‘Idol” will never be the same.
For eight No. 1 seasons, the show’s bedrock was the good cop-bad cop repartee between judges Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell. It was almost impossible for the often teary-eyed Abdul to say a bad thing about any of the singers. Conversely, it was almost impossible for the condescending Cowell to say anything constructive about any of the singers. With Abdul’s unexpected departure from the show over salary demands, that dynamic, which both studio audience and at-home viewers ate up, is gone.
Professional “Idol” watchers will be scrutinizing the new regime. “Once the show begins, there’s going to be a lot of chatter about the changing dynamic of the judges panel, particularly when the live shows begin,” says “Idol” expert M.J. Santilli.
Ellen DeGeneres will appear on the show in February for the Hollywood auditions. Until then, Abdul’s empty seat will be filled by a variety of music industry figures, such as country singer Shania Twain, R & B diva Mary J. Blige, Broadway fireplug Kristen Chenoweth and, weirdly, “How I Met Your Mother Star” Neil Patrick Harris. Unlike the other judges on “Idol,” the well-liked DeGeneres, who has hosted major awards shows such as the Oscars, has no background in the music industry. Although she has invited many an “Idol” contestant to be a guest on her weekday talk show, it will be interesting to see how contestants respond to her feedback on something she knows little about — singing and music.
“Fans were expecting Paula to be replaced with another performer,” says Santilli. “When Ellen was announced as her replacement, it was shocking. She is not connected to the music business in any way, so there were a lot of doubts about her competency. Since the announcement, Ellen has done a good job explaining her role on ‘Idol’—that of the ‘regular Joe and Jane’ who will be compassionate, yet tough.”
The departure of Abdul from the show gave “Idol” an opportunity to keep the judges as a trio, as they were when the showed debuted in 2000. But the appointment of songwriter Kara DioGuardi as a judge last year was a creative gamble that didn’t always pay off.
Knowledgeable about her business, DioGuardi’s pointers to the contestants seemed too academic for television. She didn’t have Abdul’s natural empathetic qualities, nor her loony charm. Her credentials as a songwriter were brought into serious question when last year’s finalists — Kris Allen and Adam Lambert — were forced to sing one of her tunes, the cliché-ridden “No Boundaries.”
Santilli says that DioGuardi will likely have been the recipient of some coaching in the off-season. “I don’t think they’ll rein in, so much as advise her on how to keep her remarks pithy. She had some good insights, she just needs to make them more pointed,” she says.
Obviously, the show needed someone with DeGeneres’ time-tested appeal, honed since she first starred in her own ABC sitcom, “Ellen,” in 1998, to mask DioGuardi’s odd-girl-out vibe. Even though DeGeneres is bound to put her own stamp on the show, the change may be something “Idol” viewers won’t accept. One can’t really imagine DeGeneres trading insults with Cowell the way Abdul did. Cowell behaved like an embarrassed older brother to Abdul’s sentimental little sister.
“It’s hard to imagine Ellen DeGeneres and Simon having the same playful dynamic that Paula and Simon had. Of course, sometimes that playfulness went a little too far, but overall, I think it will be missed,” Santilli says.
Cowell’s interest in the show may be on the wane. Eager to bring his own show, “X Factor,” to American television when his “Idol” contract is up this year, his departure from “Idol” at the end of the season is almost certain.
So what can viewers expect this year? After expanding the number of finalists that could compete in Hollywood from 24 to 36, “Idol” has decided that 24 really worked better. The blogosphere is buzzing with the names of contestants already rumored to be a lock for Hollywood week.
Among them: bluesy singer Jason Diaz, 26, of Los Angeles, Calif.; Bryce Larsen, 26, of Alexandria, Va.; Moorea Masa, 17, of Portland, Ore., who auditioned last season as part of the group Rainbow Coalition, whose singer Danny Gokey became a top contestant; and Daniel Murillo, 26, of Hesperia, Calif., who will audition with a song by the band Shy.
While it’s tempting to dismiss the audition process as a freak show, “Idol” does have a history of picking several of its winners the first time out.
“Carrie Underwood, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard did really well on their first auditions, getting 3 thumbs up from the judges,” Santilli says. “Kris Allen and Kelly Clarkson’s auditions were not aired initially. David Cook got 3 yeses, but Simon and Randy had caveats. Simon was critical of Jordin Sparks, calling her ‘too sugary’ and ‘not perfect’ but he said yes anyway.”