Living. Blogging.
American Idol is baaaaaccckkkkk!
Hello, crazy auditions with half-naked hairy (and then not so hairy) men in lycra bikinis, stalker songwriters, and self-righteous Princess Leia wannabes.
Hello, budding talent. Hello, backstage drama.
For American Idol fans it’s like winter’s broken and the year has truly begun. But are you the biggest fanatic, ever? Prove it! Take the American Idol Quiz!
Simon Cowell defended American Idol against predictions that the show was losing its appeal. The show got some flack when many of its “graduates” suffered slow careers — notably Taylor Hicks, Ruben Stoddard and Katherine McPhee, who got booted from their record labels.
In his interview Simon shares show innovations, and how this batch of hopefuls has been “the best so far” because of their skill and, uhm, personality.
One of the people being his biggest fan, Renaldo Lapuz, who even wrote and performed a song for Simon.
“You know,” laughed Simon, “I have a horrible feeling that’s actually going to be a big hit.”
2006 American Idol winner Taylor Hicks just got dropped by his record label, J Records.
His album sales weren’t doing that well, and you could tell that he wasn’t getting the same level of hype as runner-up Chris Daughtry.
Taylor’s never been mainstream, and some say that his American Idol win that had millions of people signing up for the “Soul Patrol” was purely from his charismatic stage presence. But man, he can sing. Though the album didn’t do well commercially, many critics said that it was one of the most “musically mature” releases of any American Idol graduate.
We’re hoping Taylor finds his niche — perhaps with a label that understands him, and doesn’t expect him to follow that cookie-cutter mold of music.
The Nielsen Media Research announced the Top 10 TV shows of 2007.
Leading the pack is the Fox show American Idol, which got a stunning 17.3 rating. It’s the second year in the row for Simon and company, who — despite a really bad selection of contestants — still got the audience hooked. However the numbers are slipping, and if the new season brings another batch of losers, who knows if it’ll still keep the attention of a disgruntled and more discriminating audience.
Another reality shows secured the next top spots: Dancing with the Stars, which got only slightly higher ratings than NBC’s Sunday Night Football. CSI, one of CBS’ best shows, still got in the top 10, but slipped from number 4 to number 7; CSI Miami slipped from number 7 to number 10.
Some new shows got into the Top !0, like Grey’s Anatomy and Samantha Who? House, another Fox hit, made it to the list.
Specials like the Academy Awards and the Superbowl were also part of the top 10 most-watched shows of the year.
American Idol executive Nygel Lithgoe killed any hopes of Britney Spears guesting on the popular TV show.
The show normally invites singers to “mentor” the aspiring Idols. However, Lithgoe points out that the former pop superstar is not in any position to be anyone’s hero. “We would’ve had her last year, when she was trying to get it all back together again,” he said. Now, Britney has to focus on herself first. “She’s not well enough to do anything and she needs looking after, rather than being pushed on to the camera or pushing herself on the camera,” he said.
Don’t be too hurt, Britney. Simon Cowell likes you.