American Idol Coming of Age
Classic Rock Fan, music lover, Entertainment Writer, reality TV junkie
JAN
31
2008
American Idol- Season 7 —
Year after year, American Idol is at the top of the Nielson ratings, but it certainly wasn't always that way. We've just come to expect it. Several years ago, in 2002, before reality TV was even a known programming genre, American Idol debuted, as a summer replacement series, and it seemed to steadily build up steam. Like most reality TV at that time, it didn't sound like it would hold that much merit to look for the next superstar by having an on-air contest. Didn't we already have something like that ... called Star Search? But this was different, way different.Back then in 2002, the on-air talent behind the show only had one big name, and that was Paula Abdul. We knew her. She was Forever Our Girl, right? We were told that Randy Jackson had something to do with Journey in the 80s, and we didn't know Simon Cowell, but knew he was a part of the British version of this show. And the hosts? Some radio DJ, Ryan Seacrest, and a comedian, Brian Dunkelman.
We started turning in once in awhile to these auditions American Idol was holding across the country, and there were some really oddball ones that made us laugh. Those that the judges took notice of as well showed up in Hollywood, then were narrowed down to a semi-final thirty. Appearing in groups of ten, three finalists were voted through by the audience, with the judges providing the tenth as a wild card, in this case RJ Helton, after a fight between Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell. Some things never change.
With their final ten in place, American Idol moved on to the final rounds. They were in a different studio and now had a backup band, instead of just the piano accompaniment. Genres of music were given to the singers each week, such as Motown or Burt Bacharach, and stars began to shine. While Simon had told a young waitress, Kelly Clarkson in the semi-final rounds that he didn't remember her from her audition, he was remembering her now. The ladies couldn't seem to get enough of the mop-headed Justin Guarini, and eventually the season boiled down to them as the final two. The other eight finalists were brought back for the finale and all joined in some medleys on the stage. By the end, the winner of the million dollar record contract was Kelly Clarkson.
Five winners followed, and with the non-winners releasing CDs also doing well, even winning Oscars, it didn't matter so much about winning anymore. You just wanted to make the final 10 to go on tour and hopefully be seen and heard.
Now in its seventh season, American Idol has had some changes, although limited. Heading into what should be its golden years, it's still going strong, and so are the on-air talent, despite rumors to the otherwise. However, they dumped Dunkelman and made a name for Seacrest as a single host. As the jokes goes, he seems to host everything on TV these days.
The audition phase of the series has metamorphosed a few different times. Soon, the producers realized we loved the bad auditions, in the same way we slow down to watch a traffic accident. But by last year, the meanness seemed to overrule the silliness, and the show received some backlash. This year it's clear the judges are trying to reverse what people were beginning to think of them, being mean to people on purpose, as even with the most silly auditions, they still seem to honor those that came out. However, it's somehow not as exciting to watch the auditions that way.
While the only thing American Idol contestants in the Hollywood round had in season one was a lone piano, now they are allowed starting this season to play their own instruments. And now the contestants move much publicly from the semi-finals to the finals. Instead of putting them out there in groups and letting us decide, the final 24 is broken down into male and female, and we vote them out each week just as we do in the finals. Of course, with that type of production, a lone piano isn't enough, and they have the full band playing behind them, even at this early stage. Another change is that we've been promised that the show will spend significant time introducing us to the contestants, as well as their voices, and we'll see less of the "mentors," pretty much putting us right back to season one. And just maybe, we'll find the next Kelly Clarkson.
American Idol- Season 7 is recommended by LauraBelle
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