It seems like everytime you turn around, another network has another reality show. Sure, Survivor was great, but not much else has been since then. Reality TV is gettin' kinda... old. Well, Fox may have just breathed new life back into this trend with the premiere of American Idol.
The 411
American Idol is based on a highly successful British show called Pop Idol. The deal is this: a bunch of wannabes audition, and audition and audition. First a pannel of judges from the music biz make some cuts, but eventually it's up to the viewers to decide who stays and who goes home crying to mommy - or back to their job at the local burger joint. The concept seems old - hello? Pop Stars anyone? But it's actually very fresh and very addictive.
The Premiere
The first episode in American Idol takes the viewer through all the coast-to-coast auditions, where judges Paula (I used to have my own career) Abdul, Randy (I've won Grammys for producing) Jackson and Simon (I'm evil and I like it) Cowell, pick and choose who will go on to audition further in Hollywood, California. The auditions were held in big cities across the US like Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Chicago and Atlanta. The number of people that came out to show their stuff is amazing. The only thing more amazing in American Idol is the amount of truly talentless people who bothered to wait in line for hours and hours. Seriously bad singers. Seriously. Picture Britney Spears without the backing tapes... and then times it by a thousand! That's how bad some of these people were - and they thought they were (truly believed they were) the next Alicia Keys! How do you get that far away from reality?
Evil Simon
Simon Cowell, one of the judges on American Idol, is a record executive from Britain who was in on the original British series, Pop Idol. He's definitely not givin' the Brits a warm and fuzzy rep. He's brutally honest and downright cruel with the auditioners. He tells them things like "Have you heard of the expression tone deaf?" and "You should sue your voice coach" and my personal favorite "That was absolutely horrible" on a regular basis, even bringing some people to tears. Other people (usually the ones you agree were absolutely horrible) get totally ticked-off at him and swear or yell.
Memorable Auditions on American Idol
- Rose, who sung Alicia Keys so off key that Fallin' was completely unrecognizable. And then she told the judges she did it on purpose.
- Stephanie Sugarman who, even though Simon told her go to back to her job selling cheese, didn't get that she didn't make the cut. She marched right back into the audition room and began singing again. Then she just about begged for their approval. Ugh!
- The blonde from Chicago who sang Lady Marmalade like it was an opera.
- The poor, little guy who was dressed like Eminem but sung like a dead cat.
- The 16 year-old who was Christina Aguilera's clone, but without the talent, voice or dancing ability.
American Idol was painful - in that can't-wait-til-next-episode kinda way! The Fox summer series has a serious shot at sweeping the nation the same way that the first Survivor did a few short summers ago. And to make it that much cooler, in a couple of episodes, the audience has a chance to call in and say who stays and who gets cut. Yep, as long as American Idol keeps Evil Simon and those kooky contestants, this show will become the new Must-See Reality TV. They could, however, lose the annoying Ken Dolls they have as hosts. Who needs hosts when you have Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul scrapping it out?
American Idol airs on Fox. Check your local listings for show times - you won't be disappointed.
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