Ugh, and Double Ugh, peeps.
Simon Cowell told reporters in a conference call yesterday, that now that Nigel Lythgoe has stepped down from executive producing American Idol, he plans on taking a larger role in the show himself .
From Access Hollywood:
“You must never depend on one person. I don’t think we would have had the success initially without Nigel but we are onto our eighth season. It feels like it’s going to be a different show this year because of it and we will see whether that’s an advantage or a negative.â€
With Nigel there it became too much of a crowd and he is a very good producer but I think now he has stepped down I probably will get more involved. I already have to be honest with you.â€
File that under “Be Careful What You Wish For.” Nigel! Come back!
More, (much more, I’m having a hard time shutting up on this subject) after the JUMP…
And, Oh! Boy! Simon’s got some great ideas! NOT.
“I started to get bored because of the middle sections of the show because we had 24 people. By the time we hit say, show five of the live show I felt I had known them for years. The other problem was that they were so media savvy, these contestants, that they never showed us, or you, their true personality. In parts they were like robots. I didn’t know much more about them at the end then I did at the beginning. I think it could be just more interesting and controversial than we did last year and that will change.â€
I’d like to see the middle stages of the show change because I think we can make them better. I think we can make the end part of the show much more exciting than we have done before and we have got some ideas which are definitely going to give the show a little bit more jeopardy than we have had in the past. You are definitely, definitely going to see a change to the show and I think it will be an improvement. I feel confident.â€
Here’s the deal. When Nigel announced that he stepped down as executive producer of American Idol, there was much celebrating in Idol-ville. Some saw this as an opportunity to improve the show, and there were pundits making lists of things to change. Initially, I said it was a good thing that Nigel stepped down, particularly if his heart wasn’t in it, and that perhaps new blood could re-invigorate a program that’s been showing signs of age.
Lately, however, I’ve been less confident that Nigel’s departure would bring all sorts of wonderful changes to American Idol. Watching my first season of So You Think You Can Dance certainly influenced my change of heart. SYTYCD is smart, entertaining, current. The participants, including Nigel, love the art and are passionate about promoting dance in popular culture. The judges are, for the most part, articulate and knowledgeable. There’s some manipulation, but not nearly as much in American Idol. There’s very little cannon fodder at the start of the Top 20. The music selections the routines are set to are imaginative and current. There’s plenty of behind-the-scenes footage that allows the viewing audience to get to know the dancers. Sure, there’s a mosh pit, but it doesn’t interfere with the performances.
All the elements American Idol fans dislike in AI are mostly absent in So You Think You Can Dance–a show Nigel Lythgoe created and executive produced. So who’s the bad guy here? I suspect it’s not Nigel.
Compare the impeccable So You Think You Can Dance to America’s Got Talent, the show Simon Cowell executive produces. Strip everything that’s dumb and crude out of American Idol–the horrible auditions, the manipulation, the fake backstories–and that’s AGT in a nutshell. Simon is all about the lowest common denominator, hence the presence of tabloid king Jerry Springer as master of ceremonies and the so-called “4th judge”–studio audiences that are directed to boo and cheer on cue. The talent is mediocre, but the talent isn’t the point. Contestants are heavily hyped on their backstories, which are typically filled with all sorts of tragedy and bad luck. Awful.
Unfortunately, America’s Got Talent has had higher ratings this summer than So You Think You Can Dance. Sadly, therein lies the rub.Simon’s criticisms of the current AI? He says the contestants lack “personality” and are too “media savvy”. Seriously? It’s the savvy contestants who survive to the end. Idol audiences expect their Idols to be humble, charming and gracious. Behavior that’s anything less gets your ass booted quick. Talking back to Simon is almost an instant ticket off the show. Better to reign it in than risk eviction.
Simon is certainly aware that contestants are caught between a rock and a hard place. I suspect that some of this so called “jeopardy” Simon wants to introduce would take the form of reality-show type stunts designed to provoke the contestants into turning on each other or breaking down in some way during the live broadcasts. Simon says he wants controversy. Watching Idols wig out and get nasty is not my idea of fun. Idol isn’t Big Brother. Viewers like the contestants, they don’t enjoying watching them treated badly. Simon’s way off the mark, here.
Considering AGT’s massive suckitude, and Simon’s misguided criticisms of the show, I can’t imagine he’s got any ideas that could possibly improve American Idol.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall during those Idol post-show production meetings last year. I imagine massive disagreements–Nigel Lythgoe gone after taking the relative high road. His departure–not exactly a victory for Idol. Hey, I could be wrong, but that’s what I’m thinking.
I’ll say one last thing, as this post has become ridiculously long. The producers had an easy way to allow viewers to see the Idols’ personalities last year. How about taking the cute video bits featured on American Idol Extra, broadcast on the obscure Fox Reality channel, and featuring them during results shows instead? I was entertained by these bits, and learned more about the individual Idols’ personalities than I did from anything I saw in prime time. Check them out, here, here and here. So much better than lame viewer phone calls, don’t you think? Just a thought!
Is it possible that Nigel was the one holding the show back? Could it be he wanted his other project to be more successful? Could it be that maybe Simon stepping in is a good thing?
My suggestions, some stolen from Canadian Idol:
1. Get back to the half hour result show - now word was this is going to happen already and I applaud that change.
2. You can do group numbers that are not cheesy - see Canadian Idol results show - some of us were discussing this and we think the cheesy dance numbers were on the insistence of Nigel the Dance Man Lithgoe.
3. Let the contestants sing longer than one minute and 30 seconds, again on Canadian Idol they get at least 2 minutes 30 I believe, more time to prove their chops and it seems they get more time as the numbers dwindle,
I would let the poor kids do at least 3 minutes and just cut the blather.
4. I would love someone to have the guts to let the Idols do original songs one week and the coronation song, while improved from years past, just has to be something less cheesy - not sure what the options are there but something has to be done.
I will say that on the whole the Ford Commercials were actually very well done and highly amusing - the result of a young hip director and smart on Ford’s part to retain same. Could be hard to match next year.
I’ll have to disagree here. I think it was reported in every major entertainment magazine, and the issue got a lot of press. Just about every dj on a top 40 radio station that reports on idol talked about it the next morning. I think it’s the single largest amount of buzz Idol has received in years.
There’s a reason that Simon and the show felt the need to issue statements that Paula wasn’t being fired.
I don’t think so. Nigel loves success. I don’t think he’d ever deliberately sabatoge any of his shows. AI has made Nigel a very rich man. I’m sure just like with any other show-runner, he made decisions thinking they’d work. Some did, some didn’t. But, I believe they were all made to make the show more successful, regardless of how they eventually turned out.
And Lavender1960, I’m totally with you on the 1/2 hour results show. There’s no need for it to ever be longer than that. I also agree that giving them another 30 seconds to sing would be a great idea.
I’m also in the camp with everyone else that they should get the opportunity to sing more current songs. I think with obvious iTunes magic that AI can work on a single, we’ll see more current artists releasing their songs for the contestants. Idol is such a huge money-maker that really, unless an artist is adamantly opposed to having their song on AI, 19 should be able to afford any rights they want.
I say if all of the artists today have no qualms about releasing their songs to 10 year olds for that horrid Kidzbop cd, they can’t all of a sudden find their artistic integrity to say no to idol.
When I read Simon’s comments about controversy I keep thinking about the moment in the show when he told someone - and I can’t remember who - that the other idols were not his/her friends not matter what he/she thought ( I think it was a he and probably Cook since that’s usually who I paid attention to.) The contestant sort of brushed it off like saying “yes, they are” which seemed to irritate Simon. Given that the top ten at least of S7 do seem to get along very well, could Simon be trying to prove his point by trying to create tension between the participants? He is right in that controversy sells but Idol seems to be doing well enough without stirring this particular pot. I’d hate to think the contestants are going to have to do something like vote against the weakest link or something.
Simon’s others US shows are horrible. But he’s pretty savvy about creating buzz and the S8 needs buzz. The Davids finale got great ratings but S7 showed overall erosion. Plus they’re losing the younger audience they care about.
I think they need to revamp/shorten the auditions. Make Hollywood week twice/three times as long and go back to groups. Hwood week is my favorite because you pick up on the personalities. I like the “green mile” myself.
I also think dropping the top 24 format isn’t a bad idea. They need to jazz up the middle with double eliminations, voting people back into, something.
They need to find a perfect combo of reality TV and talent show. I’m actually a bit interested to see how they change the show up although they’ll probably ruin in.
I’m sure everyone has a Season they think is the ultimate one. I’ll still go with S5 because it was Idol’s ratings peak (so far) and had the best combination of interesting personalities and talent I’ve seen yet. But finding the compelling back story plus legit talent that Daughtry, Elliott, Pickler etc. had ain’t easy.
I dont think the length of the results show was the problem just the content. I look forward to Idol each year and would even enjoy a 2 hour result show as long as it was filled with interesting bits about each Idols background, videos such as the ones MJ suggested. Or, the making of the Ford videos - just cut the phone in answers and less focus on the judges - more on the Idols. Make the results show entertaining and fun and I would love to see more of it not less, it only comes around a few months a year and I am so sad to see it end. OMG I hope Simon doesnt make it like Americas Got Talent, that I refuse to watch. I am afraid Simon will continue with the dum theme shows from years gone by, opera and so on. He admits he hates country and never really got the folksies as much - I sure hope it isnt all up to him.
The thing that I love about Idol is something that even Simon can’t control. I love the unexpected. The contestant that comes out of nowhere. The contestant that Idol is not expecting and there is absolutely nothing they can do to stop them. The contestant that causes such a sweeping wave of support across the nation that it is a beautiful thing to watch. I LOVE when Idol is outsmarted, outplayed and does not get the winner it wants to fufill their current marketing strategy.
It’s a good thing, lol.
Okay, how about this? Simon can create a separate reality show with a house full of 24 fans, one representing each of the top 24. They will live there for the entire AI season, but each week the fan of the idol that gets voted off will have to leave. Hubby’s idea. LOL. I think perhaps it may be easier to get the fans to go after each other than the actual idols themselves.
Ohhhhhh, my bad, totally forgot about that. I think that was the first show, and the procedure was different? Wracking my brain and coming up blank, but I do remember he didn’t have to sing an INXS tune until fairly late in the game.
And to segue back to the original topic, as long as there’s talk of improvements, can they get the House Band from Rock Star? Those guys were kickass musicians, and, well, really hot. (Yeah, I know, it will never happen.) I would love more current music, though, and original songs. Again, probably not what Simon has in mind.
Like Ziggy said:
Season 5: Taylor Hicks!
MJ, Simon told the Mirror that he was eliminating all the sob stories from his TV shows and moving back to focus on pure talent
http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/latest/2008/08/24/x-factor-simon-cowell-says-stop-all-the-sobbing-115875-20710175/