Ryan Seacrest, Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick Jr. and Keith Urban
Category: American Idol
The Voice Clobbering American Idol in TV Ratings Battle
American Idol Season 14 Judges – Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr.
If there was ever any doubt, about which singing competition show is more popular it has been removed. The Voice Season 8 has attracted less than 10 million viewers only 4 times this season, while American Idol attracted less than 10 million viewers 16 times.
American Idol Season 14 peaked on January 8 with 11.23 million viewers watching. The show bottomed out on Episode # 24, with 6.58 million fans, and attracted only 7.36 million in the show that aired last week.
The February 18th show of American Idol was the last to draw more than 10 million viewers. American Idol is down to only four remaining contestants, but the fans apparently don’t really care who wins, since the ratings continue to drop week to week.
The Voice Season 8 peaked on March 3, when Episode #4 attracted 15.54 million viewers. The show which aired last week drew only 9.49 viewers, which totals over 6 million fewer fans than those that watched it at its peak in March.
Still it has topped American Idol in the ratings all season, so should definite return this fall for Season 9.
However, American Idol seems to be on shaky ground. It still draws more viewers than most shows on the Fox weekly schedule, but Fox may rather drop the show, then see the show die a slow death, over the next year or two.
American Idol to me still is the better show, since it has produced some big stars, while the winners of The Voice seem to disappear after the finale in which they win.
Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson and Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood have had the most success, after winning Idol and are still both recording 10 years after Underwood won.
Season 5 through Season 13 winners have had some success, but nothing like the success of Clarkson and Underwood.
Season 12 winner Candace Glover and Season 13 winner Caleb Johnson have failed to sell many albums. Their lack of success may have cooled interest in the show by viewers.
The Voice while seeing a drop in their ratings, as the season went on is still the clear winner, in the battle of the TV ratings battle with American Idol.
American Idol On Speed
Ryan Seacrest, Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. return for American Idol Season 14
American Idol Season 14 has been on speed the last two nights, with the males singing on Wednesday night and the females on Thursday night. Fox network has reduced the show to an hour this season, and gone were the long-winded judges opinions and the hi and bye conversations, with Seacrest and the contestants helped speed the show along. I think Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. are doing an excellent job of judging, but they won’t be on screen much, with the shows being shortened. The shows were frenetically paced on both nights, with two singers singing, then a round of commercials, then repeating till the show was over.
The show had to squeeze 12 singers into about 40 minutes, so there was no time for a lot of needless filler, like we saw in previous seasons. There is a huge difference in having two hours to sing 12 songs, than to have them sung in only an hour. The result shows will only be 30 minutes this year, so once American Idol is down to the 12 or so contestants, American Idol will only be on television screens an hour and-a-half a week.
Ryan Secrest can no longer build up the drama on result nights for an hour, so will have to cut to the chase sooner. There will still be time for guest singers on results night, since a half hour show really only lasts about 22 minutes, after leaving time for commercials.
Mark Andrew takes us back to the 70’s with his version of The Weight.
The Band’s version from the The Last Waltz movie featuring Leverne Helm and the Staples Singers from the late 70’s.
The Voice Pulling Away From American Idol in Ratings
The Voice continues to attract more viewers, than American Idol, as the ratings showed 14.6 million viewers watched the second episode of The Voice Season 8. Meanwhile, American Idol only attracted 11.76 million, in their highest rated episode, American Idol Season 14 has not drawn more than 11 million viewers, to any episode since February 4. The Voice ratings are almost 3 million ahead of American Idol, when comparing most watched episodes of the two shows.
American Idol may never regain the popularity it once had, since the show peaked on May 21, 2003 finale, with 38.06 million visitors tuned in. The 2014 season finale bottomed out at 10.53 million viewers. It is not a good sign, when a show loses 28 million viewers.
The purpose of American Idol and The Voice is to produce stars, who make it big in the music business, and The Voice still hasn’t done that.
American Idol Season 10 winner Scotty McCreery and Season 11 winner Phillip Phillips have both had platinum albums and platinum singles. However, Season 12 winner Candice Glover’s first and only album so far sold only 27,000 copies and her only single peaked at #93 on the US chart.
Season 13 winner Caleb Johnson’s debut album, which was released in August of 2014 has sold only 11,000 albums. It is ironic, that Chris Daughtry who came in fourth in Season 5 has had the most success in record sales, among the rock singers on the show.
Daughtry and his band’s debut album sold 7 million copies worldwide, and his second album went platinum, and third album went gold. His fourth album has not done as well with only 90,000 albums sold, after the album was released in November of 2013.
Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson and Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood have been by far the most successful singers, who have been produced by American Idol, with both of them going strong many years, after they appeared on American Idol.
The Voice may be winning in television ratings, but American Idol is the winner when it comes to producing stars, that make it and sustain careers in music.
American Idol may not be around much longer, if the ratings don’t improve, but then it may be around for years to come, since they may have a problem finding a show that can garner higher ratings, than American Idol has done for many years.
American Idol Draws 4 Million Less Viewers
American Idol returns for its 14th season in 2015 with judges Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez
and Harry Connick, Jr., with Ryan Seacrest who has hosted the show since its inception.
American Idol started its 14th season, by drawing 4 million fewer viewers, than they attracted for the first show of Season 13. That was a decline of 25 percent from the Season 13 premiere. The show reached its peak in Season 6, when they attracted 37.44 million viewers for the premiere that year in 2007.
The premiere this year attracted 26 million fewer viewers, than watched the show in 2007.
Randy Jackson, who was a mentor during Season 13 won’t be seen in Season 14, unless it is in a guest appearance, since he is no longer employed by the show.
There should be no Coca-Cola cups at the judge’s table in Season 14, since Coca-Cola no longer is a sponsor.
The Voice Providing Competition
The Voice on NBC has attracted more viewers recently, than American Idol, but The Voice has had less success in launching careers of their winning contestants.
Season 8 of The Voice premieres on February 23, 2015, so the two shows will be on different nights.
I have watched American Idol since Season 2, so will probably go down with American Idol ship, when it sinks out of sight in the next year or two. I like the chairs turning around gimmick on The Voice, but not a fan of the battle rounds competition. Not to say it isn’t a good show….it is just my loyalty to American Idol supersedes that of The Voice.
Aftermath for American Idol Winners
American Idol has had some winners like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, that have sold millions of albums, but then they have their share of singers like Phillip Phillips who made second albums, that didn’t sell nearly as well as their first album, as shown in this Billboard.com review of his sales for his second album:
Phillip Phillips, Behind the Light
First-Week Sales: 42,000
Previous Album’s First Week: The World From the Wrong Side of the Moon, 169,000
Year-to-Date Sales: 123,000
Why It Looks Bad: The American Idol champ’s debut was buoyed by a hit single, “Home,” something his second has yet to produce. And more than a regular artist, people expect a sophomore slump from an Idol champ — so his low first-week tally wasn’t a good look.
Counterpoint: Like 50’s album, the year-to-date total sales for Behind the Lightaren’t terrible. In fact, with the holidays approaching, sales for Phillips’ second are higher than they’ve been in weeks, suggesting there’s life in the album yet.
Scotty McCreery is now 21, after winning Season 10 four years ago. His album and single sales have done well, with him his first album Clear Day going platinum and his second album Christmas With Scotty McCreery earning a gold album certification.
Caleb Johnson Season 13 Winner
Caleb Johnson, who won Season 13 has seen his singing career get off to a very slow start, as indicated by this entry about his first album at Wikipedia:
Chart performance
The album debuted on Billboard 200 at No. 24 with 11,000 copies sold in its debut week, giving him the distinction of having the lowest first week sales and inaugural chart position of any American Idol winner.[8]Johnson also has the distinction of being the first American Idol winner to have their Idol coronation song, “As Long as You Love Me,” fail to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
On the other hand Kelly Clarkson has released six albums and all six have gone platinum and have peaked at either #1, #2 or #3 on the album charts. She has recorded four #1 hits.
Carrie Underwood has recorded 12 #1 hits on the country charts.
It doesn’t seem possible that it has been 10 years, since Carrie Underwood won Season 4 of American Idol in 2005. All four of her albums have gone platinum. It is hard to believe, that she hasn’t recorded an album since 2012, so we should see another Carrie Underwood album released, in the not too distant future. Her 12 #1 hits is the most recorded by any of the American Idol winners.
Results Show Shortened To Half Hour
The Fox network will be shortening the Thursday night results show of American Idol, to half an hour in Season 14. It will be a welcome relief, to American Idol fans, who were tiring of all the filler used in the results show in past seasons. Ryan Seacrest won’t have so much time to stretch out the drama, of who will be going home that night.
Ryan Seacrest has promised that Season 14 will have great talent, but American Idol fans will believe that, when they see and hear the shows.
I personally believe this is the best set of judges since the debut of the show. It will be nice to not hear “Yo dog” and “In it to win it” in Season 14, even though we didn’t hear it in Season 13 either. It is a huge improvement over the train wreck of a judging panel, when Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey took their battle public and overshadowed the contestants, by their constant bickering.
The back stories for the contestants are what make American Idol so great in my book. Like the blind man, who sang a Spanish song for Jennifer Lopez on last week’s show. He may not be the next American Idol, but he will be one of the highlights of Season 14 for me.
So far this season the focus has been more on the talented singers, and less on the singers who have no talent. We know the judges just see a small percent of the singers, since they have others, that weed out the less than prime-time ready singers.
The Voice may have passed American Idol in the ratings, but American Idol will be the show I watch, till it fades out for the last time.
By this time next year we should know if Season 14 has produced another Caleb Johnson or another Carrie Underwood, or a singer somewhere in the middle of the two singers.
The Voice Winning Ratings Battle With American Idol
AMERICAN IDOL
American Idol Season 13 bottomed out this season with only 7.63 million viewers for their Top 8 results show last Thursday. Season 13 drew 15.19 viewers for their debut this season. That is a drop of approximately 7.5 million viewers 27 shows into the season.
The 2003 Season 2 finale drew the largest audience for a premiere or finale, by attracting 38.06 million viewers. Compare that with the 7.63 million viewers last Thursday and that is a drop of almost 31 million viewers.
January 13, 2009 was the last time that a premiere, final performance or season finale show drew over 30 million viewers.
The May 23, 2012 finale was the last time American Idol attracted more than 20 million viewers.
March 12, 2014 was the last show to draw over 10 million viewers for a Season 13 episode.
I think one problem this season is that Season 13 has few good singers. I look for Caleb Johnson to be the next American Idol. If not him, then it might be Jena Irene or Jessica Meuse. C.J. Johnson will probably go home on Thursday night, unless he has a superb performance on Wednesday night.
The judges this season Harry Connick, Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban have been refreshing, after the feud between Mariah Carey and Nicky Minaj took the focus off the contestants in Season 12.
This could be the right time to end American Idol. Ryan Seacrest will probably not be paid $15 million a season again and Jennifer Lopez is scheduled to do a cop show, so can’t see her having time to do American Idol, due to the filming schedule of a weekly series. Seacrest is probably ready to move on to other jobs and American Idol ties him down during the auditions and regular season and he sure doesn’t need the money.
It is time to end the show before its ratings fall even further behind those of The Voice.
THE VOICE
The premiere of The Voice was shown on April 26, 2011 and drew 11.78 viewers. Season 2 drew 37.61 million viewers due to Super Bowl lead-in. Season 3 attracted 12.8 million viewers for premiere. The Voice drew about a million more viewers, for each year and this year attracted 15.86 million for the premiere.
Season 4 finale night for the June 18,2013 drew 15.59 the most ever for a finale.
The finale night for Season 5 on December 17, 2013 fell to 14.01 viewers, so it will be interesting to see if Season 6 finale ratings fall below that number.
Season 6 ratings have fallen from a season high of 15.86 million, for the premiere of the Blind Auditions on February 24, 2014. Last Tuesday’s episode drew 11.08 million, which is a dropoff of about 4.78 million viewers.
If The Voice and American Idol were aired in the same time slot, then it would be almost a certainty that American Idol would be clobbered.
The interplay between coaches Blake Shelton, Shakira, Usher and Adam Levine has been, in my estimation a big part of the success of The Voice. It is fun to watch them beg for the contestants to choose them, as their coach and belittling the other coaches in the process.
It is a more of a fun show than American Idol. I haven’t watched during the battle rounds and playoff rounds, so I can’t say how good the singers on The Voice are. I will resume watching when they start the live shows and will get a better idea of who the best singers are.
The Voice is the king of the singing competitions and may find itself the only singing competition, if American Idol ends its 13 year run after this season.
The Voice Drawing More Fans Than American Idol in 2014
Versus
The Voice
American Idol started Season 13 back on January 15, 2014. 15.19 million viewers tuned in, to watch the 2014 premiere of the long-running singing competition show. By the time Episode 17 aired on September 6 the ratings had fallen to 9.76 million viewers, which was a drop of 5.43 million viewers from the premiere episode.
The Voice opened Season 6 with 15.86 million viewers and by the time the sixth episode had aired on March 11 the ratings had fallen to 13.51 million viewers. That was a drop of 2.35 million, which made The Voice the winner in attracting viewers so far this season with The Voice holding on to more of the viewers from their premiere, than the American Idol was able to do.
It is too early in the season to tell which show has the better singers, but right now I would give a slight edge to The Voice, since they have 48 singers still in the competition, while American Idol is down to 11 singers left.
The blind audition rounds to me are what really interest me, since it is always fun to watch the coaches turn around or not turn around for a contestant. It is fun to watch the interplay between coaches Adam Levine, Shakira, Usher and Blake Shelton, as they unashamedly beg the contestants to pick them as their coach.
I think the current panel of coaches is the best, since there seems to be better chemistry, when Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green (who won’t be returning) are not on the show.
The Voice begins the battle rounds on Monday, March 17 and they will end on March 25. I have never been a fan of the Battle Rounds, since it seems to me, to be more of a contest, to see who can hit the highest note. The battle rounds can eliminate contestants, because they may have to sing a song, that doesn’t best showcase a particular singer.
So once the Battle Rounds are over and the live shows began will begin to watch The Voice again. I dislike the fact that a singer chosen by a coach in the first episode of the Blind Auditions might not even be seen,, till 8 or 9 weeks later.
If The Voice returns this fall it won’t face any other competition, from other singing shows, since X-Factor won’t be returning this fall.
American Idol
American Idol to me better promotes their contestants, with them being on every show, after the Final 13 have been chosen. We learn the contestants easier, because we see them singing week after week. After next Thursday’s results show on March 20 there will be only 10 contestants left.
I don’t think American Idol could have hired better judges than the trio of Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. You can see the compassion the judges have for the contestants. Harsh Harry as Harry Connick Jr. has been called seems to be the sterner of the three judges.
Jennifer Lopez will reportedly have her own detective show on NBC next year, so that will probably mean she won’t be returning for Season 14 next January. Ryan Seacrest contract for three years for $45 million will end after the last show airs in May. It remains to be seen if he will return, or if American Idol will even return for Season 14.
American Idol has lost its invincibility factor, as The Voice has proven it can draw more viewers consistently. American Idol attracted 10.11 million viewers last night, which was only bettered by Criminal Minds with 10.72 million viewers.
While American Idol may be slipping in the ratings it still is drawing well, when compared to the viewers watching shows on the other networks.
The Voice is outdrawing American Idol by three or four million viewers, so they are the king of the singing competition shows, unless American Idol can reverse its downward trend in the ratings.
X-Factor, Simon Cowell Exit USA
Simon Cowell’s X-Factor USA has been canceled after three seasons.
X-Factor USA never really caught on with American television audiences, so Simon Cowell is heading back to England, after failing to make the show relevant in the United States. Cowell had predicted before the start of the first season, that X-Factor USA would draw 20 million viewers.
Ratings
The ratings only became worse, with each season as evidenced by the finale ratings for each season:
Season One – 12.57 million
Season Two – 9.65 million
Season Three – 6.45 million
The handwriting was on the wall for the show, after the ratings fell 6 million from the first finale to the third finale.
Judges
The judging panel changed each season, with Cowell being the only judge on the panel for all three seasons.
The other three judges for each season:
Season One – L.A. Reid, Nicole Scherzinger, Paula Abdul
Season Two – L.A. Reid, Britney Spears, Demi Lovato
Season Three – Paulino Rubio, Kelly Rowland, Demi Lovato
Nicole Scherzinger may have been the worst judge, ever in any singing competition, when her indecision forced the panel into a deadlock, which caused Rachel Crow to leave the show. She was dismissed from the panel, after Season One, but amazingly was made a judge on the British version of X-Factor.
Hosts
Each season saw changes in the hosts for X-Factor USA:
Season One – Steve Jones
Season Two – Mario Lopez, Khloe Kardashian
Season Three – Mario Lopez
Steve Jones in Season One was the most ill at ease host I have ever seen on a television show. He became visibly upset, when he was trying to rush the judges, when making their decisions.
Mario Lopez could have done fine in Season Two, without Khloe Kardashian, who seemed out-of-place on the show. It was evident that Cowell saw that Lopez didn’t need any assistance, as he let Lopez host Season Three alone.
Winners
Season One – Melanie Amaro was announced as the first winner of X-Factor USA in December of 2011, but here it is February of 2014 and her debut album has never been released. If I remember correctly the Season One winner was supposed to receive a $5 million recording contract. Now it is doubtful if she will ever release her debut album, with the show no longer in production.
Season Two – Tate Stevens unlike Amaro had his debut album released only four months, after being declared the Season Two winner. His album has received rave reviews at Amazon.com with 63 reviewers rating his album, with five stars while only two reviewers gave it one star. However, the album is not selling well at Amazon and is currently ranked as of today, as 27,339th in music sales.
Season Three – Alex and Sierra were the last winners in the history of X-Factor USA, but it will be interesting to see, if they ever release a debut album.
X-Factor USA winners have not made much of an impact on the American music scene and most people probably couldn’t even tell you, who won in any of the seasons.
Singing competition shows should be measured, by whether the winners become household names and go on to be recording stars. X-Factor USA has failed miserably, when it comes to getting the names of their winners, to the point that American Idol winners have of being instantly recognized.
American Idol, while its ratings are trending downward still has the most name recognition of either X-Factor USA or The Voice. Even Cee Lo Green of The Voice has conceded, that The Voice has not launched a big name on the music scene as of yet. Nobody will take The Voice seriously until one of their winners reaches the status of American Idol winners like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.
Some American Idol contestants, who didn’t win their season have gone on to be successful like Jennifer Hudson. She finished 7th on American Idol during Season 3 and went on to release two Gold records and win an Oscar for her role in Dreamgirls and won a Grammy for her debut album Jennifer Hudson.
Chris Daughtry also has been a successful recording star, despite finishing 4th in Season 7 of American Idol. His debut album Daughtry has sold close to 5 million and it has gone quadruple platinum.
When The Voice can produce stars like American Idol it will gain credibility as a star-making singing competition.
In summary, X-Factor USA tried to match the popularity of American Idol and The Voice and fell far short of that goal.
The Fox television network only has two hours of programming each night, so they couldn’t afford to let X-Factor take up 3 or 4 hours a week, on their network. Fox network is probably happy to concentrate, on American Idol now and try to stem the loss in viewers of that show.
X-Factor No Longer Factor In Singing Competition Battle
Simon Cowell may be giving the thumbs up but
Fox may be giving thumbs down on his X-Factor
USA singing competiton show in May of this year.
Simon Cowell had dreams of his X-Factor USA becoming the top-rated singing competition show, but instead it has been solidly in third place behind The Voice and American Idol. Cowell predicted that X-Factor USA would draw 20 million viewers a week. Instead the show has never attracted less than 13 million, in its most watched episode in the three-year history of the show. The Fox network will make a decision in May, on whether to bring the show back for a fourth season.
It has been recently announced by Examiner.com, that even if X-Factor returns for a fourth season, that the hours will be greatly reduced. The show which has aired for four months in the first three seasons may be cut back to one or two months due to the low ratings garnered by the show.
Cowell is even selling his mansion in LA, which is another sign he will be spending less time with the show. Another option is that the show may cut back to one night a week. Fox only has two hours of programming, for each night of the week, so when X-Factor takes up both hours and delivers low ratings, so Fox will have to make some tough decisions.
There is speculation as to whether Cowell even be a judge, if X-Factor does return. The judging panel has shown no continuity at all. Cowell is only judge that has been on judging panel the first three seasons. The show has already used nine judges in the first three seasons.
Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger left the show after the first season, then Britney Spears and L.A. Reid left after Season 1. Demi Lovato a holdover from being a Season 2 judge returned for the third season, along with new judges Paulina Rubio and Kelly Rowland.
Demi Lovato has already announced she will not return for Season 4, if there is a Season 4 and Paulina Rubio and Kelly Rowland may not be returning either. It may be that Cowell is waiting to see if the show is renewed in May, before making any decisions regarding the judges.
Melanie Amaro Mystery
Season 1 winner Melanie Amaro still has not released her debut album, even though she was declared the Season 1 winner, in December of 2013. The original advertising for Season 1 promised a $5 million recording contract to the winner. Evidently X-Factor USA producers didn’t think her album Truly would not generate much income, so its release has been postponed indefinitely. Meanwhile Season 2 winner Tate Stevens, who won in December of 2012 released his debut album four months later in April of 2013. His album has received very good reviews at Amazon.com with 61 five-star reviews and only 2 one star reviews. However, the album is listed 33,133rd in music sales at Amazon.
So right now Amaro is in limbo waiting for her album, to be released 25 months after winning Season 1. It would be interesting to know the back story on the delay, in releasing her album.
It will be interesting to see how soon Season 3 winners Alex and Sierra release their album and if it does well in sales.
Host Changes
Steve Jones who hosted Season 1 was an unmitigated failure as host, as he looked on edge most of the time he was on-screen. Then Season 2 had Mario Lopez and Khloe Kardashian sharing hosting duties. Kardashian was apparently given the ax, after Season 2 ended.
Season 3 found Mario Lopez taking over the hosting duties alone. I look for him to return if the show is renewed for another season.
Ratings Disaster
X-Factor USA has been a ratings disaster of the first magnitude. The show averaged 12 million viewers the first season, then fell to 9 million in the second season, then tumbled to 6 million in the third season. The show has lost half of its viewers from Season 1 to Season 3.
The ultimate insult was when A Charlie Brown Christmas cartoon show aired for the 46th time, but still attracted 6.5 million viewers, while the Season 3 finale of X-Factor drew only 5.8 million viewers, during the time both shows were on the air. Season 3 finale showed a drop of 50 percent in viewers compared to the Season 1 finale.
Ratings For The Voice, American Idol and X-Factor USA On Finale Night
American Idol…….14.31 million
The Voice…………..14.01 million
X-Factor USA……..6.22 million
American Idol narrowly won the battle of the singing competitions, when comparing number of viewers on finale night. The Voice lost approximately 1.5 million viewers for the Season 6 finale, when comparing it to Season 5 finale numbers.
Future of Singing Competitions
American Idol starts Season 13 on January 15 and the judging situation should be much better, than that of Season 12. Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj were constantly at each other’s throats during Season 12 and it distracted from the contestants. American Idol has three judges who should get along well this season with Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. comprising the judging panel. We will miss Randy Jackson’s judging comments. No more comments like “You blew it out of the box”, “Yo-dawg”, ‘That was too pitchy for me”, That didn’t do it for me” and “You are in it to win it”. However, he will still be on the show replacing Jimmy Iovine as the mentor.
The Voice had their best season, for me at least in Season 6 and will be returning for Season 7 in February. The judging situation has been stable with Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, Cee-Lo and Blake Shelton being seen as the judges in five of the six seasons. Shakira and Usher are apparently returning for Season 7 after being on the panel for Season 5. Adam Levine and Blake Shelton will be on the panel for the seventh straight season.
X-Factor USA really has no future, until Fox discloses in May if the show will return for Season 4. Nothing can really be decided, until the announcement is made in May, since we may have seen X-Factor USA for the last time.
The Voice – King of the Singing Competition Shows
The Voice on the NBC television network is now the king of the singing competition shows, as its ratings are better than those for American Idol and X-Factor.
Carson Daly is the host of the The Voice, which is in its fifth season. The show debuted on April 26, 2011 and the 119th episode will air tonight.
Each finale show has attracted more viewers, than the previous year.
The year by year totals for the finale show of The Voice:
SEASON ONE – 11.5 MILLION
SEASON TWO – 11.90 MILLION
SEASON THREE – 14.13 MILLION
SEASON FOUR – 14.98 MILLION
The November 18 show drew 10.5 million viewers, which was the third lowest total of Season 5. However, The Voice is still doubling the audience of X-Factor, which attracted only 5.18 viewers to their show last week.
One concern about The Voice is that being shown twice a year may eventually hurt the viewership. But right now The Voice is solidly ensconced, where they are still attracting in the neighborhood, of at least 10 million viewers for each show.
American Idol, in comparison attracted a low of 14.31 million viewers for their last finale last May. That was about a half million more viewers than American Idol attracted in their finale.
Interplay Among The Voice Judges
One of the main attractions of the The Voice is the interplay between the judges, as they have good-natured fun needling the other judges.
Blake Shelton loves reminding the other judges that his team has won the last three competitions. Christina Aguilera looks like a different person this season, after losing some weight.
The ratings were not affected in Season 4, when Shakira replaced Christina and Usher replaced Cee Lo.
Blind Auditions
The blind auditions will probably always be a big part of the show. It has to be heartbreaking, for singers to sing their heart out and not have one chair turn around.
I wish there was some way to incorporate having the chairs turning around the whole season, but that is not likely to happen.
Battle Rounds
I am not a fan of the battle rounds, so usually skip from blind auditions to the live shows. It seems like the battle rounds are more attuned, to who can sing the loudest or hit the highest note.
Still, most fans probably enjoy the battle rounds.
The Voice Winners
Season One – Javier Colon – Had released two albums on Capitol, before ever appearing on The Voice. Colon won The Voice on June 29, 2011. He released his album Come Through For You on November 21, 2011, but he later left Universal Republic Records, which had released the album, since he thought he was receiving little support from the company.
Season Two – Jermaine Paul – Won The Voice in 2012. He has an album Finally, which is aptly named, since it shows up on Amazon, but no release date is given.
Season Three – Cassadee Pope – Won the The Voice in 2012. Her first album Frame by Frame, released by Republic Nashville shot to No.1 on Billboard. The previous best by a singer from The Voice was when Javier Colon charted at #143, after releasing his album. The reviews are outstanding for the new album, with 22 five-star reviews, 3 two star reviews and 3 three star reviews with only one review giving it one star.
Season Four – Danielle Bradbery – Won The Voice earlier this year. She is only 17 and her first album Danielle Bradbery is due to be released on November 25 on Big Machine Records. Her album is 20th in sales at Amazon.com, despite not being released yet.
Javier Colon didn’t fare too well with his first album after winning The Voice and Jermaine Paul hasn’t even had his released yet, while Cassadee Pope’s album broke in at No.1 and Danielle Bradbery has an album being released next week, which is great, when considering that Season 2 winner Jermaine Paul still doesn’t have an album in the stores.
Bright Future For The Voice
I see a bright future for The Voice, with Cassadee Pope’s album selling well and Danielle Bradbery’s album is 20th in sales, before it is even released.
This is the break The Voice needed to have their winning contestants making a name for themselves in the music business.
Unless American Idol can regain some of the popularity of the past we should see The Voice keep their place as king of the singing competition shows.
End of the Road for X-Factor?
The ratings numbers are not looking good for Season 3 of the X-Factor. Season 1 opened with 12.49 viewers, Season 2 drew 8.79 million viewers and Season 3 debuted with 6.45 million. So X-Factor has lost over 6 million viewers, since its debut in 2011.
Season 3 drew their most viewers on October 2, when 7.80 viewers tuned into the show. A season low 3.5 million viewers watched the show on October 31. The television ratings show that 5.18 million tuned into their last show on November 14. It is doubtful that the show can turn around their ratings this far into the season.
Simon Cowell made a monumental mistake, by predicting X-Factor would draw 20 million viewers a week. A different lineup of judges and host/ host has been seen all three seasons.
Changes For Each Season
Season 1 had a judging panel that consisted of Nicole Scherzinger, Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid and Simon Cowell. Steve Jones was the only host that season.
Season 2 debuted with two new judges in Demi Lovato and Britney Spears. L.A. Reid and Simon Cowell returned. The show also introduced two new hosts in Mario Lopez and Khloe Kardashian.
Season 3 saw more changes with L.A. Reid and Britney Spears leaving the judging panel and Paulino Rubio and Kelly Rowland joining the panel, as Demi Lovato returned for a second season, along with Simon Cowell. Khloe Kardashian was not asked to return for Season 3 and Mario Lopez became the only host for Season 3.
Britney Spears reportedly earned $15 million for the season she was a judge, but she seemed out-of-place on the show.
The judges this season are not being paid Britney Spears type money. Demi Lovato is reportedly earning $2 million this season, while Paulino Rubio is being paid $1.5 million, while Kelly Rowland is earning the least with a $1 million contract. Simon Cowell is earning between $75 and $90 million this season.
It will surprise me if there is a Season 4 of X-Factor, since I can’t see the Fox network continue to air both X-Factor and American Idol, with both shows losing viewers by the millions.
Melanie Amaro is an excellent example of how not to promote a winning singer. Amaro’s debut album still has not been released two years after she was the winner of Season 1. It is ironic that eight other singers and/or groups appearing on X-Factor have had albums released, while the Season 1 winner is still waiting for her album to drop.
Tate Stevens, who won Season 2 was signed to a RCA contract last January. He recorded his album Tate Stevens in April and by August had been dropped by RCA. So his recording contract lasted about 7 months.
It is surprising that anyone would even want to be the Season 3 winner of X-Factor, after learning the fate of the previous two winners.
The Voice Slipping In Ratings
The Voice started Season 5 with 14.98 million viewers watching, but by the time the Nov. 11 show aired 11.64 million had tuned in, for a loss of three million viewers from the first show.
However, The Voice is drawing about twice as many fans as X-Factor, so is in no danger of being dropped from the NBC schedule. No show attracting 11 million viewers will be dropped from any network.
X-Factor Not Likely to Return in 2014
I see very little chance of X-Factor returning for Season 4 in 2014. The show has run its course. I watched a show recently and there were very few songs sung, that I had ever heard of before.
The show may be going for a more contemporary audience, but it doesn’t seem to be working. I still like to hear the oldies sung on singing competition shows, but Simon Cowell is not a fan of that kind of music and is going to go down with the kind of music he likes.
Simon Cowell made a mistake by leaving American Idol, but I don’t think he envisioned making a mistake of this magnitude.
His vision of 20 million viewers and a reality of 5 million viewers must even tell him, that X-Factor is in the waning days of their existence.
2014 may be the first year that Simon Cowell won’t be making snide remarks, as he judges singers since American Idol debuted in 2002.
American Idol Judges For 2014 Named: Focus Back On Contestants
Season 13 of American Idol should be devoid of the drama last year, between dueling divas Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey.
Keith Urban will be the only returning judge from Season 12. Jennifer Lopez returns after taking a year off, while Harry Connick becomes the 11th judge, since the show debuted in 2002.
The producers apparently didn’t want a repeat of the hostility, between the two lady judges Minaj and Carey, so Lopez will be the sole female on the judging panel in 2014.
It was easy to tell during Season 12, that the feud between Minaj and Carey was a major distraction and took the focus off the contestants.
The Season 13 lineup of judges tells me, that the contestants will be the main focus this season. I won’t miss the snarky comments of Ms.Minaj. She was by far the rudest judge to ever appear on the judging panel. She turned out to be a female version of Simon Cowell and even a shade ruder, than the master of put downs.
I have found Jennifer Lopez, to be a compassionate judge and isn’t inclined to make catty remarks, about the singers like Nicki Minaj did in Season 12.
Keith Urban also refrained from making his criticisms too harsh, while judging the contestants.
Harry Connick Jr. will probably be my favorite judge, since he sings the music from the 40’s and 50’s that I grew up and probably won’t harp on music needing to be more contemporary, since he sings a lot of the American standards that ruled the music world, before Bill Haley and the Comets and Elvis Presley hit the music scene in the 50’s.
Randy Jackson To Mentor in 2014
Hopefully, we have heard the last of Randy Jackson’s catch phrases like “In it to win it”, “Dude that was not good for me”, “I’m sorry dawg, that didn’t work for me”, “I loved every minute of it, you were the bomb” and “I don’t know dawg, it sounded a little pitchy for me”.
Jackson has replaced last year’s mentor-critic Jimmy Iovine, so it will be interesting to see how Jackson handles his new role in the show.
Ryan Seacrest returns for Season 13 and has been the host since the show debuted in 2002 with Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman sharing the hosting duties in Season 1.
American Idol’s ratings peaked in 2003, when 38 million viewers watched the Season 2 finale. Only 14 million watched the Season 12 finale. A loss of 24 million viewers has to be a concern for the producers.
The Voice
The Voice drew over 15 million viewers to their finale in Season 4, surpassing American Idol for the first time and viewership has increased each year. I lose interest in The Voice, once the blind auditions are over, but sometimes will watch the live shows. Battle rounds and knockout rounds sound too much like a boxing competition, instead of a singing competition, so I skip those rounds altogether.
The winners of The Voice have been Javier Colon, Jermaine Paul, Cassadee Pope and Danielle Bradbery. None of them have really done much, to advance their careers since winning.
X-Factor
X-Factor has not been a factor in the singing completion genre, with only 9 million viewers watching the Season 2 finale.
The first two winners of X-Factor, Melanie Amaro and Tate Stevens have not made much of an impact, on the music world that I am aware of.
American Idol Still No.1
American Idol is still No.1 in my book. The show will never regain the notoriety it had, with other singing completion shows proliferating today, but for me it has kept my interest since watching Season 2 and I have been hooked on it ever since.
As far as I know it is the only singing competition show, to have winners sell millions of records and those winners become household names. I remember when Simon Cowell told Carrie Underwood on the show, that she would sell millions of records and his prediction was right on the mark.
The Voice and X-Factor Competing Again
The X-Factor has already started Season 3 and The Voice will be soon starting Season 5. I would be shocked if X-Factor were to fare better in the ratings, than The Voice since the fans of the The Voice seem to be very loyal.
We don’t receive Fox on our satellite, so we have to switch off the satellite to antenna to watch X-Factor and American Idol. Worst thing is that we have to watch every last commercial since we can’t record, either of those shows so we wind up not watching X-Factor, but will watch American Idol, because it seems like the only singing competition show, that is actually producing singers who make it in the music world.
American Idol: Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj Announce Departure As Judges
Rumors were swirling around that all four American Idol judges would not be returning for Season 13, before the end of Season 12, but it looks like those rumors are coming true.
Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj have announced they won’t be returning, while Randy Jackson had announced he was leaving the show before the finale.
We may never know if the producers told the three judges, that they were leaving the show and gave them a chance to make it look like they were leaving on their own volition.
Keith Urban may also be leaving the show, but no announcements have been made to that effect, that I am aware of at the present time. He has stated that he has no idea, if he will be returning or not as recently as yesterday.
Urban may be retained if only because of monetary reasons, since he only earned $5 million as a judge last season, while Mariah Carey earned $18 million for her stint as a judge, while Nicki Minaj collected $12 million for her time on the judging panel.
The falling ratings for American Idol in Season 12 apparently have the producers going in another direction as they choose their Season 13 judges.
Plus, they don’t want a repeat of the Carey-Minaj feud, which was a major distraction last season. Fans tune in the show to hear the contestants and don’t want to see a feud between two of the judges.
Jennifer Hudson’s name has been mentioned as a possible judge on American Idol for the Season 13 season. We could even have a judging panel of all former American Idol. She is reportedly in negotiation to sign on with American Idol.
Other names mentioned as possible judges are Kelly Clarkson, Adam Lambert and Clay Aiken. This article says Urban will not be returning, but have yet to have seen an official announcement on his leaving.
Yahoo has listed the ratings of American Idol for each finale and the drop this season, as compared to the finale in Season 11 has to be a cause of alarm for the producers:
Wed-09/04/2002 8-10 PM 23.021M 10.8/30
Wed-05/21/2003 9-10 PM 38.060M 16.8/37
Wed-05/26/2004 8-10:02 PM 28.839M 12.0/32
Wed-05/25/2005 8-10:01 PM 30.269M 12.5/31
Wed-05/24/2006 8-10:04 PM 36.383M 14.2/36
Wed-05/23/2007 8-10:09 PM 30.755M 11.5/31
Wed-05/21/2008 8-10:06 PM 31.688M 11.4/30
Wed-05/20/2009 8-10:07 PM 28.838M 10.0/28
Wed-05/26/2010 8-10:07 PM 24.215M 8.2/24
Wed-05/25/2011 8-10:07 PM 29.288M 9.2/26
Wed-05/23/2012 8-10:07 PM 21.5M 6.4/18
Thurs-05/16/2013 8-10:07 PM 14.3M 3.6/11
17 million fewer viewers tuned in for the 2013 finale, compared to 31 million viewers watching the 2008 finale. The 14 million viewers this year saw a drop of 15 million viewers since 2011.
It will be interesting to see who comprises the Season 13 judging panel, but it is incumbent on the producers, to reverse the downward trend in the ratings.
The ultimate sign that the show is not drawing well as in the past, is when Duck Dynasty a A&E cable network reality show recently attracted more viewers, than American Idol in the 18-49 demographic.
Frankie Valli Still Going Strong At 79
Frankie Valli was born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio on May 3, 1934 in Newark, New Jersey. The 79 year-old singer appeared on American Idol singing his classic hits Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You and Grease in the Season 12 American Idol finale.
Valli was enticed to sing after seeing Frank Sinatra in concert at the Paramount Theater in New York City. He appeared with various groups, but his main claim to fame came during his time singing with the Four Seasons. The group had monster hits like Sherry, Walk Like A Man, Big Girls Don’t Cry, which all went to No.1 on the Billboard charts in 1962 and 1963. Another 1963 hit Candy Girl peaked at No.3. Dawn (Go Away) would also climb to No.3.
His first hit as a soloist was Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You, which reached the No.1 spot on the Billboard charts. My Eyes Adored You went to No.1 in 1974, then he had his last No.1 solo song with Grease.
An interesting note of trivia is that the Four Seasons were named after a New Jersey bowling alley.
When Valli recorded solo albums he sang in his regular voice, not the falsetto he used with the Four Seasons. Valli sounded good whether singing in falsetto or regular voice.
The Four Seasons and Valli weren’t affected by the British invasion, as they didn’t alter their sound to fit in with the Beatles craze.
The late 70’s would see Valli battle otosclerosis, which causes loss of hearing. He would have to sing from memory during this time and but would regain his hearing in 1980.
He would record his first solo album in 27 years in 2007 and is still active today 62 years after he first became an active singer.
A crowning achievement for Valli and Four Seasons was their induction, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
These are some 30 second clips of the Four Seasons and Frankie Valli hits:
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/frankie-valli-mn0000794449/songs
Four Seasons singing Working My Way Back To You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pI1BgbYIPk
Four Seasons singing a medley of Dawn, Rag Doll and Bye Bye Baby
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmFFsBCHLB0
Ryan Seacrest who is usually shorter than most of the singers on American Idol had to be happy, to stand next to the diminutive Frankie Valli who is five foot five, so Seacrest towered over him at five foot eight.
It is great to know that 79 year-old Valli is still active, with no signs of retiring anytime soon.
American Idol: America Got It Right With Choice of Candice Glover
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.
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 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: Angie Miller Goes Home, All Four Judges Reportedly To Be Fired For Season 13
It was an almost foregone conclusion for me at least, that Candice Glover and Angie Miller would be the last two standing on American Idol but the voters chose Kree Harrison to face Candice in the last performance show next Wednesday night.
There was no doubt that Kree is a good singer, but to me she was not a singer of the caliber of Angie Miller. I don’t think Kree can connect with an audience nearly as well, as Candice who clearly has to be the favorite next week, but even she is not a sure winner, unless her supporters take time to vote her the next American Idol next Thursday night.
All Four Judges Could Be Fired
The latest reports circulating in the media are saying that all four judges will be fired, before the start of Season 13 next January.
In fact, Randy Jackson announced he is leaving the show in a Thursday statement. It would have been no surprise if Nicki Minaj or Mariah Carey had been fired or both, since their feud was a distraction during Season 12. Nicki Minaj telling Mariah to “simmer down sir” was a prime example of their dislike for each other.
Mariah has fired Randy as her manager, so that may have been a cause of a reported dustup between the two.
However, doubt many observers thought that all four judges would be fired. I thought Keith Urban did a good enough job to be retained for another season.
Even executive producer Nigel Lythgoe is reportedly in line to be fired. Ryan Seacrest could be the only familiar face to return next season.
The days of the high priced divas may be over for American Idol, after paying Mariah $18 million and Nicki $12 million, for this season.
Worst of all the May sweeps ratings determine the prices that sponsors are charged and with only 11.11 million tuning in last Wednesday night the show won’t have the money to pay the high salaries in Season 13. The 11.11 million viewers were the fewest viewers watching American Idol this season.
Season 6 ratings averaged around 30 million, so that is an indication of how far the ratings have tumbled since Jordin Sparks was the last woman, that was voted the winner of American Idol six years ago.
We should hear from American Idol management in the coming months, if these latest rumors are true. The show really has no choice, but to make changes in light of the extremely low ratings. There is almost no chance of the show being cancelled, since it is one of the top money-making shows on television.
So if you watch American Idol next week soak in the atmosphere, because it is almost a sure bet, that there will be major changes in Season 13.
American Idol: Nobody Going Home
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.
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
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 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: Candace Glover Current Favorite To Win American Idol
The American Idol judges Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj, Randy Jackson and Mariah Carey have their work cut out for them since only the most talented singers are left in the competition.
It is looking like Candace Glover is the current favorite to win the title of the American Idol for Season 12. It will be interesting tonight to see how Candace fares in the voting results, that will be revealed tonight. The best singer on American Idol is not always the winner on the finale in May.
Janelle Arthur on the other hand is almost certain to be in the bottom two tonight, after receiving lukewarm critiques from the judges. I agree with Nicki Minaj that Janelle will make a mark in country music, even if she doesn’t win the competition.
It will be sad to see Janelle go home tonight, if she does receive the fewest votes. She is very likeable and seems to be able to handle any criticism from the judges well.
However, there are no guarantees in American Idol voting, as Pia Toscano can testify to when she was eliminated early in Season 12.
So Ryan Seacrest might reveal some surprising results tonight, but in all likelihood Janelle will be bidding adieu to her fellow contestants tonight.
Kree Harrison probably will be among the top vote-getters tonight, with Angie Miller or Amber Holcomb joining Janelle in the bottom two.
The shocking event of the night was that Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey actually talked to each other, for the first time that I know of during Season 12 live shows.
Unreality TV delves further into their altercation last night:
Personally, I thought all the contestants performed well, but the judges know music much better than me who missed notes or sang offkey, so my opinion and a dollar will get me on the city bus, but doesn’t really mean that much.
New York Daily News has posted a recap of last night’s show:
Latest Idol News
Pia Toscano mentioned earlier in this article will be seen in her first movie Grace Unplugged in October and should also release her debut album. New York Daily News has more info on the Season 10 American Idol contestant:
Fantasia will be seen on American Idol tonight singing Lose To Win and Clay Aiken is also slated to appear in the telecast.
Taylor Hicks is still appearing in concerts, but his albums are not selling well. His 2011 album Taylor Hicks has received great reviews with 248 Amazon reviews rating the album 5 stars, while only 5 gave the album 1 star. His problem is that it has not sold well and is currently 87,267th in sales and new and used copies of the album can be bought for one cent.
American Idol: Candace Glover In Bad Situation
Candace Glover received enthusiastic praise for her singing on American Idol last night. Her rendition of Love Song was so good, that Randy Jackson said that it was the best performance of any singing competition ever. It is looking now like Candace is the one to beat. However, she didn’t even finish in the Top 3 last week. Instead Kree Harrison, Angie Miller and Lazaro Arbos finished in the Top 3.
The question now is whether her voting base will cast enough votes for her to be in the Top 3, when the voting results are announced by Ryan Seacrest tonight. American Idol is not always about who is best, but who has the strongest voting base.
A case in point is Lazaro Arbos, who is still around despite being the worst of the boy singers and worst of the remaining contestants. Lazaro was hammered unmercifully by the judges last night, but that may actually work in his favor. It may have caused him to garner sympathy votes, which may keep him on the show. Or maybe the criticism may cause some of his supporters, to abandon him and start voting for real singers. I like Lazaro but know good and well, that he is not going to be the next American Idol.
For the tenth best singer among the ten contestants, to be competing for a spot in the Final 5 tells me the voters are not particularly voting for the best singer.
However, even if Lazaro stays the girl who receives the least votes would almost certainly be saved by the judges.
Nicki Minaj continues being nice to a contestant one minute, then the next minute rip their singing the next minute. She seems to enjoy sticking it to a contestant, after luring the contestant into thinking she is going to say something positive about their performance. Janelle Arthur was the victim last night of her criticism saying her song was boring. I am not saying Nicki doesn’t have the right to criticize the contestants, but she should start her criticism from the start, instead of acting like she really cares about a contestant, then jump on them with both feet.
If the voters vote strictly on performance, then Candace, Kree Harrison and Amber Holcomb should be in the Top 3 tonight, with Janelle, Angie Miller and Lazaro at the bottom of the vote-getters. If Lazaro stays I look for Janelle to finish last and then be saved by the judges.
My personal pick as of today to be the next American Idol is Candace, with Kree Harrison likely to be the finalist with her on finale night, but Amber Holcomb is still in the running, if either of them falters.
One criticism for the show is that I see no need for the show to be two hours long, with only six singers left in the competition. The songs last about two minutes or less, so the 12 songs last night lasted only about 24 minutes. That left one hour and 36 minutes for judges to make their critiques, run umpteen commercials and fill the rest of the time with filler.
We are forced to watch the show on regular antenna, since the satellite network doesn’t carry the closest Fox station. We used to record the shows when we were on cable, which saved us watching about 40 minutes of commercials and turning the show into an hour and 20 minute show. The show will be two hours again next week, even though they may be down to five singers, unless Lazaro stays and a girl singer is saved, which would still leave six singers.
For a complete rundown on last night show from Hollywood.com:
American Idol: Will Lazaro Arbos Go Home Thursday?
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.
American Idol: Nicki Minaj Going Overboard……Again
Nicki Minaj took to Tweeter lecturing Devin Velez that he should be gracious for being on the show. When Velez sang I Can’t Help Myself on Wednesday night, with Lazaro Arbos and Burnell Taylor Minaj compared their singing to that of Hollywood week. Even worse, she ordered the group off the stage, which to me was extremely mean. They had to feel bad enough, after being trashed by Minaj, without her ordering them off the stage.
Nicki Minaj tweeted to Devin Velez last week, after he tweeted that Minaj was not very professional in ordering the group of Velez, Lazaro Arbos and Burnell Taylor, off the stage after their rendition of I Can Help Myself. Velez did admit the performance was sub-par, but thought Minaj acted unprofessionally, when ordering them off the stage. Minaj tweeted back that Velez needed to be gracious for his shot on the show.
Nicki Minaj was angered by a tweet by Devin Velez, after he was voted off the show and tweeted back to him that he should have been gracious for even being on the show. She went on to say in her tweet, that she was not going to save a boy, since the girls are much better singers. Velez said he didn’t mind being criticized by Minaj after the group of Velez, Lazaro Arbos and Burnell Taylor performed I Can’t Help Myself, but thought she acted unprofessionally, by telling the group to get off the stage.
I don’t think that the group singing should have even be judged on Wednesday night. It was just more filler to justify having eight singers sing in a two-hour show. Fox could have easily cut the show to half and hour, since each song takes about a minute and a half and then the judges do their critiques for 3 or 4 minutes, so each song and judging of that song should last no longer than 6 minutes. That comes out to 48 minutes for 6 songs. That left an hour and 12 minutes for commercials and filler material. Can’t wait till they get down to 6 songs, so maybe they will cut the show down to an hour and a half.
The first poll question is if Nicki Minaj is helping or hurting American Idol ratings in Season 12:
The second poll question is which of the remaining 7 contestants will become the American Idol of Season 12?
I think Minaj has been a major factor in Season 12 of American Idol losing so many viewers. Last Thursday night’s results show was the lowest ratings of the season. I do agree that the save will not be used on a boy, when it could be used on a girl with real talent.
My personal picks for top three to win and not necessarily the one I want to win would be between Candace Glover, Angie Miller and Kree Harrison.
There are even rumors that Ryan Seacrest may not return for the next season, but if I remember right he is in second year of three-year contract paying him $15 million a year.
Will The Voice Find A Singer That Can Sell Albums?
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
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:
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
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 Poll: Who Will Win American Idol in Season 12?
American Idol: Top 10 For Season 12 Announced
American Idol started back in January and last night finally revealed their Top 10 for Season 12 of the show. I wish that the voting would be based on the best singers, which may have allowed Breanna Steer (my personal favorite since she was from Louisiana and was very talented) and Aubrey Cleland to be in the Top 10. However, only five girls and five boys were allowed to join the Top 10.
It was an especially emotional moment, when Janelle Arthur was voted into the Top 10, in her third try at becoming the American Idol. She and Kree Harrison were not the only ones voted in that were from the same state, with Arthur living in Oliver Springs, Tennessee, which is located close to Knoxville and Harrison who hails from Nashville, Tennessee. Paul Jolley lives in Palmersville, Tennessee.. So three of the Top 10 reside in Tennessee.
Curtis Finch Jr., from St. Louis, Missouri, Devin Velez from Chicago, Illinois and Angela Miller from Beverly Massachusetts were the only Top 10 finalists, who were born outside the south.
The others from the south include Candace Glover, St. Helena Island, Georgia, Amber Holcomb, Houston, Texas, Burnell Taylor, New Orleans, Louisiana and Lazaro Arbos of Naples, Florida.
The Clicker Today website says this about the 11th singer going on tour with American Idol:
(And if you’re furious about someone getting eliminated, you may get a second chance to see your favorite again: The male and female who finished sixth in the semifinal voting in their groups will take the stage once more next week. The winner of that match will get a bonus 11th spot on the tour.)
Not sure if this means the 11th singer will sing only on the summer tour, since it doesn’t mention anything about the winner actually being a contestant.
There were a few surprises among the Top 10, but overall it seems to be a good group, especially the girls in the Top 10. It may be time to not split the Top 10 evenly among girls and boys, when the girls overwhelmingly had the best singers this year.
It was no surprise that Charlie Askew and Zoanette Johnson didn’t make the Top 10. Askew for some reason completely changed his look for the boys competition, which detracted from his singing. Askew seems to have serious emotional problems, which need to be addressed immediately. Zoanette may have made the Top 10 female singers, but she was not the singer the other girls were. She may have had an intriguing back story, but this is a singing competition and when Randy Jackson said her song was a mess it gave no reason, for voters to vote for her, with so many girls who sang much better on the show.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/08/showbiz/tv/american-idol-top-10-ew/index.html
American Idol: Judges Send Zoanette To Top 20 in Shocker
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
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?
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.
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 Vs. X-Factor
The Voice may have made a critical mistake, by competing head-on with X-Factor from 8PM ET till 9PM ET. X-Factor went on to finish their show uncontested during the 9PM till 10 PM time slot. It will be interesting what the ratings, which should be released later today will show, which show won the time slot.
It seems to me that singing competition fans would rather see Britney Spears and Demi Lovato making their debut as judges on the X-Factor, than watching The Voice for the third time in the week.
The blind auditions on The Voice to me are the highlight of the season. The tension as the singer sings and as family members watch is sometimes unbearable, as they wait for one of the judges to turn the chair around. It is sad to see a singer complete their song with no chairs turning around. The judges have not turned their chair around 14 times during the 35 songs sang over the three nights.
Bryan Keith was the only singer on Monday to see all four judges turn their chairs around as he sang It Will Rain. Adriana Louise Figueroa impressed all four judges, enough for them to turn their chairs around on Tuesday night during her rendition of Domino.
Nicole Nelson saw four chairs turn around on Wednesday night while singing Hallelujah.
It is easy to notice that Christina Aguilera is not interested in country singers, as she has passed on them.
The highlight for me after the first week’s shows was Gracia Harrison singing I Want To Be A Cowboy’s Sweetheart. The song is 78 years old, which could make it the oldest song sung this season, since it was written in 1934. Harrison’s yodeling really made the song standout. Christina Aguilera was the only judge to not turn their chair around. It was a foregone conclusion that she would choose Blake Shelton as her mentor.
For pure entertainment Casey Muesiggman owned the stage while singing Sweet Home Alabama, but I find it hard to believe he is only 22 years old, as he looks much older.
Terry McDermott from Scotland and now New Orleans was the first singer of the season, while singing Baba O’Riley and he chose Blake as his mentor. Treven Hunte who sang Listen to close out the Monday night show is a singer to watch. He is only 18, but he sings like a veteran singer.
One criticism of The Voice is that the singers we are seeing may not be seen again for several weeks during the battle rounds. I am not a battle rounds fan, since it seems like it turns out into a duel, to see who can reach the highest note.
It is possible for a singer disappear for seven or eight weeks before being seen during the battle rounds, especially since there will be 16 singers for each judge to mentor.
After the first three shows the judges have only 21 of the required pool of 64 singers, with 33 more slots to fill.
For a complete rundown of the first week of The Voice:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voice_(U.S._season_3)
X-FACTOR SHOWCASES BRITNEY SPEARS
The main reason Britney Spears was signed to a $15 million contract was to garner higher ratings this season. The saddest part of the show was when Jillian Jensen, a victim of being bullied during middle school and high school sang with so much emotion, that the judges could feel her pain and voted to advance her.
Spears was visibly moved when Don Phillip, who had sung with Britney Spears on her debut album in 1999 in a duet, after he failed to advance in the competition and had a meltdown, before leaving the stage. It was a classic case of a grown man losing it in front of millions of television viewers.
There was no mention of Melanie Amaro the first X-Factor winner, which makes me wonder, if they are holding out any hopes of her being a successful singer. The first season ended last December and her debut album won’t be released till this December. American Idol winners have their first album released about 6 months after the last show. I don’t know if there have even been any Melanie Amaro sightings.
The following article gives a more complete rundown of the shows, including best and worst singers and a list of zingers used by the judges:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/x-factor-recap-britney-spears-demi-lovato-369972
American Idol Nearing the End of Its Run?
Since Phillip Phillips became the current American Idol, the American Idol franchise is looking very shaky, as the music competition show can’t seem to get its act together.
The chemistry between judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, over the last two seasons was excellent, but now with Lopez and Tyler leaving the show and Randy Jackson’s status questionable the show seems to be in disarray.
Mariah Carey is the only judge confirmed for Season 12 and will reportedly be earning $18 million. I am not sure she is a good fit for the show and she is certainly not worth $18 million. It seems strange after the ratings decline of Season 11, that they would pay that kind of money to a judge.
Carey is not only making a lot of money, but is trying to influence who else is on the panel. She was furious to know Nicki Minaj could be on the judging panel. Carey apparently thought she was to be to the only female judge on the panel and at the age of 42, she would be 13 years older than the 29 year-old Minaj. In addition Carey seems to have had the impression that she would be the only female judge like Jennifer Lopez was in Seasons 10 and 11.
Meanwhile Carey is calling for Lenny Kravitz to be one of the judges in Season 12. There are all kinds of rumors, about whether Randy Jackson will return as a judge or as a mentor, plus there is a long list of names being mentioned as possible judges.
Kanye West, Alanis Morrisette, Keith Urban, Enrique Iglesias, Brad Paisley, Adam Lambert, Carrie Underwood and even Charlie Sheen have been mentioned as possible judges.
Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley are the only possible judges, that I would like to see get the judging gig, but that probably won’t happen since they are both country music stars.
The question is how much longer the American Idol producers will continue to let this media circus go on. I think they made a huge mistake in signing Mariah Carey, especially at $18 million and since she is trying to influence which other judges will join the panel.
There is no way Carey is worth the extra $6 million, over what Jennifer Lopez was earning as a judge, when she signed her $12 million contract. Carey may surprise me, but I don’t see her having the emotional connection with contestants, that Lopez exhibited in her two years as judge.
Fox and the American Idol producers need to make their decisions soon on the judges for Season 12. Rumors are floating around that there may even be a fourth judge in Season 12.
The days as a ratings juggernaut for American Idol may soon be over. There were some chinks in the armor in Season 11, when almost 8 million fewer viewers turned in to see the finale, than had tuned in for the Season 10 finale.
Season 10 had Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina in their finale, while Season 11 had Phillip Phillips and Jessica Sanchez, so that may explain the drop in the ratings.
I look for X-Factor to have a ratings spike in Season 2 with Britney Spears on the judging panel. Even though American Idol and X-Factor don’t compete directly against each other, there may be viewers who like X-Factor so much more, that they won’t bother watching American Idol next year.
It is time for American Idol to get their act together, assemble the rest of the judging panel and end the present chaos and show Mariah Carey, that she is not going to pick and choose who the judges will be on the panel.
Ryan Seacrest may not even be able to save American Idol, if something isn’t done soon to restore the luster of the American Idol franchise.
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.
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/
Josh Ledet Sounded Even Better Live (Now With Video of Concert)
It was just yesterday that I learned Josh Ledet would be appearing, in Heritage Square in Sulphur, Louisiana. We got there early about 1:20 PM, before the 2PM concert. We live only about a mile-and-a-half from Heritage Square, so it took about three minutes to arrive at the venue.
Jason Ledet, the brother of Josh was the host of the show and introduced all the acts and thanked the sponsors and workers, who did an amazing job, considering they only had two days to set up for the concert.
A lady sang Amazing Grace, then a couple of country singers sang a couple of songs each. The lady had a French sounding name so won’t attempt to guess at the spelling. She returned after the country singers sang and sang the Loretta Lynn classic You Ain’t Woman Enough To Take My Man.
Then a fourth singer sang six songs, while playing the acoustic guitar, with none of the songs being recognizable to me and the crowd seemed to be uneasy, since most of the crowd was in the extreme heat and wanted to see Josh. Then a surprise guest Chase Slaughter of X-Factor sang a song acapella.
After all acts left the stage, it was time for Josh to make his entrance and he rewarded his fans, with his stirring rendition, of When A Man Loves A Woman. Almost everyone was on their feet, from the first note of the first song, till he left the stage. Josh called out to some family and friends, that he recognized. He also sang It’s A Man’s World, Ain’t Too Proud to Beg and I Wish a song that really rocked the house and sounded even better than this version on American Idol.
Josh also sang Ready For Love. If you have a chance to hear Josh Ledet take it, because you will never forget the experience. He commands the stage well and has as much stage presence, as anyone since Elvis Presley. You could feel the electricity in the air when the took the stage.
This video shows Josh singing at the concert at Heritage Square in Sulphur, Louisiana. The video starts off with still photos, but it switches to video, when Josh begins to sing. Somehow this writer was captured on this video shot, since if I had known I would have absconded from the scene. I am the prematurely gray man wearing a Calvary Baptist T-shirt, not having a clue I was being filmed. The best part of the video is when Josh sings I Wish, which was a hit for Stevie Wonder. The video doesn’t come close to the sound of actually being there:
He came out early because of the extreme heat. Free bottles of water were being handed out to the fans, to keep them hydrated. My wife drank three or four bottles of water by herself and was feeling sick, when the crowd closed in to see Josh. We were just outside the covered part of the arena, so there was no escaping the heat, unless leaving the seat, to stand under the trees.
We left after Josh finished the first half of the show and went to his motor home behind the stage. I was badly sunburned by then, so we decided to leave before my wife got sicker or I got more sunburned, than I already was.
The main thing is that we got to see and hear Josh Ledet in person. I will be shocked if he is not a bigger star, than the American Idol Phillip Phillips or runner-up Jessica Sanchez.
Best of all, the concert, food and water were free, with McDonalds furnishing free hamburgers.
Josh Ledet will be returning to Louisiana later this summer, when the American Idol tour stops in Lafayette, Louisiana and appears at the Cajundome. The seats won’t be cheap, but if you got the money you will definitely get your money’s worth.
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.
Will A Girl Ever Win American Idol Again?
It really was no surprise when Ryan Seacrest announced, that Phillip Phillips was the Season 10 American Idol. He became the fifth consecutive boy to win the coveted title. He joins David Cook, Season 7 winner, Kris Allen, Season 8 winner, Lee DeWyze, Season 9 winner and Scotty McCreery, Season 10 winner as American Idol winners, since Jordin Sparks won in Season 6.
Kelly Clarkson won Season 1, while Fantasia Barrino won Season 3, Carrie Underwood won Season 4 and Jordin Sparks was the Season 6 winner and are the only girls to win American Idol in 11 seasons.
The girls won three of the first four seasons, but the guys have won six of the last seven seasons. Jessica Sanchez was a much better singer, than Phillip Phillips, yet saw her American Idol dreams dashed last night.
American Idol needs to address the voting issue, to keep this trend of guys winning from continuing, whether they are best singer or not. The more votes cast, then the more chance of a guy winning.
I have a feeling that the girls are voting early and often for the guys, especially when 132 million votes were cast on Wednesday night. It may be time to forget about announcing these huge vote totals and allow one vote per person. That change should give the girls a better chance of winning.
Taylor Hicks and Lee DeWyze are two guys that may have never been voted as American Idols, if the voters had been limited one vote. I know that American Idol doesn’t want the final vote for each singer released, but it would give us an idea of how the voting is slanted toward the guys.
Just my opinion but I think Josh Ledet and Jessica Sanchez should have been the two finalists last night, but Phillips voters kept Josh from having a chance to make the final two.
Jessica was very fortunate that the judges hadn’t used their save on someone like Heejun Han, or she wouldn’t have been saved. It is difficult to believe that she received the fewest votes that week, since she was showing week after week, that she was the best female singer on the show.
American Idol lost almost six million viewers, compared to the 2011 final performances. The final performance show drew a record 31.78 million viewers in Season 5, but only 14.85 million voters tuned in on Wednesday night, a drop of almost 17 million viewers from the record.
The ratings for the finale last night have not been announced, but I look for it to be lowest total for a finale night.
The Voice and X-Factor have caused a huge dent in American Idol ratings. With The Voice and X-Factor returning in September, viewers may have tired of watching reality singing competitions even more, by the time American Idol returns next January. X-Factor is hoping to increase their ratings with the addition of Britney Spears and Demi Lovato, as judges to replace the departed Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul.
American Idol producers will be making changes to the show, hoping to slow the declining ratings. American Idol isn’t the juggernaut it once was, but it is usually near the top in the ratings.
Now American Idol has to deal with Phil Phillips having surgery very soon, since he will need four to six weeks to recover from his surgery and ma y not even be available for rehearsals for the summer tour.
Poll Asks If Readers Will Watch American Idol Finale Next Week
American Idol Final 2 To Be Revealed Tonight
Josh Ledet almost looks like he is sure to be the next American Idol. However, there are no locks when it comes to American Idol voting. Ryan Seacrest will announce the voting tonight and I have a feeling the final two will be Joshua Ledet and Phil Phillips,but it wouldn’t surprise me to see Jessica Sanchez competing against Josh, to be the next American Idol next Tuesday night.
There is even a chance that Josh could be leaving the show tonight, if his fans don’t take the time to vote for him, thinking it is a done deal that he will be the next American Idol.
I was only able to see the last half hour of the show last night, after coming home from church. We don’t have a DVR so there was o way to record the whole show.
Anyway, we saw all three singers sing the songs, that Jimmy Iovine had picked for them during that half hour.
Josh Ledet did his usual great job of singing No More Drama and the judges continued to praise his singing and his performance.
Jessica Sanchez sang I’ll Be There as the song Jimmy had chosen for her. I thought she did a good job, but Randy Jackson said it was OK for him and the song didn’t have a “moment, moment” . For me that song doesn’t have a “moment, moment” in the first place, but that is only my opinion and nothing more.
Phil Phillips sang We’ve Got Tonight, the first song of Phil’s that I really liked. I like the classic ballads, so may be why I liked it so much.
Josh still looks like he should be in the final two, but with American Idol you never know till the votes are announced. I have a feeling that Phil has a huge fan base that may keep him from going home tonight. It could even be a Jessica and Phil finale next week, if the fans of Josh didn’t take time to vote for him last night.
For a recap of the complete show:
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20596396,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines
We will know who the next American Idol will be in six days. I can see Josh Ledet selling millions of albums, but not so well for Jessica and Phil, when it comes to record sales. Album sales for Phil should not go well, if he is the next American Idol nor for Jessica. I can’t see either of them selling enough albums to go gold or platinum.
Personally, I will be rooting for Josh as long as he is in the competition, since he lives so close to our house. In addition to that though, he is clearly the best singer on American Idol this season.
Who Will Go Home Next on American Idol?
Joshua Ledet seems to be the one to beat in American Idol this season after his performance last night. However, we know American Idol voters can shock us sometimes. If Joshua Ledet winds up in the bottom three tonight, then all bets are off as to who will win Season 11 of American Idol.
Skylar Laine and Jessica Sanchez seem to be gaining momentum after their performances last night. I look for Hollie Cavanagh or Phillip Phillips to be going home tonight, but it depends on how strong of a voter base that Skylar has after her Wednesday night’s performances.
I will continue to support Joshua Ledet, as long as he remains in the competition. My favorite singer after Ledet is Hollie Cavanagh, but she could be exiting the show tonight, despite singing very well last night.
American Idol has reached the point of the competition, where a very good singer will go home every night till finale night, so Hollie may be a victim of the numbers game tonight. Personally, I think Hollie is a much better singer, than Phillip Phillips but feel like his fanbase is probably stronger than her fan base.
We didn’t get home from church till the show was half over, so this recap from the Los Angeles Times has more details of performance night:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2012/05/american-idol-recap-top-5-60s-brits.html
American Idol: And Now There Are Six
Colton Dixon received the fewest votes on American Idol and was sent home on Thursday’s show. The apparent favorite to win now is Joshua Ledet, the 20-year-old singer from Westlake, Louisiana.
However, we all know to expected the unexpected on American Idol, after Jessica Sanchez was saved by the judges, after receiving the fewest votes a week ago.
Phillip Phillips, Skylar Laine and Jessica Sanchez and Joshua Ledet were safe on Thursday night, with Colton Dixon, Holllie Cavanagh and Elise Testone in the bottom three.
It will be interesting to see which one of the contestants that were safe last night will be in the bottom three last night. I think Phillip Phillips showed he is not just a one-dimensional singer, by singing In The Midnight Hour, which was released by Wilson Pickett 47 years ago in 1965.
Still the highlight of the night for me was when Joshua sang A Change is Gonna Come composed and recorded by Sam Cooke in 1963. Joshua poured so much emotion into the song, that the judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler couldn’t help but give Joshua a standing ovation.
The song has been sung on American Idol many times in the past, but never with the emotion and passion, that Joshua showed while he was singing it. The song is #12 in the Rolling Stone magazine’s 500th Greatest Songs of All-Time.
Elise Testone’s rendition of Let’s Get It On was sang well, but Elise is having problems with the judges, similar to the problems of Haley Reinhart experienced in Season 10. No matter how well she sings, it seems like the judges find fault with her singing, song selection or her emotional connection with the song.
Right now Joshua and Elise are the only contestants, to me that could interest me in buying their album. Before last week’s shocking vote, it looked like Jessica Sanchez was on her way to being the next American Idol. Now all bets are off as we have four girls and two boys remaining in the competition.
Just my opinion, but I think voters should be limited to one vote per voter, which would be fairer to all the contestants. The way it is now a texter that can text fast can vote many times for one contestant, while non-texters or slow texters are at a definite disadvantage.
Hollie is still my favorite should Joshua be voted off the show, but I wouldn’t mind Elise winning since I think she has the passion to be successful in the music industry. Skylar Laine poured every ounce of emotion and energy into her songs on Wednesday night and she seems to be coming on strong now.
This post includes the following poll asking readers who they think will be the next American Idol:
Nostalgia and Now 