American Idol
Three, 7:30pm Tuesday and Wednesday
How long does something have to have been away before you can call it a comeback? Not very long at all if the American Idol “revival” is anything to go by. The latest season arrives on Three this Tuesday and Wednesday, just a shade under two years after the last one wrapped in the US.
To be fair, it has switched networks in that time (from Fox to ABC) and comes with an all-new set of judges: Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and country star Luke Bryan are behind the desk, while perennial host Ryan Seacrest has managed to hold on to his job. Season 16 offers little in the way of change in format from the previous 15 — this is the same old Idol we loved in its early-2000s heyday, got a bit sick of and eventually forgot was even still a thing.
As always, you come for the trainwrecks and stay for the emotional journeys. In a novel twist, this season’s biggest trainwreck isn’t a hopeful but one of the judges. Pop star Katy Perry has made headlines for her strangely lecherous approach to the Idol judicial process, coming on to a couple of male singers in spectacularly sleazy fashion during the early audition episodes.
But don’t let all that distract you from the fact that American Idol is still one of the best in the business at getting you to sob uncontrollably over a performance by someone you were only introduced to three minutes earlier. This time around they hit the jackpot with 16-year-old Harper Grace.
At the age of 11 the young singer went viral after performing the “worst national anthem ever” before a nationally-televised soccer game. Going on Idol was her dream, her shot at redemption. Her audition, singing a song she wrote herself, is a reminder of the real reason we’re still watching this show 16 seasons later.