Judging Judges
Don't pre-judge, don't pre-judge." The voices in my head keep saying. American Idol will go into 2013 with Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey and Randy Jackson. Jackson is a joke of a judge, and why they are bringing him back is pretty depressing.
And who knows, maybe the other 3 judges will add something.
But these shows (The Voice, American Idol, X Factor) aren't about finding talent anymore, they are about topping themselves with Celebrity judges.
Here was the judging panel for American Idol: Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson. The 2 men no one ever heard of and a former Pop star that had faded into obscurity.
Fox got 'em for cheap, but it paid off. They made some stars out of the batch: Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Daughtry (kind of). But even back then the track record of making recording stars out of their yearly Top 10 was pathetic.
But then Simon Cowell got bored, and Paula's loopy act got old and Randy was still a nobody.
So they brought in Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez. And they were a bomb in year 2, so much so that an off-camera mentor, Jimmy Iovine, proved to be the only judge anyone cared about.
But since AI signed Tyler and Lopez all these shows seem to be focused less on the singer's and more on close-up's on the judges strutting to their seats.
The Voice has yet to produce, through 2 seasons, anyone who can sell records or even get noticed. Adam Levine knows this, but there's not much he can do.
Recording stars are hard to make in this age of fractured radio formats and .99 downloads.
The ratings are down for The Voice and the X Factor (who signed Demi Lovato and Britney Spears to try and bring in a younger audience). And I want to see if American Idol continues to drop as well.
Oh, and another year of Ryan Seacrest. Yippee!
Postscript: Aguilera and Cee-Lo are taking a cycle off from the Voice, being replaced by Shakira (who needs a career boost) and Usher. Shelton and Levine need to take off as well in the next cycle.
And who knows, maybe the other 3 judges will add something.
But these shows (The Voice, American Idol, X Factor) aren't about finding talent anymore, they are about topping themselves with Celebrity judges.
Here was the judging panel for American Idol: Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson. The 2 men no one ever heard of and a former Pop star that had faded into obscurity.
Fox got 'em for cheap, but it paid off. They made some stars out of the batch: Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Daughtry (kind of). But even back then the track record of making recording stars out of their yearly Top 10 was pathetic.
But then Simon Cowell got bored, and Paula's loopy act got old and Randy was still a nobody.
So they brought in Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez. And they were a bomb in year 2, so much so that an off-camera mentor, Jimmy Iovine, proved to be the only judge anyone cared about.
But since AI signed Tyler and Lopez all these shows seem to be focused less on the singer's and more on close-up's on the judges strutting to their seats.
The Voice has yet to produce, through 2 seasons, anyone who can sell records or even get noticed. Adam Levine knows this, but there's not much he can do.
Recording stars are hard to make in this age of fractured radio formats and .99 downloads.
The ratings are down for The Voice and the X Factor (who signed Demi Lovato and Britney Spears to try and bring in a younger audience). And I want to see if American Idol continues to drop as well.
Oh, and another year of Ryan Seacrest. Yippee!
Postscript: Aguilera and Cee-Lo are taking a cycle off from the Voice, being replaced by Shakira (who needs a career boost) and Usher. Shelton and Levine need to take off as well in the next cycle.
posted by Tom Lane at 9:22 AM
<< Home