time. I'll have to try again. I wouldn't mind mentors if they were really vocal coaches or such. I always thought Barry Manilow did a good job with the kids. Something new would be nice though.
Hi Darclyte, I like your ideas (boy this site is messed up, isn't it?) I like your ideas for theme nights and results shows too. I'd watch longer shows if they did them better. I'm hoping for a great finale this year too! I think you have the best suggestions I've read for the show. Maybe we ought to forward them to FOX and the Idol producers!
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May 15, 2008 9:54 AM
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Hi Vickie Jean:
I have so many rants, that I don't where to begin.
First of all, I think that Syesha should definitely pursue performing in either a movie musical or Broadway. She isn't AI material. Having said that, she didn't stand a chance in making it into the Final Two. She did the best that she could and was able to showcase her talents, with beauty and class.
It was clear that Randy was backing David A. for the Final Two and Simon was backing David C. for the Final Two. I'm with Simon. David C. is more original and marketable. I feel that David C. will have a very successful career.
David A. has a shorter shelf life, as he has mostly tweens and older women as his fans. He may go the "Clay Aiken" route and find a lot of success. Unfortunately, David A. has to deal with a "Stage Daddy", who may end up causing more harm to Little Davy's career, than good.
I'm thankful to God that Syesha didn't make the Final Two. Could you imagine how much hatred this girl would've faced if she had knocked one of the David's out of the competition? She would've been boo'd off the stage.
The producers and the judges saddled Syesha with two clunkers of a song. An Alisha Keyes song? That's a no-no. Alisha's songs are in the sanctimonious group with Celine, Whitney and Mariah songs. And Syesha had to sing that crazy song from "Happy Feet", that I'm sure most of us haven't heard of. Like I said before, I'm thankful that Syesha's been eliminated.
Why am I so angry? Because they made that poor girl stand out there for an hour, only to tell her what she already knew!!!! This show should've only been a half-hour long. And did you see the look on Simon's face when Fantasia was performing? Priceless!!!
Rant over.
I loved both your and Darclyte's suggestions about how to improve AI next season. I also want to say that my favorite mentors so far are Barry Manilow and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. It's because they both gave good suggestions concerning song choice and were honest with their assessments of the contestants' singing abilities.
Thank you Vickie Jean, for another great blog and a place for me to air out my grievances.
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May 15, 2008 10:42 AM
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I couldn't agree with you more.
You are head on with all your comments.
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May 15, 2008 10:53 AM
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Once more, this may or may not show. Glad my last post did.
I thought Syesha was the epitome of grace last night. I certainly wish her well.
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May 15, 2008 11:07 AM
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Vickie, Just wanted to let you know that we've fixed the problems that were causing difficulty for you and everyone else here. Basically, it was an attempt to speed up things here that went astray. Things should be fixed now. Sorry for the inconvenience this caused you and everyone responding to you.
David
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May 15, 2008 11:14 AM
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Ha! I love you David, but it's not fixed yet. It's 11:18 est and I've tried to post twice to Vickie's blog and it hasn't shown up yet.
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May 15, 2008 11:19 AM
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Hi Vickie! I agree that it's difficult to watch the bloated, boring results shows. I'm sure they stretch them to get the advertising dollars, but they are seriously boring and I wouldn't even watch except this year there was nothing else on at that time for me.
I do enjoy the mentors, but not because they are so helpful in teaching the kids something. With the rare exception, they usually don't try. It's just entertaining to watch the contestants struggle with a genre that isn't their comfort zone.
If I'm bored next season, I'm going to start a tally of how many times Randy says "Check it out" and "Dawg", Paula says "You are unique" and "True to yourself", and Simon says "That was abolutely horrible" and "If I'm going to be honest with you".
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May 15, 2008 11:27 AM
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My comments seem to be "sticking" now. 
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May 15, 2008 11:29 AM
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Hi Vickie Jean - I tried posting earlier and couldn't so saved what I was posting and wrote David Flores (who is AMAZING, he emailed me back and said it was FIXED and to let him know whether my posting worked SO am JUST posting this note and will see if it works & let him know before finding my earlier blog. Your FIRST blog appears UNDER this one and has a couple of comments I haven't read yet). Here's posting for TEST.
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May 15, 2008 11:33 AM
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OK, here's my copy - OH and you know the "Vickie JEAN" or NOT to use the "Jean" part? Completely unconnected but MY full first/middle name is Dorothy JEAN, though use the initial in stationery and not otherwise and NEVER thought of that when I first asked whether or not to use it for you.
COPY - because I hate writing and losing - Hey Vickie Jean, your earlier post DID post, under this one, but it's got no comments on it so I came back to the first one I'd read to comment, but do check them both out.
The show WAS fill last night. Pure and simple. Know we ALL wanted to cut to the chase and find out who was eliminated, but know they're NOT going to give up a one hour show.
Fantasia left me cold last night. Couldn't understand a lot of what she was singing, and that hair? Go girl at least you've got guts!
Liked the hometown stuff for the humanity each of the Idols showed, and to see that their whole town was supporting them and that they had THAT before finding out which one was to go.
Like your suggestions, but I may be one of the few who enjoy the mentoring bits. Maybe not all of the people chosen, but in the main I DO like the idea. Maybe they should just tighten it up and do it better, and sure the people on are going to be plugging their latest albums but I think it's a good write off, great way to guarantee getting somebody hot to take the time to mentor the group. ESPECIALLY at the beginning when they have so many "artists" to sit with, and I think they do help them out. Being there helps them out.
I'm glad to have the two Davids, though Syesha gave it great class, and know she's going to make it big inspite of this. In fact expect the "non winner" to probably come out of it even better than the winner, because hasn't that happened in the past?
On with the games - and HOPE they BOTH do their best - because I'm NOT making up my mind on which one I want to have win until I see the show.
Another one will bite the dust - why am I happy to see them ALL go?? SO MANY "must watch" TV shows I was getting exhausted, and I didn't have to write about them like you did! But boy has it been fun reading and commenting!! You are THE BEST!
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May 15, 2008 11:39 AM
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My middle name is Jean too. Maybe there is greater significance here.... nah!
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May 15, 2008 11:42 AM
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