American Idol: America Got It Right With Choice of Candice Glover

Candice Glover is the new American Idol of Season 12.

It has been evident since the Final 10 were chosen by judges, that Candice Glover was the best singer among those singers in the Final 10.

American Idol fans confirmed that she was the best, by choosing her as the new American Idol for Season 12. The only surprise would have been if Candice had not won. Kree Harrison finished second and Angie Miller was third in Season 12. I look for Kree and Angie to have successful careers, but Candice should have her first album released long before either of them, since her album should be in stores for months, before Kree and Angie release their albums.

The producers are smart to release the first album of Candice much sooner than usual. Most albums by the current American Idol are not released till November, so the summer release will let fans of Candice have her music, in their MP3 players and phones sooner rather than later, plus many albums should be sold on the American Idol tour this summer.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=frankie+valli+on+american+idol+finale&view=detail&mid=DE2CA8D5E78046F9CAD9DE2CA8D5E78046F9CAD9&first=0&FORM=NVPFVR.

There were many guest artists on the finale, but none of them came close to matching Frankie Valli and him singing with the five guys on I Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You and Grease. Valli commanded the stage like giants of entertainment do when they enter the spotlight. Valli turned 79 earlier this month and was born a year before Elvis Presley. Valli has been singing since 17, which was 62 years ago.

Aretha Franklin also sang but her singing didn’t have the impact of Valli, since she was singing from New York, but she sang some of her biggest hits, which were received well by the audience.

It was great to see Candice become the first girl  to win American Idol since Jordin Sparks won in Season 6.

Randy Jackson said his goodbyes to fans of American Idol last night. He is the only one of ten judges to remain with the show the first twelve seasons. Latest rumors say that the other three Idol judges could be leaving too, but it could be several months, before any changes to the judging panel will be announced. There are even some reports that the show could return to a three judge format.

It is too early for ratings results for the finale, but it is almost a foregone conclusion that the ratings will be the lowest for any finale in the 12 year history of the show.

The Voice Season 4 will be ending soon, then Season 5 of The Voice will return in the fall along with Season 3 of X-Factor, so three music competitions will end before American Idol returns in January.

 

 

 

 

American Idol: Candice Glover Should Be Next American Idol

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/candice-glover-performs-i-who-have-nothing/17womoku7

It will be complete shock if Candice Glover isn’t crowned as the next American Idol. The above video escalated Candice to a whole new level of excellence. Kree Harrison is a great singer, that should have a long and successful career, but she is not the singer that Candice is.

Her rendition of I Who Have Nothing the Ben E. King classic showed that she is the best singer on American Idol this season. However, her chances of winning depend on how her voting base voted last night.

American Idol needs a win by Candice, since she is a powerhouse singer, that should sell millions of records and draw thousands to her concerts. Kree may sell a lot of albums, but she will never reach the star power of Candice, who delivers the big moments in her songs, that the Idol judges are looking for.

There are rumors that Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey will not return as judges, while Randy Jackson has already announced he won’t be returning for Season 13.

Simon Fuller: Creator of American Idol

Simon Fuller the creator of American Idol was criticized last night, for the songs he chose for Candace and Kree to sing last night. Randy Jackson disliked his song choices and Ryan Seacrest interjected, that he only said that since he would be leaving the show after tonight’s finale.

Randy was wrong to even mention song choices, since Candice and Kree only sang the songs and had no part in selecting them. Why criticize the man who created the American Idol juggernaut and paid Jackson millions of dollars since the first show?

We can expect many changes in American Idol in Season 13. Another year of lower ratings demands that changes be made.

There is way too much emphasis on the celebrity of the judges, when the focus should be entirely on the contestants. Paying Mariah Carey $18 million, Nicki Minaj $12 million and Keith Urban $5 million was not able to attract viewers in larger numbers and in fact this season had the lowest ratings in the history of the show.

There are already rumors that Jennifer Lopez may return as a judge in January, but can’t see the producers signing another high salary celebrity.

I wouldn’t mind seeing some of the previous winners join the judge panel, who wouldn’t have the clout to demand huge salaries, plus they would understand better, what the contestants are experiencing during the life of the show.

Former American Idol contestants currently have albums in the Billboard 200. The Voice may be attracting more viewers, but their winners are not selling albums and downloads like winners or also-rans from American Idol. That makes American Idol the king of the singing competitions, till the other shows start producing singers that sell albums in the millions.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/idolchatter/2013/05/15/american-idol-sales-finale-week/2164287/

American Idol: Nobody Going Home

Angie Miller and Kree Harrison were Top 2 in American Idol results show in which nobody went home to get the show on schedule after judges didn’t use their save.

 

Kree Harrison had to be shocked to be in the Top 2 with Angie Miller, on the Thursday night results show on American Idol. The judges had roundly criticized her performances on Wednesday night, but evidently the judges couldn’t sway the voters into not voting for her.

It was a shock to see Candace Glover in the Bottom 2, since she had some of the best feedback from the judges on Wednesday night. Amber Holcomb also was in the Bottom 2, but that wasn’t too surprising since there was some criticism of her decision to sing MacArthur Park on Wednesday’s show.

Ryan Seacrest teased the audience by saying “And going home is no one” and then explaining the show was expecting the judges to use their save, but when they didn’t the show needed an extra week to finish on the original schedule.

According to my calculations there should be three more weeks, with the final three revealed next week, then the final two the following week and finale the third week. None of this is official so is only conjecture at this point.

Lee DeWyze, the Season 10 winner, who is probably the least recognizable winner among the 11 winners so far sang a song from his new album.

Angie Miller seems to be favorite to win American Idol.

The favorite to win Season 12 of American Idol seems to be Angie Miller, unless she falters in the remaining shows. She needs to follow the advice of the judges and Jimmy Iovine and sing while playing the piano, which seems to be the niche she needs to be in to become the next American Idol.

However, with the votes from yesterday and those cast next week anything can happen, so it is crucial for each of the remaining four contestants, to make good song choices and to perform them as flawlessly as possible.

American Idol has lost almost 5.5 million viewers since the premiere show in January. I think many fans have gone over to The Voice and don’t care to watch American Idol the next two nights. A Big Bang Theory rerun topped American Idol last week, which shows how far the ratings have tumbled this season.

Only 12.46 million viewers tuned in to the Wednesday performance show, but no results are available yet for last night’s show.

American Idol: Judges Praise Angie, Trash Kree

Candace Glover, Angie Miller, Kree Harrison and Amber Holcomb will find out who is going home next on American Idol on the results show tonight.

 

The judges may not have that much influence on American Idol voters, but if they do make a difference in the voting, then Angie Miller and Candace Glover should be in Top 2 and Kree Harrison and Amber Holcomb should be in the Bottom 2. However, we can only guess what the actual results will show, when Ryan Seacrest reveals the results tonight.

Kree Harrison got trashed, hammered and battered by the judges after she sang the Susan Tedeschi song Hurt So Bad. I was thinking how good of a job, that she had done with the song, but the judges hated her rendition of the song. It was plain to see that Kree was shocked at being attacked so mercilessly by the judges. I thought she did a creditable job on A Whiter Shade of Pale, but the judges were not impressed by that either.

Keith Urban seemed to think the one hit wonder songs should have been recorded in the last 10 years. The contestants are not mind readers and shouldn’t be expected to know what timeline the judges were wanting the songs from.

I can understand A Whiter Shade of Pale being a one hit wonder, since it was the only hit of Procol Harum, but Cry Me A River recorded by Julie London 58 years ago in 1955 would not be considered a one hit wonder, since London recorded many more albums after its release. It has been covered many times over the years, including my favorite version by Diana Krall in her Look of Love album released in 2001.

Candace received mixed reviews from the judges, while Angie received more praise, than any of the other three contestants. It would be a tremendous shock if Angie is in the bottom two and it would show that the opinions of the judges were not affecting the voting results.

Jimmy Iovine did not like Amber singing MacArthur Park, which was written by Jimmy Webb. Iovine called the song corny, probably because of the lyrics saying “Someone left a cake out in the rain and I’ll never find that recipe again” which was corny. Interesting side note about the song: Webb wrote the song after breaking up with Linda Rondstadt, since they had met many times in MacArthur Park.

Kree and Amber clearly got the worst feedback from the judges, so it looks like Angie and Candace should be the top vote-getters.

Vote For the Worst website has Kree as the one to vote for this week, which might help her stay another week. There is speculation that Ryan Seacrest’s surprise tonight may be that nobody goes home, since the judges haven’t used their save.

So the surprise may be either that the judges use their save or that Ryan will announce nobody will go home. The bad thing about that scenario is that fans cast millions of votes for nothing, so it would make sense if the judges are allowed to use the save, rather than just announce nobody will go home.

I don’t think the judges should even have judged the two group songs. The group songs are only filler anyway and it gave the judges a third chance to trash Kree. I don’t know if Kree can recover from hearing how much the judges hated her singing to become the American Idol.

There is no sense in American Idol having a two-hour show for four contestants and next week it will again be two hours for three contestants, unless the judges use their save to keep all four contestants for another week.

Next week’s show could be the next to last show of Season 12, unless everybody stays another week tonight.

Rumors have been flying around the internet that Mariah Carey might be fired, before the completion of Season 12, to boost the ratings, but those rumors seem to have been unfounded.

For a more complete recap of last night’s show:

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/04/25/american-idol-amber-holcomb-judges-argue/

 

 

American Idol: Janelle Goes Home: And Then There Were Four

Janelle Arthur received the fewest number of votes and was sent home on American Idol.

Janelle Arthur who expected to be sent home last night became the first girl to be eliminated on American Idol on Thursday night.

The judges could have saved her, but seem to be saving their save for one of the remaining four contestants. Had heard that they had to use their save by Top 5 week, but apparently they will have it at their disposal for one more week. I will be surprised if these judges will ever save anyone, as they can’t seem to agree on who is worth saving. The following article says the judges will not be allowed to use their save now:

http://www.rickey.org/american-idol-12-to-end-one-week-early-after-non-save-in-the-top-5/

Top 4 week will see Amber Holcomb, Candace Glover, Angie Miller and Kree Harrison try to extend their time on American Idol. It was surprising to see Kree in the Bottom 2, but in another way it was not surprising, since any of the four remaining contestants would make excellent American Idols.

From now on the competition should be even tougher for the contestants, since we are nearing the end of Season 12. If the save is not used Season 12 will end the second week in May. The judges will have their hands full, as they and the voters hold the fate, of the remaining contestants as the season nears its end.

Nicki Minaj and Jimmy Iovine did not see eye to eye on the merits of Amber Holcomb’s singing on Wednesday’s show.

Clay Aiken and Fantasia sang on the show last night and Paula Abdul made a surprise appearance. Paula may have not been the best judge ever, but would be an upgrade over either Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey.

American Idol continues to trail The Voice in the television ratings. The Voice has seen a spike in their ratings during the Battle Rounds. The Voice may be an excellent show, but until one of their winners makes a real mark in the music world I can’t take it too seriously. I lose interest after the blind auditions on The Voice, then watch when they get down to the live shows after the Battle Rounds are over. Worst thing is that there is such a long gap from seeing The Voice contestants in the Battle Rounds, till all the finalists from the Battle Rounds appear individually in the remaining shows.

All four of the remaining contestants on American Idol should have recording careers, plus Janelle Arthur should make it big in the world of country music.

Lazaro Arbos has some less than flattering words about one of the remaining contestants, after he went home from the show:

“I’m not gonna say names and I don’t wanna sound rude,” Lazaro told ABC News Radio backstage at Live with Kelly & Michael earlier in the week. “But I think that one woman in particular is cra-a-a-a-z-y and she wants to win!”  Lazaro would not say if the contestant was Kree, Candice, Amber, Angie or Janelle, but he thinks that she — whoever she is — needs to chill out. Big time.  “She thinks that we’re in The Hunger Games and she’s fighting for her life,” dished Lazaro about the mystery contestant. “She needs to realize that it’s not about winning: it’s about what you do after the show.” – Vote for the Worst website

Janelle was chosen by Vote For The Worst website as their choice to vote for this week. It will be interesting to see how they choose as the worst remaining contestant, now that Janelle has been eliminated.

Facts on remaining contestants:

Candace Glover – Candace is 24 and from Beaufort, South Carolina. This was her third try at American Idol having competed in Season 9 and Season 11. She made it to Las Vegas week in Season 11 and performed in a group with Season 11 finalists DeAndre Brackensick and Jessica Sanchez.

Angie Miller – Angie is 19 and from Beverly, Massachusetts. She is partially deaf and has a You Tube page with 2.8 million views.

Amber Holcomb – Amber is 19 and from Houston, Texas. She was seen in Season 11 and was in a group with Season 11 finalists Shannon Magrane and Joshua Ledet.

Kree Harrison – Kree is 23 and came from Winfield, Texas, but currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Kree’s father died in an airplane crash when she was 12 and her mother died in a car accident, when Kree was 16.

The following poll asks which of the remaining four contestants will be the Season 12 American Idol:

 

 

 

 

American Idol: Will Lazaro Arbos Go Home Thursday?

Lazaro Arbos is only remaining male contestant in Season 12 of American Idol.

 

Lazaro Arbos may be going home on Thursday night, since he is only male contestant left in Season 12. However, that is not a foregone conclusion, with him finishing in the Top 3 last Thursday night. Those in the Top 3 were not announced in a particular order, so it is conceivable that Lazaro may have even been the top vote-getter.

Lazaro may be a sentimental favorite of the voters this season, since the judges have not had many kind words about his singing during the season. Their critiques of his singing may even be helping to garner sympathy votes for Lazaro.

Janelle Arthur may even be going home next Thursday, if Lazaro isn’t sent home this week. She finished in Bottom 2 last week, so unless she steps it up next week she could be going home.

If a girl doesn’t win in Season 12, then something is very wrong with the voting procedure, since the girls are clearly much better singers than the boys this season.

If Lazaro is sent home, then it means a very talented singer will be going home the next week and every week after, till the new American Idol is announced.

Any of the remaining girls including Janelle, Amber Holcomb, Candace Glover, Angie Miller and Kree Harrison are worthy of being the next American Idol.

It will be interesting to see how American Idol fans vote in this poll, so we can see if Lazaro’s fan base can keep him on the show and send a better singer home.

 

American Idol – The Voice Ratings Battle

Season 4 of the Voice premiered with 13.64 million viewers and has increased to 13.93 million viewers on the last episode.

Meanwhile American Idol garnered more viewers, for their premiere of Season 12, with 17.93 million viewers, but last Thursday’s results show drew over 6 million less viewers, with 11.72 million watching the results show. The producers have to be concerned with the loss of that many viewers.

Evidently, viewers are tiring of the music competition genre. Television has a predilection to latch onto a hot trend and doesn’t let go of it till it fizzles out. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire was a prime example of overkill at its worst. The show did well till it was shown on more than one night a week, then withered away till where it wasn’t even shown during primetime.

Singing competitions are proliferating to the point, where summer is our only respite from the shows. However, with X-Factor and The Voice in the fall and then American Idol in January and The Voice in March we are having singing competition shows from September to May.

 

 

 

 

Will The Voice Find A Singer That Can Sell Albums?

Shakira, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Usher, judges and Carson Daly host of  Season 4 of The Voice on NBC.

The Voice has done well in the ratings, but still hasn’t come up with a winner that can sell records. Season 1 winner Javier Colon’s album Come Through For You peaked at No.134 on the Billboard 200 chart and has sold only 45,000 copies, as of late last December, more than a year after its initial release.

Season 2 winner Jermaine Paul has an album Finally that has no release date listed at Amazon.com, almost a year after he won The Voice in May of 2012.

Season 3 winner Cassidee Pope has released these singles which have sold a lot of downloads. She covered Cry a song recorded by Faith Hill and sold 81,000 copies in one week last December and debuted at No. 60 in its first week.

.Pope also recorded singles of Over You by Miranda Lambert which rose to No.25 on the Billboard Country chart and also recorded Keith Urban’s Stupid Boy which was at No.40, plus Michelle Branch’s Are You Happy Now, which was No.95. The real test for Pope will be when her first album is released later on down the road.

So the judges this season are intent on finding someone who will become a bona fide star, with name recognition something which has eluded the first three winners of The Voice.

Shakira and Usher the two one name judges seemed to have settled in well, in the first shows of Season 4.

Monday night’s show saw all four judges turn around their chairs for the Morgan Twins who sang Fallin’ and Judith Hill who sang What A Girl Wants.

Midas Whale a duo singing Folsom Prison Blues and Sarah Simmons singing One of Us sang well enough to have all four judges turn around for them on Tuesday night.

Cathia who sang “No Me Doy por Vencido” attracted the attention of Shakira, Usher and Blake Shelton and Cathia naturally chose Shakira as her mentor.

No judges turned around for six contestants on Monday night and for one of the six singers shown last night. It is heartbreaking to see a singer sing their heart out, only not to have one judge turn their chairs around. That is what gives the show credibility though, since everyone knows, that some of the singers are not ready for prime time yet.

I usually watch the Blind Auditions, then skip the Battle Rounds, since it seems to be a contest of who can sing the loudest and hit the highest notes. I then return for the individual competitions in the last weeks of the show.

The Voice may be very popular, but until they have a singer who breaks through and has national name recognition it will be known more as the show that features judges turning around in their chairs.

After all these singers are vying to win The Voice and hope to sell millions of albums, like some past winners of American Idol have done. Selling 45,000 albums in close to a year like Javier Colon is not going to help him or The Voice. That is far from the record sales of Carrie Underwood, who has sold 15 million albums, which included 7 million copies of her Some Hearts album.

For The Voice to be taken seriously as a star maker they have to come up with a star that can sell more than 45,000 albums, while an American Idol winner like Carrie Underwood has sold 15 million albums.

The Celebrity Net Worth website discloses that American Idol Season 4 winner Underwood has a  net worth of $45 million, while Season 1 American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson has a net worth of $14 million.

I will start taking The Voice more seriously, when they can produce stars of the magnitude of Underwood and Clarkson.

American Idol : Two Boys Down, Three To Go

This photo shows the Top 9 of American Idol, but Paul Jolley on the far right left the show on Thursday and became the second boy to go home.

 

It was no surprise that another boy was sent home on the results show of American Idol last Thursday. Paul Jolley became the second boy in a row, to be sent home in Season 12.

This is looking more and more like the years of the girls on American Idol. They are so much better than the boys, that if a boy wins I will be completely shocked.

I have honestly tried to like Nicki Minaj, but when she asked Paul Jolley if he was jolly, then said his song was terrible it just shows how insensitive she can be. Why say something nice about a contestant, then rip his singing in the next sentence? Nicki plays favorites and that has been clear this season. I don’t mind her criticizing the contestants, but she could do it with a little more respect.

There is no way that Amber Holcomb should have been in the bottom three, but my poll a couple of weeks ago sort of gave an indication she does not have a strong fan base.

The results of my poll from the March 13 blog shows the results, with 69 voters in the poll as of this minute:

Angie Miller – 34 votes, 49.28 percent

Candace Glover – 12 votes, 17.39 percent

Kree Harrison – 11 votes, 15.94 percent

Lazaro Arbos – 4 votes, 5.8 percent

Janelle Arthur – 4 votes, 5.8 percent

Amber Holcomb - 2 votes, 2.9 percent (Have no idea why Amber received only 2.9 percent for her 2 votes, while Curtis received 3 percent for his 2 votes.)

Curtis Finch – 2 votes, 3 percent ( Was eliminated last week)

Burnell Taylor, Devin Velez and Paul Jolley ( Was eliminated on Thursday) received no votes.)

The poll showed 5 girls in the first 6 positions.

Lazaro Arbos is being touted by Vote For the Worst website as their poster boy. They are seeking to make Lazaro into another Sanjaya Malakar, who lasted much longer than he should because of the support from the website.

Speaking of Lazaro, there was some confusion over when he learned the song, with him saying he learned it the night before the live show, while Jimmy Iovine claimed he had the song for many days.

Some of the contestants didn’t seem to be very knowledgeable about the Beatles, as some didn’t even know of the song they picked.

It was good to see Jessica Sanchez and Casey Adams again, as they sang for the audience. It looks like both of them could go far in music.

Casey Adams released an album last June, that is currently No.16 among albums on Amazon. Most of the songs are original, with the exception of a duet with Haley Reinhart of the Ray Charles classic Hit the Road Jack. Samples of the songs can be heard in these clips:

http://www.amazon.com/Casey-Abrams/dp/B007WCJQU4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1364058797&sr=8-3&keywords=casey+adams

It is looking like Candace Glover, Angie Miller and Kree Harrison are the top three contestants this season. I think Amber Holcomb belongs up there with them, but her voting base needs to strengthen to become a factor in the voting.

I don’t think anyone was surprised to see the judges decide not to use their save on Paul Jolley. I doubt if they will use on any of the boys, since they may need it to save one of the girls.

OTHER AMERICAN IDOL NEWS

Katy and Kris Allen are expecting a baby boy later this year.

 

Kris Allen and his wife Katy were involved in a car accident in January, which left Kris unable to play the guitar due to a broken wrist. However, they now have some good news, with the announcement that they are expecting a baby boy later this year….The ratings for American Idol continued to dip, as the performance show on Wednesday only drew 12.94 million. The performance show from the previous week had attracted 13.44 million viewers. The 11.65 million viewers watching the Thursday results show was the lowest number of viewers for any show in Season 12….Grey’s Anatomy topped American Idol last Thursday night for the first time ever.

The Voice starts on Monday, which could cause further erosion for American Idol. Viewers may be burned out after watching The Voice for a couple of nights, then face two more nights of singing competition on American Idol. This will be a real test, that tells us what direction American Idol is going.

John Mayer has announced that Phillip Phillips winner of Season 11 will be opening for his next tour. Phillip Phillips seems to be one of the more successful American Idols….There has not been a girl voted the American Idol, since Jordin Sparks won in 2007….Aubrey Cleland won out over Charlie Askew as the 11th member of the American Idol tour this summer.

Nicki Minaj has angered the other judges during the auditions, when showing up late for the shows. I have always heard that Mariah Carey was a diva, but it appears Nicki is even more of a diva.

http://popcrush.com/nicki-minaj-said-to-be-the-biggest-diva-on-the-american-idol-set/

 

 

 

 

 

American Idol: Judges Send Zoanette To Top 20 in Shocker

Bryant Tadeo was eliminated last week on American Idol after scathing critique by Nicki Minaj.

Nicki Minaj once again showed her mean side on American Idol last week, when she complimented Bryant Tadeo for his powerful closing of New York State of Mind, but then turned on him and said that was only good part of the song.  It is easy to see Ms. Minaj has no compassion for some contestants, when the night before she heaped lavish praise on Zoanette Johnson who was mediocre at best singing Circle of Life.

Ms. Minaj clearly plays favorites and has let the back stories of some singers sway her critiques of the contestants.  I thought Rachel Hale sang much better than Zoanette, but someone had to be sacrificed so Zoanette could advance. I can tell from the expression on the face of Minaj if she will praise or criticize a performance.

Just my opinion but I think Keith Urban is the best judge on the panel this season. He focuses on the singing and nothing else.

If Zoanette advances to the Final 10 there might be a backlash from American Idol fans. If the fans vote her into the Top 10 it will be a shock. However, she may show she can be a serious singer next week, so it isn’t fair to write her off yet, but just can’t see her selling millions of albums in the future.

The girls are much better than the boys this season, which makes me wonder if the judges should have been allowed to pick the best singers and not have to choose 10 boys and 10 girls.

These are the remaining 20 contestants according to the Wikipedia page for Season 12:

Contestant	Result
	Lazaro Arbos
	Janelle Arthur
	Charlie Askew
	Nick Boddington
	Aubrey Cleland
	Curtis Finch, Jr.
	Candice Glover
	Kree Harrison
	Amber Holcomb
	Zoanette Johnson
	Paul Jolley
	Adriana Latonio
	Elijah Liu
	Angela Miller
	Vincent Powell
	Cortez Shaw
	Breanna Steer
	Burnell Taylor
	Tenna Torres
	Devin Velez

American Idol Season 12 ratings continued to tumble on Thursday night, as the show attracted only 12.56 million viewers, which is the fewest for this season.  The Voice and Dancing With the Stars return later this month, but not sure if  they will going against each other head to head . It is similar to the situation of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire a few seasons back,when it was being shown so much that fans eventually tired of seeing it so often.  Season 11 had a season low 14.85 million viewers, which was surprisingly the night the Final 2 sang. You would think that would be one of the most-viewed shows of the season, but instead it was the least-viewed, probably because Phil Phillips and Jessica Sanchez were in final two, while Josh Ledet was clearly a better singer than either one of them, yet finished third so there may have been some viewer backlash in play that night.

Maybe once the Top 10 is chosen the ratings may move upward again, but with the proliferation of singing competition shows the bubble may have already burst.

The following poll may give us a better idea of how American Idol fans felt about Zoanette being advanced:

American Idol Popularity Waning: Almost 20 Million Less Viewers Than in 2007

American Idol judges Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban are shown with host Ryan Seacrest in the center. The show is staggering into Season 12 as viewers leave the show in droves.

The first American Idol show was telecast on June 11, 2002 with 9.85 viewers watching The 2003 premiere show attracted 26.50 million viewers almost tripling the viewers from 2002. The 2007 premiere show attracted a record 37.44 million viewers, but there has been a steady decline of viewers since then, bottoming out at 17.93 viewers to start Season 12 last January. The show has lost close to 20 million viewers in the last six seasons.

Surprisingly the season finale topped out in Season 2 in 2003 at 38.06 million viewers and last year’s finale only attracted 21.49 million viewers, which is the all-time low for a finale.

With The Voice being telecast twice a year and X-Factor being shown in the fall it appears singing competition shows have reached the saturation point.  With American Idol starting about a month after the last X-Factor show has been shown, fans are not getting much of a break.

The Voice and X-Factor winners don’t get near the publicity of the American Idol winners. Quick, name all three winners of The Voice and the two winners of X-Factor. Only the most devout fans of either show could give you those names, without stopping to think it over.

Melanie Amaro who won X-Factor in December of 2011 has yet to release her debut album, which will be released next month. Meanwhile Phil Phillips the Season 11 winner of American Idol has already sold 700,000 copies of his debut album Dark Side of the Moon which has received 361 five-star reviews, while receiving only 5 one star reviews. I have to admit that I didn’t think Phil Phillips would go far as an artist, but he could be on the cusp of a great career.

Phil Phillips has been opening shows for Matchbox 20.

Season 12

American Idol went from a three judge panel of Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson in Season 11 to a four person panel of Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj, Randy Jackson and Mariah Carey in Season 12. The show got off on the wrong foot, before the first show aired as Nicki Minaj threatened to knock out Mariah Carey at the Charlotte auditions. They tangled more along the way to the opening show, but in recent weeks they have both calmed down and don’t talk to each other. Minaj is said to have said that if she had a gun she would shoot Carey, but later denied ever saying that.

Placing two divas on the judging panel was a recipe for disaster and that was what it turned out to be. I am sure the producers have told them to cool it, because most viewers like me don’t like a lot of attention being placed on the judges. Nicki Minaj seemed to be harsher with contestants a few weeks ago but seems to have calmed down and show more compassion for the contestants.

Keith Urban has really surprised me with his knowledge of American music and has very well thought out critiques of the singers. Randy Jackson has apparently appointed himself as the villain among the panelists, as he seems to be more critical of the singers, than the other three judges. Mariah Carey is taking over the Paula Abdul role as the judge who seldom says anything critical of most singers.

Ellen DeGeneres was by far the worst judge in the history of American Idol. She seemed to be more intent on cracking jokes, than on making meaningful critiques of the singers. It was no surprise, that she was a one season and out judge. I think even she sensed she didn’t belong on American Idol as a judge. Know that has nothing to do with Season 12, but just felt compelled to mention her judging skills or lack of.

It is too early to have a favorite or even to mention any names of the Season 12 contestants, since there are many eliminations ahead before the Final 10 is announced.

Apparently the tradition of judges going to rooms with contestants and telling which rooms are going home and which ones are advancing has been dropped, but that could change before the Final 10 is chosen. I liked that the Hollywood group week contestants were sorted into groups by American Idol executives. It ridded the show of the drama of singers begging to join a group or being dismissed by a group. I will never forget the season when the young boy from Louisiana was dumped by one group and him having to find a new group.

I don’t know if the tradition of contestants taking the long walk to talk to judges and being told their fate by the judges will be repeated this season. I am hoping by the end of this week, that we will know who the Final 10 singers are. Right now I think that the girl singers are better and should have more singers in the Top 10, but the producers may want an even number of girls and boys in the Top 10.

TV By the Numbers shows that both Big Bang Theory and Person of Interest attracted more viewers than American Idol last Thursday. The show is no longer the juggernaut it used to be, but it still is one of the most-watched shows on television.

It will be interesting to find out who the Final 10 will be composed of and we should know by the end of Thursday night’s show.

Nicki Minaj: Harshest American Idol Judge Ever?

Nicki Minaj

I thought Simon Cowell was the harshest American Idol judge, but Nicki Minaj gave him a run for his money last night. She not only criticized the singing of the singers, but their attitude and demeanor as well. She seemed to enjoy trashing the singing of Matheus Fernandes and then added insult to injury by saying he was choosing songs about his height, so he could have a pity party. She could have handled this situation better, by telling him backstage not to dwell on his height.

Matheus Fernandez

Fernandes may be remembered by some viewers, when he competed in The Glee Project on the Oxygen channel in 2011. The 4′ 9″ Fernandes was the shortest of all the American Idol contestants in the 2012 season.

Mariah Carey, who I had considered as a diva of the first magnitude showed a lot more class than Minaj during the show last night. Keith Urban and Randy Jackson didn’t seem to get as much camera time, as Minaj since she obviously enjoyed having the spotlight on herself, rather than on the contestants, who should have been in the spotlight. It is almost like Minaj enjoys stabbing the contestants with a knife and then gives it a little twist for maximum shock effect.

I think it was important that American Idol brought back Randy Jackson for Season 12, to give the show some stability. Keith Urban has shown how well he knows American music, by knowing a song that one of the singers hadn’t heard of, with Urban being from Australia.

http://t.entertainment.msn.com/nicki-minaj-most-hateable-tv-personality-ever-1?toc=ent

American Idol Officials Choose Groups

With the judges picking which contestants were in each group it eliminated some of the drama. There was no drama of someone begging to join a group, or to be kicked out of a group and finding a new group. However, there was still the drama of not all the singers liking a song choice. One group in particular had a country singer, who was trying to learn a Maroon 5 song Moves Like Jagger. The song choice sealed his fate as he couldn’t remember the words and was clearly uncomfortable singing a song out of his comfort zone.

TV Ratings Down

American Idol premiered this year on January 16 and drew only 17.93 million viewers, which was the lowest since the show debuted in 2002 with 9.8 million viewers. This was the first season since 2002, that less than 20 million viewers watched a premiere show.

A season low 13.28 million viewers watched American Idol last night and this is during the Hollywood week.

The proliferation of singing competitions has dealt American Idol a blow, that they may never recover from. To make matters worse The Voice will be returning again, about three months after ending their fall version in December. That could put a further dent into American Idol ratings. X-Factor finished their season a month before the 2013 debut of American Idol.

It would not surprise me to see a viewer backlash against Nicki Minaj, if she continues to belittle the contestants in such a cruel way. The way she is behaving tells me she won’t be back for Season 13.

The Voice Tops X-Factor In Head to Head Encounter

The Voice not only defeated X-Factor in the ratings, but drew 3.2 million more viewers during the 8 ET – 9PM time slot last night. I seriously thought that Britney Spears making her debut as a judge would attract more viewers to X-Factor.

It was a huge win for The Voice, as it drew 10.7 million viewers, while X-Factor only brought in 7.5 million viewers. The worst thing is that X-Factor had 12 million viewers on their debut show last September.

The 7.5 million viewers is an all-time low for X-Factor, as it was worse, than the 8.51 million viewers who watched the live results show on November 23 of last season.

So the spinning chairs won this battle over Simon Cowell, Britney Spears and the X-Factor singers.

These results don’t bode well for X-Factor, as the other networks will be debuting their fall programs soon. However, with The Voice not in direct competition next week, it will be a true test, to see if X-Factor rebounds from a shocking ratings loss.

The Voice has won one round one, but we may see both shows losing viewers, in the coming weeks.

Simon Cowell is probably in deep depression, since he had criticized The Voice producers, for scheduling their program, against X-Factor. Now the ratings results make it worse for him, since he knows X-Factor is not in the same league as The Voice, when it comes to attracting television viewers. Cowell had predicted X-Factor would draw 20 million fans during the inaugural season, but never drew more than 12.59 million fans, which watched the live results final last December. So dropping to 7.5 million in the first show this season, compared to 12.49 million viewers watching the debut show in 2011 is a serious setback to Cowell.

Producers of both shows will be watching the ratings next week, to see if The Voice can top X-Factor for a second week. X-Factor will be on its own tonight, but with the Packers-Bears game going against it, there could be more disappointing ratings announced tomorrow.

American Idol producers can’t be too happy, after the ratings were released, as the singing competitions bubble may be on the verge of being burst.

Big Brother 14 Twist (Spoiler Alert), American Idol Judges Dropping Like Flies

Big Brother 14 debuted for the 2012 season on Thursday night with a couple of new twists. The first twist was that four former contestants, including two winners would be coaches this season. The house guests will be competing for a $500,000 prize, given to the winner in the finale show this September.

Big Brother 2 and Big Brothers All-Stars winner Mike Boogie and Dan Gheesling of Big Brother 10 were the two returning winners, while Janelle Pierzina of Big Brother 6 and Big Brother All-Stars and Britney Haynes of Big Brother 12 will be the other two mentors, who will be competing for the $100,000 prize for best coach.

The other twist was that no house guests were given keys, because the coach of the losing team, in the head of household competition, on the inaugural show would have to choose one of his team for immediate eviction on opening night.

Personally, I hope this never happens again, since each contestant deserves one full week on the show, before being evicted, instead of being unceremoniously sent home on the first night.

This website is a great source of information worth saving to your favorites if you want to keep up to date, with what is going on in the house between the shows. Don’t go to this site if you want to wait for the shows to air, since it tells who was nominated since Thursday’s show and who won the veto, plus will tell the outcome of the veto ceremony next week.

http://www.mortystv.com/big_brother.shtml

Latest American Idol News

It is now official that Steven Tyler is not the only American Idol judge leaving the show. Tyler had announced earlier this week, that he was leaving American Idol to return to Aerosmith full-time. There have been rumors that Jennifer Lopez was resigning her job as a judge. Those rumors are no longer rumors, as Lopez told host Ryan Seacrest, that she was leaving the show to have more time, to allow herself to have more time to pursue other options in her entertainment career.

As if this wasn’t enough news about judges for one week, there is now word out, that Randy Jackson may be leaving the show as a judge, but may remain as a mentor for the contestants.

This would create openings for three judges. Mariah Carey has been mentioned as a possible judge, but there is no official word, as to whether she was actually offered the job. Adam Lambert has also been mentioned as a possible judge. With the auditions for Season 12 going on now, it is probably imperative that a new set of judges be chosen soon, so they can be filmed at the auditions, determining the fate of the contestants.

After a huge drop in ratings last season, American Idol may be having too much change, too soon for these changes to improve the ratings for Season 12. The proliferation of singing contests has reached the saturation point and I can foresee the ratings drop for the entire genre. The Voice and X-Factor return in September and The Voice being on twice in one year, could be a huge mistake since it hasn’t produced a name star yet.

With Britney Spears reportedly being a train wreck on X-Factor as a judge, this is what can be expected from X-Factor this September.

http://www.billboard.com/column/reality-check/new-x-factor-video-shows-britney-spears-1007557952.story#/column/reality-check/new-x-factor-video-shows-britney-spears-1007557952.story

 Big Brother 5 Winner Tasered By Cops

Big Brother  winners have a history of having run-ins with the law and Drew Daniel winner of Big Brother 5 is the latest winner, to experience a brush with the law. He reportedly injured a man, while in a domestic dispute. Now for the rest of the story, including the part where he is tasered by the cops.

http://bigbrotheraccess.com/big-brother-5s-drew-daniel-arrested-353325/

Kris Allen: May Be Time To Pull Plug On American Idol

American Idol producers can’t be too happy with Kris Allen, after he said it may be time to pull the plug on American Idol. It is surprising that he would say that, considering that without American Idol he probably would be singing at grocery store grand openings. It wasn’t that long ago that Lee DeWyze sang at a bowling alley opening, which is not saying much for how the career of Allen and DeWyze is going.

To his credit Allen’s latest album Thank You Camellia has 12 reviewers giving it a 5 star rating out of 15 reviewers.

The following article and video from TMZ.com includes a poll at bottom, that is showing that 74 percent of the voters think American Idol should be canceled, which has to be troubling for American Idol producers and may signal more losses in viewership in Season 12. This is a fairly large sampling of over 51,000 voters, so this tells me there is still some backlash, after Phil Phillips became the fifth guy in a row to win American Idol.

kris-allen-american-idol-finale

After viewing the video, am not sure that Allen said what he reportedly said in the article, unless he made some remarks, not shown in the video. Anyway, the alarming poll results have to be a huge concern.

We can’ t help but wonder if X-Factor and The Voice are killing the American Idol reality star.

The Voice: Took 9 Weeks To Choose Final 24

 

The Voice is seeing its rating slip as it drew the fewest viewers of the season last night with 11.7 million viewers. Nobody expected them to match the 37.6 million viewers, with the Super Bowl lead-in, but the ratings have dropped almost every week from the 17.8 million viewers of the second show.

14.8 million viewers tuned in for the last blind audition shows, but then the viewers returned for the first week, of the battle rounds with 16.8 million viewers. The ratings dropped to 14.5 million, 11.9 million and the 11.7 million last night. I am sure they have lost some of those viewers to Dancing With The Stars. The Voice has lost 6.1 million viewers since the second show.

Battle Rounds Fiasco

It took four weeks to finish the battle rounds and when they finished last night, there were still 24 singers remaining in the competition. Only the most ardent fans could give you the name of any of those 24 singers.

The main problem is that there were so many singers at the beginning of the battle rounds, that the fans forget the singers when they don’t see them week after week. Some of the singers haven’t even been seen on the show for over a month.

Even after whittling it down to the final 24 singers, there is not enough continuity on the show, to remember the names of the singers. Singing eight songs in two hours means there is 24 minutes of singing, assuming the average song is three minutes. That leaves NBC with one hour and 36 minutes to tell about the singers and run their commercials. It is almost a relief when the show is over, after watching so many commercials.

The worst thing about the battle rounds is that the judge/mentor seem to be more interested, in staging a great battle between the contestants than anything else. It is almost a given that the flashiest and loudest singer of the battle rounds, seems to invariably be the winner.

Another problem is that the judge/mentor are favoring one singer over another, like when country singer Jordan Rager was forced to sing a Jason Mraz song, which fit better the style of Naia Kete. This is where the battle rounds hurt one singer or the other, forcing them to sing out of their genre.

Why not just have live performances the entire season, instead of having battle rounds. Hopefully, the producers saw how the ratings dropped during the battle rounds and will rework the show, before it returns this fall.

 

Ratings Could Drop This Fall

I am worried that when the show returns in the fall, the ratings will continue to drop, since by then the new television season will have begun and television fans may want to see the new and returning shows of the fall season.

X-Factor will be returning also, which could cause more problems for the singing competition industry. It will be disastrous for X-Factor to go head-to-head with The Voice. That probably won’t happen, since they might just split the audience in half.

There are still 12 more shows of The Voice to be seen and I am wondering if the ratings will continue to drop, week after week or will the live shows bring back some of the lost fans.

The Voice needs a winner that is a household name and don’t want another winner who would be a trivia question, only one year later. Who did win The Voice last year anyway? Not many people could give you the answer.

Should Battle Rounds Be Eliminated On The Voice?

 

 

The time has come for The Voice to eliminate the battle rounds and go straight to the live shows. The battle rounds focus too much on the drama between the two singers and the judges and  mentors helping the singers. Then after spending several minutes touting the upcoming battle, the song is over in about three minutes.

After all it is a singing competition, so that should be the main focus of having the singers sing. On Monday’s show there were about eight songs sang in the two-hour show which averages out to a song every 15 minutes.

This is just my opinion for what it’s worth, but I don’t think it is fair for a singer with a less powerful voice, being matched against a singer with a powerhouse of a voice. Too much emphasis is being placed on the battle aspect and not enough on the singing itself.

Some singers are completely out of their element to be placed in a situation in which they have to outsing another opponent. It becomes a case of who can sing the loudest or reach the highest note which is not what the competition should be about.

I am a huge fan of the blind auditions, but think the show should go straight into the live shows, with the battle rounds being eliminated. They could still show the mentors helping the singers in shorter segments, so that more songs could be sung. With commercials using up about half an hour in a two-hour show, there is only an hour-and-a-half of the actual show being shown.

The Voice has drawn much better ratings this season. However, they could be making a huge mistake, to have another season this fall. It could further erode the ratings for singing competition shows, if it is seen twice a year.

We all saw what happened to Who Wants To Be A Millionaire,  when it was being shown two or three times a week. The ratings dropped the more it was shown. The same thing is happening with the proliferation of singing competitions. American Idol was once king of the hill, but now their ratings are slipping and lower ratings probably mean less money coming in from their sponsors.

It will be interesting to see how The Voice fares in the ratings when Dancing With the Stars returns later this month, if the two shows go directly against each other.

The poll question asks if you think the battle rounds on The Voice should be eliminated:

 

 

American Idol Ratings Plunging

American Idol which drew over 20 million viewers in all but two shows in Season 10 in 39 shows, has only drawn over 20 million viewers once in  Season 11 and that was when the season opener drew 21 million. The first three shows in Season 10 drew roughly 74 million while the first three shows in Season 11 drew about 59 million, a loss of 15 million viewers and around 5 million less viewers per show.

It is apparent that X-Factor started the trend of losing viewers since X-Factor ran from September through December, then a month later American Idol starts their new season. Throw in The Voice debuting on Super Bowl night to an astounding 37 million viewers after their Super Bowl lead-in.

However, The Voice has drawn less viewers each week since their debut and have seen their viewership dwindle down to 14 million in this week’s show.  The main attraction to me for The Voice are the blind auditions. Now they are over I look for ratings to drop even more,

American Idol Season 11 ratings bottomed out during Week 13, when they drew 15.6 million viewers. 16.1 million viewers watched the Final 13 boys perform on Tuesday night, but the Wednesday night ratings for the Final 13 girls have not been posted as of this minute.

The Voice Season 1 drew only 34 million in their first three shows, but The Voice Season 2 drew 70 million, so the show is definitely drawing more viewers than in Season 1. The Voice needs a winner that will stand out and not someone like last year’s winner Javier Colon, who more or less disappeared for the most part since Season 1 ended.

American Idol producers have to be worried about the precipitous drop in the ratings. They will probably try some innovative ways of spiking  the ratings,  back to the 20 million mark. I look for American Idol to draw more viewers than The Voice, but I feel the American Idol phenomenon is showing signs of erosion in their viewer base.

It is still my favorite of the singing competition shows, but the genre has over saturated the television landscape and the glory days of American Idol may be over. We used to have American Idol alone being shown from January to May. Now we have singing competition shows starting in September and running through May, with only a gap of about three weeks, from X-Factor ending and American Idol beginning.

When Big Bang Theory and NCIS beat American Idol, it is time to rethink and seriously ponder, whether we need any more singing competitions.

It will be interesting to see if American Idol can go over the 20 million mark again this season. The Voice may be on a different night from American Idol, but their success has to weaken American Idol.

Meanwhile, Simon Cowell is fine-tuning X-Factor and thinking of hiring Britney Spears to be on the new judges, replacing Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul. He is also considering having two hosts to replace Steve Jones, who was the most tense host I have seen of any TV show. Just his presence made me nervous and the producers need to hurry up the judges, if they are running over but by talking in their ear, not having the host remind them to speed them up like last season. Ryan Seacrest is a much smoother host who can handle any situation, unlike Jones who asked judges and contestants questions, they weren’t ready to answer at that moment, showcasing the lack of hosting skills by Jones.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see X-Factor, like the The Voice have better ratings in their second season. As of today in order of popularity it is American Idol, The Voice and X-Factor.

American Idol: Final 24 Chosen, One More Male Chosen Next Week

Holly Cavanagh who didn’t make it on American Idol 10 last season has been chosen as one of the Top 12 women in Season 11.

 

Holly Cavanagh who was disappointed after not making the Top 40, on Season 10 has made the Top 24 for Season 11.  She was not focused on much if at all this season, only to be a surprise pick among the Top 12 girls on American Idol.

 

However, there will be more cuts coming next week and it remains to be seen if she survives those cuts. The McKinney, Texas resident moved from Liverpool, England ten years ago to Texas. I am rooting for her to be in the final 12 for Season 11.

 

My personal favorite to win as of today is Hallie Day who I saw sing early in the competition, but have missed her latest appearances, but her first audition was so memorable that I hope she wins it all. I wouldn’t mind seeing Shannon Magrane become the American Idol, but both Day and Magrane still have to make the final 12, before they can win anything.

 

Hitfix.com has photos of the Top 12 women. This is the interesting part of the show when we can finally see the photos and names of the finalists. The show’s ratings should improve as American Idol begins the live shows.

 

The Top 10 women:

 

http://www.hitfix.com/galleries/meet-the-american-idol-season-11-top-25-the-top-12-women#12

 

It will be interesting to see if Heejun Han can make it past the cuts next week. Personally, I thought Richie Law’s rendition of Ring of Fire was better than the song Han song. However he could be the wild card brought back next week. I was shocked that Han made the Top 12, while Law was spurned by the judges. It would be ironic if Law were to re-instated then make the final 12 for the live shows, while Han goes home. I do give Han credit for advancing this far, despite being distraught with the behavior of Law, when they were in the same group.

 

The Top 12 men with possible 13th male chosen next week:

 

http://www.hitfix.com/galleries/meet-the-american-idol-season-11-top-24-the-top-13-men#1

 

The Hollywood Reporter’s American Idol Worship Page has a recap of last night’s show:

 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/idol-worship/american-idol-season-11-top-24-revealed-294738

 

It will be interesting to see if American Idol can pull away in the ratings from The Voice, now that the live shows start next week. The main attraction of The Voice are the blind auditions. It seems like the show lost something once they got into the battle rounds, which was more like a shouting contest to me, seeing who could hit the highest notes seemed like the main focus in that round.

 

American Idol is still the best of the singing competitions in my book, but The Voice has seemed to catch on with the viewers, thanks to their Super Bowl Sunday debut.

 

 

 

Simon Cowell Wants Sing-Off With American Idol, The Voice and X-Factor Winners

Simon Cowell is so desperate to elevate X-Factor winner, up to the same playing field as American Idol and The Voice winners, that he is proposing a sing-off between the winners of the three shows.

For instance if was held between the winners last year, it would pit Scotty McCreery, Javier Colon and Melanie Amaro against each other with Cowell being the host.

American Idol producer Nygel Lythgoe has stated that the American Idol winner would have been a star, before the competition and is opposed to the idea.

To further complicate things for X-Factor, there are rumors circulating that The Voice will have another season this fall, which would give them two winners the same season, not to mention possibly competing directly against X-Factor, depending on the scheduling of the two shows.

X-Factor is in third place in ratings among the three shows, since even The Voice has bettered the X-Factor ratings so far in 2012. American Idol is showing signs of weaker ratings, but when they get into the live shows it will be the real test, since some fans don’t really follow the show until they know the 12 finalists.

The Voice doesn’t have the mass auditions, like American Idol and X-Factor, so they can have a second season this year, which would be Season 3 of the singing competition.

The way I look at it is that the singers have competed enough by the time they win one of the singing competitions and are ready to start their career, instead of appearing in yet another singing competition.

If The Voice does have a second season this calendar year, we could see even more erosion in the ratings. There is such a thing as overkill and The Voice and X-Factor could see falling ratings if they go head-to-head this fall.

http://www.vh1.com/news/articles/1679472/american-idol-voice-x-factor-simon-cowell.jhtml

Have The Voice and X-Factor Killed Off The American Idol Star?

Erika Van Pelt a DJ and wedding singer was the best singer on the Thursday night American Idol show.

Hallie Day had one of the most impressive auditions on American Idol on Thursday night’s show and has a great chance of being in the Final 12 in Season 11. Hallie should go far in the competition, if she can get past Hollywood week which has been known to end singing careers, before they even get off the ground.

Fewer Viewers Than Last Year

American Idol drew less fans on Thursday night, than they drew in any audition or Hollywood show last year. 21.89 million was the lowest number of viewers, in the auditions before the final 24 show last year. 

Only 14 million viewers tuned into American Idol last night, which was less than any show last year. It could be that fans are experiencing singing competition burnout after a heavy dose of American Idol, The Voice and X-Factor. It will be interesting to see if The Voice makes a dent into the American Idol franchise, when it debuts on Feb. 5 on Super Bowl night.

The magic was still there for me in both American Idol shows telecast this week. However, The Voice and X-Factor fans may not be as likely to watch American Idol as in the past.

There is still little likelihood that Javier Colon and Melanie Amaro, who won The Voice and X-Factor respectively, will come close to having the name recognition of Scotty McCreery, who may have won only $250,000 but has sold over a million albums in three months.

It is not likely that The Voice and X-Factor have killed off the American Idol star, since American Idol drew over 20 million in almost every show in 2011, while X-Factor maxed out at 12.59 million on finale night. The American Idol finale drew 29.29 million when Scotty McCreery was voted the American Idol.

The American Idol franchise may be a little shaky, but I look for ratings to get better as fans choose their favorites and follow them as long as they survive the cuts during Hollywood week.

 

 

American Idol: Still King of the Singing Competition Hill

The return of American Idol last night signaled that the No. 1 singing competition show, by far outshines The Voice and X-Factor. The other shows have their moments, but neither show comes close to matching the drawing power of American Idol.

Shaun Kraisman was one of the most interesting contestants, as he did an excellent Ryan Seacrest impression, but didn’t advance to Hollywood despite singing very well in my book, but the judges didn’t agree.

My personal favorite was Shannon Magrane, the daughter of former major league pitcher and MLB Network analyst Joe Magrane. The judges coaxed Shannon into bringing her family to the audition room, so they learned, that she was going to Hollywood the minute the judges told her the good news.

The last singer at the Savannah, Georgia audition was Phillip Phillips, who impressed the judges so much that he was asked to sing a second song. Phillip will be a singer to watch when the Hollywood week round starts.

American Idol was a breath of fresh air after The Voice and it’s chairs that turned around, to reveal the singer that was singing, if  the judge liked the song, plus it reminded us how much we disliked the constant bickering of the X-Factor judges. The bickering between Simon Cowell, L.A. Reid, Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul was a huge distraction, not to mention the annoying host Steve Jones, who seemed to annoy the judges, as much as the fans.

There is no doubt that American Idol is still the best singing competition. It may be difficult to follow-up the success of Season 10, when Scotty McCreery won the title of American Idol. Even more impressive was that Scotty sold a million copies of his debut album, only three months after being released. His sales far eclipsed those of Season 9 winner Lee DeWyze, whose record sales never did take off.

It is safe to say that Scotty is the most successful recording artist, after winning American Idol, since 2005 when Carrie Underwood won Season 4.

We won’t know until May who wins Season 11 of American Idol, but fans will have fun watching the shows, till the winner is revealed by Ryan Seacrest.

Has Simon Cowell Dropped His Sarcasm on X-Factor USA?

Simon Cowell announced on last night's show that X-Factor USA has been renewed for a second season.

Simon Cowell was in a good mood last night, as he announced during the USA version of X-Factor, that the show has been renewed for a second season.

It was clear last night, that we may not be hearing the snarky comments, we heard from him as an American Idol judge. He may be mellowing in his old age, having observed his 52nd birthday on October 7. His worst comments were reserved for his fellow mentors on last night’s program. We didn’t hear the catty comments, we heard during nine years of American Idol.

No comments were heard last night about karaoke singers, cruise ship singers or singers sounding like screeching cats. One reason is that this is a group of singers, has no flaws glaring enough for Cowell to heap abuse on them.

Trend Toward Kinder Judges

There has been a trend toward kinder judges this year, from American Idol to The Voice and now X-Factor. The American Idol judges, in one show had 26 positive remarks out of 27 remarks during one particular show.

The Voice had almost all positive remarks about the singers, but seemed to be reticent about criticizing the other singers, since it would reflect on the mentors. There was more criticism of the other mentors, who were Ce-Lo Green, Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton. Even that criticism was in a joking way, that let the viewers know, there was no personal animosity between the judges.

Part of the kinder judges mentality, may be because the producers are focusing on the singers more, since they are what drive the shows.

America Votes For First Time on X-Factor

It will be very interesting to see how X-Factor handles the results show tonight. It may also give us an indication of what singers have fan bases and which don’t.

The last thing the producers want is a Pia Toscano situation, that occurred during American Idol. Melanie Amaro is clearly the best singer, but it remains to be seen if she has a strong fan base.

Another interesting thing to watch tonight is how X-Factor, will let us know who drew the most votes. They will probably come up with a new way to reveal the votes, to avoid copying the bottom three of American Idol.

No Comment Made About Bell, Francis Past Success

X-Factor producers decided to not address, the LeRoy Bell and Stacy Francis articles on the internet, saying they had both had success in the past. Instead the producers continued to pursue the last chance storyline for both singers.

Josh Krajcik outperformed both of them anyway last night.  It wouldn’t surprise me to see LeRoy Bell or Stacy Francis voted off the show.

The younger singers probably will draw more votes, as usually happens on these singing competitions, that allow voting by the fans.

Not Good as American Idol

There is a missing ingredient on X-Factor, that keeps the show from being good as American Idol. I think having groups, is part of the reason, since it is harder to identify with a group than a solo singer.

Steven Jones, the host of X-Factor doesn’t seem to have the command of the stage, Ryan Seacrest had with American Idol. I noticed he cut off Paula Abdul, while she was talking again. Abdul was infuriated when this happened last week, saying Ryan Seacrest had never cut her off.

There still is enough drama on the show, to keep me watching till the conclusion on December 22. It will be fun tonight, watching how X-Factor handles eviction nights.

X-Factor No Threat To American Idol

X-Factor judges Nicole Scherzinger, Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid with Steve Jones as host on the American version of X-Factor.

Now that the American version of X-Factor has selected their 12 contestants, for their debut season on Fox, it is clear that American Idol should still be the top singing competition show in the United States.

One big difference that stands out, is that X-Factor is featuring big production numbers with dancers, while there is little dancing, that I recall from American Idol.

Another difference is that the American Idol judges, got along with each other much better, than the X-Factor judges. It may be too early to tell, if the drama between the judges is contrived to draw higher ratings, or if they genuinely don’t get along.

Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid seemed to be jousting with each other, making digs at the other judge for their song selections, etc. Nicole Scherzinger was also criticized by Simon Cowell for the way she handled the Over 30′s singers. Paula Abdul and Simon got along for the most part during the show that pared down the contestants from 16 to 12 for the remaining live shows.

Nicole has the toughest task, having to work with the older singers. It won’t be an easy task to mentor them, since the older singers probably won’t have a lot of support from voters, since the youngest fans are the ones more likely to vote.

With three singers 14 and younger, in Rachel Crow, Brian “Astro” Bradley and Drew Ryniewicz (who will be known as Drew) it makes me wonder if America, would want to see someone that young, win the $5 million recording contract which could mean problems with parents, who would not want to see the money put in a trust fund, where they couldn’t get hold of it.

The same goes for the older singers in Josh Krajcik, Stacy Francis and LeRoy Bell. Krajcik at 30 might be the favorite, because he is the best singer, in the Over 30′s group.

Stacy Francis and Melanie Amaro are the only remaining female solo artists who are 19 and older. Both of them have power voices that can stand out, but I think Melanie has the edge because of her age, not knowing if the 42 -year-old Stacy can win.

The two rap singers Chris Rene and Astro do some rapping, but think Astro stepped it up with his rapping on Wednesday’s show, while Chris sang a more subdued song. He will have to do more rapping, or Astro will probably outlast him on the show. On the other hand, not sure either can win the $5 million.

The Stereo Hoggz should be the best group, since InTENsity and Lakoda Rayne have been together a very short time. Not sure if the categories format is working, since they had to make two groups of singers, who had been eliminated. I think the show would be better, if the producers would take the top 12 singers, regardless of category.

However, that would ruin the competition between the judges, so the category concept will probably return again in 2012.

Right now, it is looking like a Melanie and Josh finale, but that is almost two months away, so a lot can happen in that time. Melanie, Josh and Stacy are the power voices of this season.

The show is missing any country singers, which could hurt X-Factor in the ratings. Most country music fans probably won’t bother tuning in, knowing there will be no country music on X-Factor. Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina showed the power of the country music fan voting in Season 10 of American Idol.

The following poll questions should give an idea of how popular X-Factor is:

This poll asks who you think is best singer on X-Factor among the 12 live show contestants:

This poll asks which show is your favorite with a choice of American Idol, The Voice and X-Factor

 

 

 

X-Factor: Simon Feuds With Nicole and Paula

Tiah Tolliver advanced in the X-Factor singing competition, but not before Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger feuded over her talent or lack of talent.

When Tiah Tolliver sang without a backing track, on the third X-Factor show of this season, it precipitated a battle royal, between Simon Cowell and the two female judges, Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger.

Nicole said Tiah was singing in too many keys, then she and Paula voted no, on advancing Tolliver further into the competition. However, Simon and L.A. Reid thought they saw something about Tiah that should allow her to advance. It was one of the few times if ever, that I have seen Simon almost beg for a judge to change their vote.

Tiah is given one more chance to sing and this time Nicole votes yes and Tiah is on her way. to wherever X-Factor contestants that win go.

The question is if this drama between the judges was manufactured by the producers, or was it the real thing and that we will see more contentious behavior Simon and the two female judges. It wouldn’t be the first time a reality show, created a situation to draw ratings the next week.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20532752,00.html

The more I watch X-Factor, the more I like it. I like that the singers usually bring music with them, unlike the American Idol contestants who don’t use music in their first auditions.

X-Factor is purposely avoiding using American Idol type drama, like when on American Idol, one contestant is chosen to be the last one auditioned by the judges, after telling their back story.

Tonight will be the last auditions, before the show starts paring down the contestants to a reasonable number, so we can learn the names of the singers.

It will be interesting to see how far Rachel Crowe, the first contestant on the first X-Factor show will go, as the show goes on till the Dec. 22 finale.

Rachel Crowe was the first contestant, on the American version of X-Factor and she wowed the judges. Now she will have to show starting next week, that she can compete with the other singers.

X-Factor may never reach the popularity of American Idol, but Simon Cowell would like to see it come as close as possible, to the ratings drawn by American Idol.

One thing for sure in my book, is that X-Factor is much better than The Voice. I liked The Voice best when the coaches, spun around in their chairs to see the person,  that belonged to the voice they were hearing. I was not a fan of the battle rounds, because it became more of a shouting contest, than a singing competition.

How many people can even tell you who won The Voice in its first season?

This poll asks, now that American Idol, The Voice and X-Factor have been shown, which show is their favorite.

Will X-Factor Kill The Singing Competition Star?

L.A. Reid, Nicole Scherzinger, Paula Abdul and and Simon Cowell are the judges for the American version of X-Factor with Steve Jones (not shown) as host.

The American version of X-Factor debuted last Wednesday night Sept. 21 on the Fox network. Simon Cowell was hoping for 20 million viewers but fell about eight million viewers short. The show came in third in the ratings war, with Modern Family and Criminal Minds drawing more viewers.

The question is if X-Factor will kill the singing competition star. Are three prime time singing competitions too many for television viewers to embrace and watch every week? We should find out in the coming weeks as the ratings stabilize somewhat and be more indicative of how the X-Factor will fare in the ratings the rest of the fall season.

The Wednesday show was highlighted by Rachel Crowe, a 13-year-old girl, who reminded me of a young Shirley Temple. She was a very talented performer and could go a long way this season. However with the 12-year-old age limit on the lower side and no age limit on the higher side, it makes me wonder if anyone from either of those extremes, could actually win the $5 million recording contract.

However there was a singer who will go unnamed on Wednesday’s show, who created an actual pants on the ground moment by dropping his trousers, during his performance. It was such a disgusting scene, that Paula Abdul left the judge’s desk, to go to bathroom and almost threw up from some reports.

There were some singers who had extremely sad stories, that made me hope they keep advancing  further into the competition.

Thursday’s show ended with the rudest contestant, in singing competition history. He seemed to be challenging L.A. Reid and/or Simon Cowell to go outside and fight. First rule in singing competitions is to not turn the judges against you. However this singer did precisely that, by repeatedly arguing with the judges. He seemed to be in a state of shock, when the judges voted no, but it was a no-brainer that he would be going home. His situation is similar to a job applicant, arguing with the interviewer, then expect to be hired. It just doesn’t happen in the real world. Maybe he will realize his stupidity and try again next year and be more civil toward the judges.

There were several acts that did well during the first two shows and I will be watching again this week to see the next show. There may be ratings problems for the American X-Factor, since this is the time of year, television viewers will be trying out new shows and ratings should be more indicative of how the X-Factor will do in a few weeks, once the viewers settle into their viewing habits.

Simon Cowell, seemed to be somewhat kinder this year, but did still make a few snarky comments, but some of those singers deserved them.

I have a feeling that X-Factor will never reach the stature of American Idol, but it should draw better ratings than the Voice did last spring on NBC.

The Voice Is No Threat To American Idol, X-Factor Debuts September 21

The Voice debuted last spring while American Idol was nearing the end of Season 10. It is safe to say that more people know that Scotty McCreery was voted the American Idol, than those that know that Javier Colon was the singer to win The Voice competition.

The Voice had the gimmick of the coaches hearing the voice of the singers, without seeing the singers.

It was an interesting concept that made the coaches evaluate the singers strictly by the sound of their voice.

Each coach chose four singers to be on their team, with Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton being the coaches.

There is no doubt that Javier Colon was the best singer of the group seen on the television show. He had previously had a recording contract and lost it, so he is having another chance to make it. The television exposure may be the difference this time that enables him to sell more albums.

Still he is not nearly as well-known as Scotty McCreery, who won Season 10 of American Idol.

This is just my opinion for what it is worth, but I thought the battle rounds became more of a shouting match, then a singing competition.

It was like both singers were trying to sing louder than the other singer.

A ballad singer singing an up tempo song, during a battle round is at a distinct disadvantage, since they are not used to singing songs that have to be sang loud to make a better impression on the viewers.

My personal favorite of the singers in the finals was Vicci Martinez, who had a band with her name, before she appeared on the show.

The Voice will return on February 5, 2012 after the Super Bowl ends. By then the X-Factor would have finished their first season and we will know how X-Factor fared in the ratings.

X-Factor has Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul as judges which should help in the ratings, with Nicole Scherzinger and L.A. Reid will also be judges. Steve Jones who lives in London will be the host of the show.

The winner of X-Factor will receive a $5 million recording contract which far surpasses the worth of recording contracts given by American Idol and The Voice.

The show will debut on September 21 and end on December 22 on the Fox network. It will air on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 PM ET.

Now that American Idol and The Voice have completed their seasons, this would be a good time to see which show viewers prefer in this poll.

 

Jordin Sparks Single Sets Record Selling 4 Million Digital Copies Of Single

Jordin Sparks has sold four million copies of her "No Air" single collaboration with Chris Brown.

Jordin Sparks, who was the Season 6 American Idol winner has done what no other contestant has ever done. She sold four million digital copies of her “No Air” duet with Chris Brown, the most sold by any American Idol contestant.

Sparks won in 2006 when 36 million fans tuned in to see the finale. In comparison, only 20 million watched the finale this year.

When Sparks won in 2006 she was the youngest at 17, to ever win the coveted title of American Idol.

Forbes Magazine lists Carrie Underwood as the biggest earner among former American Idol contestants as she took in $20 million in 2010, far eclipsing the sales of Adam Lambert and Chris Daughtry who earned $6 million.

Fantasia was next earning $4 million and Sparks was right behind her earning $3 million.

Scott McCreery received a check for $250,000 for winning Season 10, but Season 7 winner David Archuleta was given a check for $360,000.

However, Ryan Seacrest earned $61 million last year which is more than the Top 10 earners among American Idol contestants made combined. He earned $15 million as the host but that is only a small part of his earnings, since he is earning money, as a disc jockey, host for the E channel’s Entertainment News and is producing reality television shows.

Something is wrong when Seacrest is paid $15 million for hosting American Idol while Scotty McCreery gets a measly $250,000 check. The fans tune in to see the contestants, not Seacrest so it wouldn’t hurt Seacrest to take a pay cut, so the winner would receive a larger check.

The new X-Factor show debuting this fall on FOX, is paying their winner $5 million which is 20 times more than McCreery earned for winning American Idol. The Voice which recently concluded their first season only paid their winner $100,000, but they have a much shorter season. The X-Factor winner will receive a check 50 times the $100,000 check that The Voice winner receives.

The complete article and list of the leading earners among American Idol contestants in 2010:

http://blogs.forbes.com/zackomalleygreenburg/2011/07/21/the-top-earning-american-idols/

 

The Voice: Why Are Established Singers On The Show?

Vicci Martinez hopes to advance to semi-finals on The Voice next week for Team Cee Lo.

The Voice telecast their first elimination show last night as Lily Elise, Raquel Castro, Patrick Thomas and Jared Blake went home. It was a total surprise that Beverly McClellan was saved by America. Christina Aguilera chose not to choose a younger singer between Lily Elise and Raquel Castro but instead went for an established Broadway star in Frenchie Davis.

That raises the question of why Frenchie Davis was allowed to be on the show with her having appeared on Broadway for many years. She appeared in the musical Rent on Broadway, which to me should have disqualified her from being on The Voice. How can 16-year-old Raquel Castro have a chance of competing against a singer like Davis who has appeared on Broadway?

Aguilera Chooses More Experienced Singer

When it came right down to making her choice, Christina Aguilera decided on the older, more experienced singer in Davis, eliminating younger singers Castro and Lily Elise. Sure, Castro and Elise got a lot of exposure from being on the show, but they had no chance against the professional singers like Davis and McClellan.

The producers of the show need to consider altering the selection process so that every contestant has an equal chance of being chosen The Voice.

Shelton Makes Surprise Selection

America saved Dia Frampton so Blake Shelton had to choose who to save between Xenia, Jared Blake and Patrick Thomas. I was expecting Shelton to save Patrick Thomas since he was the only country singer left on his team.

However, he chose Xenia to advance to the semi-finals. She joins Frampton which gives Shelton’s team the two youngest singers in the competition.

Team Cee Lo Performances

Nobody will ever sing Jolene as well as Dolly Parton but Vicci Martinez sang it well and is my favorite to advance to the semi-final round for Cee Lo Green’s team. Torri and Taylor Thompson livened up the stage with their rendition of  the World War II classic by the Andrew Sisters, Boogie Woogie Boy of Company B.

Nakia sang Sex on Fire a song I had never heard of, but did well enough to have a chance of being saved by America. Curtis Grimes sang Addicted to Love a Robert Palmer song. I don’t think it was a wise song choice for the country singer and it may be that Cee Lo Green choosing that song for him may cause Grimes to be eliminated next week.

Team Adam Performances

Jeff Jenkins did an excellent version of the Carrie Underwood song Jesus Take The Wheel. It was an emotionally charged performance for Jenkins since his biggest supporter, his mom had died from cancer prior to him being on the show. Javier Colon sang Angel and knocked it out of the park. Colon is another singer who has a previous background in music, since he had a recording contract with Capitol records, but it wasn’t renewed.

Devon Barley sang another song I had never heard of in Stop and Stare. He seemed to establish a rapport with the audience and he is singing better each week. Casey Weston sang Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, another song I had never heard of. It is difficult to review a song when you have never heard it before, since there is no way of knowing what it is supposed to sound like.

Who Will Be Saved Next Week?

Team Cee Lo will probably lose Curtis Grimes for sure since he was singing out of his genre. The country music voters may have voted for him if he had sung a country song, but now it is debatable whether they will support him. It is a tossup of who America will save if Grimes isn’t saved with Tori and Taylor, Vicci Martinez and Nakia all showing they are worthy of advancing to the semi-finals. Personally, I think Vicci Martinez and Nakia will be saved by either America or by their coach Cee Lo Green.

Team Adam has two of the strongest singers, who both performed well last night, in Jeff Jenkins and Javier Colon. Casey Weston and Devon Barley both sang well, but they are not in the same league as Jenkins and Colon. My choice to be saved next week by America and Adam Levine is Jeff Jenkins and Javier Colon.

The Voice : Two Singers End “Battle” With a Kiss

The Voice has been featuring battles between singers the last four weeks, but the “battle” between Emily Valentine and Curtis Grimes ended in a passionate kiss. They were singing Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now and Emily mentioned before they entered the boxing ring that she had a crush on Curtis, so the kiss wasn’t a total surprise.

However,  the coaches were caught by surprise, particularly Adam Levine and Cee Lo Green. Green eventually chose Curtis to be his fourth and final singer on his team.

The following article tells more about the show and contains the video of  Emily and Curtis singing Need You Now and includes their passionate kiss at the end.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2011/06/01/2011-06-01_the_voice_contestants_emily_valentine_and_curtis_grimes_end_their_performance_wi.html

Next week the show will begin an hour earlier as the singers will be singing live from 9-11 ET on NBC next Tuesday

.

The Voice: Are The Battle Rounds Needed?

This is just my opinion but the battle rounds idea was not a good one for The Voice. Out of the 12 battles, not more than two could really be called battles, since most contestants have not embraced the idea of the battle except for Tarraylyn Ramsey and Frenchie Jones who clearly did not like each other.

It would have been better to go straight to the live shows and eliminate contestants that way instead of pitting singers against each other.

However, the producers are trying to avoid being too much like American Idol so are grasping at gimmicks, hopefully to sustain their initial high ratings.

The idea of the blind auditions was was a good one and had the suspense factor as the viewers waited to see which of the four coaches would turn around their chair, to see the one they hoped, would choose them to be a judge.

The worst part of the battle round is that there are four songs being sung in each battle round, which take up three or four minutes at the most. The singers are only singing about about 15 minutes a show leaving 45 minutes for commercials and filler.

It would be better in my opinion, to see the coaches work with the singers individually rather than plan a song for a competition in the boxing ring.

Today’s poll question is if The Voice should have avoided the Battle Rounds and went straight to the live shows.

American Idol vs. The Voice: Which One is Better Show?

Now that the Voice has been on for two or three weeks, this may be a good time to compare it with American Idol.

Casting director Michelle McNulty of The Voice didn’t necessarily look for singers similar to those who appear on American Idol. Instead she has focused mostly on singers with a past history of success in the entertainment field like former American Idol contestant Frenchie Davis.

The youngest contestant is Raquel Castro at the age of 16, but she appeared in the movie Jersey Girl with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, so she is not new to the entertainment scene.

It was a surprise to see her on the show since the last I knew she had appeared on Broadway, but apparently she must have hit a rough patch and wanted to rejuvenate her career. Tarralyn Ramsey was similar in that she used to sing for Ray Charles who died seven years ago, so it could be even more than seven years since she sang with Charles.

Tim Mahoney is 39 and was on The Voice till he lost a battle round against a younger Casey Weston, who will advance to the live shows portion of The Voice.

NO OVER THE TOP SINGERS LIKE AMERICAN IDOL

Unlike American Idol, The Voice only focuses on good to great singers, while overlooking the American Idol types, that will dress up in crazy over the top costumes, just to be seen on national television. You will never see those type of singers on The Voice, because the producers want it to be known as a serious singing competition.

CHAIRS TURNING AROUND GIMMICK

The Voice had an unique concept in that the coaches Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton would sit in chairs, not facing the singers. This was done so the coaches would not to be able to focus on the looks, but instead were hearing the singers without seeing them.

This portion of the competition gave everyone an equal chance to advance in the competition.

BATTLE ROUNDS STARTED LAST WEEK

The first battle round last week pitted two singers singing the same song in a boxing ring. Some may like the battle round concept, but to me it was in some cases a shouting contest, in which you can’t really enjoy the song.

Since only four of the 32 singers advanced last week, it makes me wonder how long this portion of the competition will last. The four singers who lost the battle round have gone home leaving 28 remaining in the show.

Each coach still has seven singers remaining on their team. If The Voice wants to pare down the contestants to 16 for the live shows, giving each coach four singers, that would make a total of 16 singers on the live shows. That is all conjecture, though since as far as I know NBC has not announced how this will all play out.

The Voice is as far removed from American Idol as possible with the chairs turning around, the battle rounds and using coaches instead of judges.

Host Carson Daly is more lowkey than Ryan Seacrest and lurks in the background for the most part. Now that the auditions are over, the producers hope the battle round concept catches on with viewers. The show did lose two million viewers from the previous week.

Once American Idol finishes their season the week after next, the show may move back up in the ratings, or the ratings may continue to tumble the rest of  the season.

COMPARISON OF AMERICAN IDOL AND THE VOICE

For me the American Idol concept of having 13 finalists, without having battle rounds is better than the battle round concept adopted by The Voice. At time the battle rounds have been more of a shouting match than a singing competition.

I am rooting for Vicci Martinez to be The Voice at the end of the season. She has her own band and has many You Tube videos to watch.

The poll question is if The Voice and American Idol came on at the same time, which show would you choose to watch live?

The Voice: Why is Frenchie Davis On This Show?

Maybe I have been naive, but thought that The Voice is a vehicle for singers to get the break they need to get started.

FRENCHIE DAVIS VS. TARRALYN RAMSEY

However when Frenchie Davis and Tarralyn Ramsey opened the show, it reminded me that both of these ladies have a lot of professional experience. Frenchie Davis was in Season Two of American Idol, but was later told to leave the show when it was disclosed that she had posed for topless photos online.

Davis has extensive experience acting on Broadway, with her stint on Rent being the most well known.

Ramsey also has had a lot previous experience including singing with Ray Charles. Charles did seven years ago, so that gives an idea of how long Ramsey has been in the music business.

When Frenchie Davis competes against younger singers in the live shows, she will have a distinct advantage.

The Frenchie Davis-Tarralyn Ramsey battle was much more competitive than the other pairings on the show. You could feel the tension, just from watching the two veteran singers battling it out, till Frenchie was declared the winner by Christina Aguilera.

PATRICK THOMAS-TYLER ANDERSON

This battle was much less mean spirited than the first battle. Both singers seemed to get along fine, making it easier to enjoy the singing without getting caught up in a lot of drama. Tyler Anderson got much better feedback from the other judges, but Blake Shelton picked the country music singer Patrick Thomas in the end. Anderson held his own, but Shelton clearly wanted to stay with the country singer as long as he lasts in the competition.

CASEY WESTON VS. TIM MAHONEY

This was a classy matchup with Casey Weston a young female singer matched up against an older male singer Tim Mahoney, who was looking for the big break he needed last night. I thought he would be an easy winner, based on his experience but their coach, Adam Levine gave the nod to Casey, probably knowing she has more of future than Mahoney.

VICCI MARTINEZ VS. NIKI DAWSON

It was good to see the great sportmanship between Vicci Martinez and Niki Dawson. Cee Lo Green chose Vicci as the better singer and liked her war dance.

Vicci Martinez has many videos on You Tube, with some of them including the Vicci Martinez Band.
Summary: I am not so sure the battle theme for this stage of the competition is working well. I would have rather heard each singer sing a solo of the same song, rather than having the two singers trying to outshout each other and to reach the higher note, than the competition.

Evidently, we will have more three more weeks of the battle in the ring competitions. Frankly, I am not looking forward to the next three weeks of shrieking.

The boxing ring has to go. This is a singing competition, not a boxing match, but NBC apparently thinks this concept will work, but they are dead wrong.

We may see a lot of very good singers going home, because they will not be able to function in a boxing ring battle with another singer.

I may be wrong, but I have a feeling the ratings will drop, since they no longer have the chairs turning around gimmick now that we know who the remaining 12 singers are.

NBC is trying to avoid being an American Idol lookalike show, but I would rather see them use a better format to avoid all the shrieking and shouting.

The Voice in my book needs some revamping or it could become another gimmicky show that didn’t work.

The Voice: Christina Aguilera Attacked After Choosing Contestant

Christina Aguilera was reportedly attacked after a segment on The Voice  after Aguilera chose one contestant over another in the battle round of the reality television show.

It was a minimal attack according to the article posted at buddytv.com. Whether it will be shown on tonight’s show which will air at 9PM in the CDT zone remains to be seen.

(NO MENTION OF THE ATTACK WAS MADE DURING THE TUESDAY NIGHT SHOW)

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/the-voice/the-voice-sneak-peeks-battle-r-40237.aspx

Randy Jackson, who has been a judge on American Idol since its inception, has called out The Voice saying it is too gimmicky.

http://www.usmagazine.com/moviestvmusic/news/randy-and-adam-levine-201175

Tonight’s show will feature the coaches, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton as they start to pare down their stable of eight singers.

I have seen previews of the battle round during which two singers sing the same song, but frankly am not too impressed with that concept since both singers are singing at the same time, making it difficult to differentiate between the two singers. However, not seeing but a glimpse of the competition, it may be totally different when tonight’s episode is shown, so it could be much better when shown in its entirety.

Personally, I am not enamored with the idea of two contestants singing in a boxing ring. It may have been better to let the two singers sing the same song, with no boxing ring drama involved.

It will be interesting to see how well The Voice is received when the overnight ratings are released tomorrow.

The Voice: Alright If You Like Seeing Baldheaded Women Sing

 

The Voice made its debut on NBC last night and I think  American Idol is in no danger, of being overshadowed by the new singing competition show. However, the real competition hasn’t begun when the singers start to battle each other.

It might have been better if the coaches, Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton had seen that two of the women, Frenchie Davis a former American Idol contestant and Beverly McClellan a 41 year old singer were both bald.

If they both had cancer and were undergoing chemotherapy, I could understand them singing bald. I can’t imagine either of them going very far, because their bald look to me was very distracting.

However, that was my only real complaint about the show. Otherwise, it was a very entertaining show with some very good singers.

One of the  standout singers to me were Patrick Harris opening the singing competition by singing Live Like You Were Dying. He sounded like he could give Scotty McCreery of American Idol, a run for his money. I was surprised Blake Shelton hesitated awhile before pushing the button to turn his chair around.

One of my favorites was the husband-wife singing team of Elenowen. I think they could go a long way in the music business.

Javier Colon had to be one of the best singers on the show and has a few songs on youtube.com.

It was sad to see a singer sing, with no coaches wanting to see them sing, which happened at least twice.

Carson Daly, the host of the show, seemed to stay out of the spotlight more than Ryan Seacrest of American Idol, who is constantly on camera. Daly was seen backstage with the family and friends of the singer that is singing, making comments, but is done in a low key manner.

The show did well in the overnight ratings with a 7.5 rating. It is in a position to challenge Dancing With the Stars and American Idol as it goes against Dancing With the Stars on Tuesdays and American Idol on Wednesdays.

As the favorites are voted off both of the other shows, The Voice may see a ratings jump.

For those who missed the show last night or wanted to see the singers sing again, The Voice website has videos of the performances last night:

http://www.nbc.com/the-voice/