Crowning a new ‘Idol’
Competition freshens itself up for landmark season
Turning 12 is a heck of a milestone.
For a person, it marks just one more birthday to go until they leave childhood behind and take the big, scary step to becoming a teenager.
For a TV show, it’s an even bigger deal — few shows can even dream of making it to this ripe old age, and even fewer last for much longer as their momentum and originality fade along with their youth.
American Idol is one of the success stories. Launching its 12th season on Wednesday, Jan. 16 on Fox and CTV, it may be feeling a little bit of extra pressure to perform. It’s not the only kid on the block anymore — younger singing competitions The Voice and The X Factor (which just wrapped up their third and second seasons, respectively) have each carved out their own television territory in a genre that was once firmly dominated by Idol.
Idol’s 11th season, which crowned Georgia’s Phillip Phillips as its champion last May, saw the musical juggernaut slip out of its long-held position as the most popular show on prime time, slumping to the lowest ratings in the series’ history.
But Idol hasn’t been idle in the months since America chose Phillips as its idol. While the show’s foundations remain in place, new coats of paint have been put up in a bid to refresh and revitalize this granddaddy of talent shows. Whether its slide was attributed to less-thanpopular judges, a duo of scandalous controversies or just a tired pool of talent (or a combination of all three), a flurry of refreshing changes await lapsed Idol fans, who may find it tricky to avoid being drawn back into the fold.
The most obvious of these fresh coats of paint are the new judges being brought into the Idol fold. Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler have vacated their seats at the judges’ table, but series veteran Randy Jackson (the only judge who’s been around since the first season) will be part of a slightly bigger f amily with not two, but three new judges moving in.
Aussie country singer Keith Urban joins Jackson in what could be seen as a strategic move to counter The Voice. That rival program has its own country star, popular coach Blake Shelton.
Also joining Jackson at the judges’ table are superstar songstress Mariah Carey and rapper Nicki Minaj. Together, this foursome has been travelling across the country, witnessing auditions and providing helpful (and oftentimes biting) advice and criticism to young hopefuls.
As in seasons past, auditions were held in major cities all across America. Countless young men and women turned out to throw themselves at the judges’ mercy, all with the same dream of becoming an American Idol. New this year is the American Idol Small Town Audition Bus Tour, an event that hit up 10 smaller cities around the country to give aspiring pop stars who couldn’t make it to one of the big cities a chance to realize their dreams.
Another novel way of auditioning this year was something called Nominate an Idol. This casting call encouraged family and friends to go online and upload a video of young talent — perhaps without the subject even knowing that he or she was auditioning for American Idol. Those lucky enough to be chosen will be paid a surprise visit by a camera crew to give them a chance to advance to the next round of the competition.
Ryan Seacrest, fresh from his New Year’s Eve hosting duties, returns once again to host American Idol.
The controversy for this season? Months before its première, whispers of on-set conflict also began to leak out. Rumours were swirling that judges Carey and Minaj weren’t getting along during the auditions, with videos surfacing of the two of them in a heated argument.