American Idol is a country phenomenon that started eight years ago. The show is in search of the best singer performer in the United States. When it first started, it was so popular that thousands of young adults and teenagers flocked to their auditions in hopes of becoming the next American Idol while millions of viewers watched in anticipation. Today, thousands still flock to auditions; however, viewer ratings have dropped.
American Idol tours around the country to big cities and holds auditions for people aging from 15 to 28 years of age (Kaufman, 2010). All of these people want to live the American Dream and be part of America’s popular culture history. American Idol had a panel of judges that were so intriguing and at times rude, that it would suck you in as a viewer just to see how they were going to treat the next person auditioning. Now, one of the three original judges remains.
Originally, American Idol judges were Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. They worked well together, arguing at times but at what appeared to be for the ratings. Paula describes the relationship between the three of them as close. “I never had brothers in my life, so Randy [Jackson] and Simon were like my brothers. Simon was the brother I never asked to have. What was beautiful about it is that we developed an amazing friendship” (James, 2010). Randy was the same throughout all the years on American Idol, calling the performers “dawg” as a term of endearment showing that he is interested in them. The most talked about of the three, Simon Cowell, had a very sharp edge to him. He could actually make someone cry and appear to not have it affect him. His straight forward honest opinions are what made watching the show worthwhile. Most of the time, you could agree with Simon even if you thought he was out of line with his harsh words. After eight seasons, Paula Abdul leaves American Idol. Her replacement, Ellen DeGeneres. Then after nine seasons, Simon Cowell also leaves American Idol.
The show has been in trouble for the past few seasons first with the exit of Paula Abdul. They brought in Kara DioGuardi the year before Paula left but Kara never really appeared to be that important to the contestants, they really appeared to care what Paula and Simon said. Then there was always the Paula and Simon flirtatious tension going on that I think some viewers were watching for, pulling the lime light from the contestants to them, not to mention Randy and Kara seemingly invisible presence. Last season the show brought in Ellen DeGeneres as Paula Abduls replacement which to me was a good move, I really like her and she brings a bit of fun and laughter. However, she really couldn't judge which is what the show was about. Now we are left without Simon, which is really what made the show interesting. A person willing to give his full non-biased opinion which is what the contestants needed to be able to move forward in such a dog eat dog industry. After the last season ended, we now find out that Kara was let go stating “DioGuardi struggled to find a groove in her first year on “Idol” and faced criticism from fans and critics” (Kaufman, 2010). And Ellen has graciously backed out stating “it was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than I bargained for. I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings” (Ziegbe, 2010).
With the revolving door in constant movement, the two newest panel judges are Steve Tyler of Aerosmith and Jennifer Lopez known best as J. Lo. What are people saying now, "it’s nice to see all the judges are music industry related this season" (Hudson, 2010).
References
James, A. 2010. Paula Abdul Wants Simon Cowell’s Mom to Replace Him on American Idol. Retrieved on October 3, 2010 from http://www.popeater.com/2010/06/14/paula-abdul-simon-cowell/.
Kaufman, G. MTV Network. 2010. American Idol Drops Minimum Age Limit to 15. Retrieved on October 3, 2010 from http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1641977/20100621/story.jhtml.
Kaufman, G. MTV Network. 2010. Kara DioGuardi Reportedly out at “American Idol”. Retrieved on October 3, 2010 from http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1644775/20100730/story.jhtml.
Ziegbe, M. MTV Network. 2010. Ellen DeGeneres Leaves American Idol. Retrieved on October 3, 2010 from http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1644762/20100729/degeneres_ellen.jhtml.
Hudson, J. Examiner. 2010. Jennifer Lopez not feuding with Ryan Seacrest on Idol. Retrieved on October 3, 2010 from http://www.examiner.com/entertainment-news-in-toronto/jennifer-lopez-not-feuding-with-ryan-seacrest-on-idol.
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