Posted Feb 9th 2010 5:35PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: American Idol, Celebrities, Judges, News and Gossip
This morning, Brad told you about
the possibility of Howard Stern eventually replacing Simon Cowell on 'American Idol.' Stern didn't exactly do anything to shoot down those rumors, but producers of 'Idol' are.
Richard Rushfield at The Daily Beast says that not only have there been no talks with Stern about replacing Cowell, it has never even been a consideration.
Stern did talk about it a little on
his SIRIUS show, but he never said "yes, I'm talking to the producers" or anything like that. He could be just talking about it to get people talking about him.
Howard Stern on 'American Idol?' That would hurt Stern, actually. His diehard fans would expect him to do something outrageous to sabotage the show, and 'Idol' devotees would instantly say "I'm never watching that show again!" Why not have him judge one of the early audition episodes next season? That might be kinda fun.
Posted Feb 5th 2010 11:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Celebrities, Judges, News and Gossip, Casting
The question of
who will replace Simon Cowell as an 'American Idol' judge began in earnest today with Page Six claiming that
Howard Stern is the 'Idol' producers' top choice to take Simon Cowell's throne. Stunt casting? Attention-grabbing? Total bull? You can take your pick because this smacks of a PR turn if ever there was one.
For a moment, though, let's consider the possibility. Howard's contract with Sirius XM Radio wraps next January. That contract was in the $100 million neighborhood. Could
'American Idol' fork over a pay-out equal to that? Umm, yes. They make enough. Will they? Hard to imagine. The figure mentioned in the report was $50 million a year, which is what Simon will earn this season, but that's based on the fact that Simon has a track record with 'Idol.'
Continue reading If 'Idol' Producers Get Their Way, Howard Stern Could Replace Cowell
Posted Feb 4th 2010 4:48PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: American Idol, Video, Judges, Contestants, News and Gossip
Last night, we just had our
eighth audition episode of 'American Idol,' and I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm ready to get to Hollywood. As much as I enjoyed
Neil Patrick Harris and
Kristin Chenoweth, I'm also ready to see what
Ellen DeGeneres is going to do in her new role as Idol's fourth judge.
Luckily, FOX has just released a promo for Hollywood week, which is next week. At that point, DeGeneres joins the judges table for the first time to whittle down the 181 people who received Golden Tickets to 24 semi-finalists. For those of you who have watched the show in previous seasons, you know it's not a quick process: these contestants will be performing over three nights, with the Top 24 not being revealed until Wednesday, February 17.
Continue reading First look at Ellen DeGeneres on 'American Idol'
Posted Jan 14th 2010 4:22AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Predictions and Trends, News and Gossip, Episode Recaps
The
American Idol crew stopped in Atlanta to look for their next standout star. Did they find him or her there? It's hard to say, but there were definitely a few contenders among the 9,000 hopefuls who crowded into the Georgia Dome.
R&B star Mary J. Blige sat in as a guest judge, and she seemed to get along really well with the other judges. And of course, she definitely knows her music, not to mention what it's like to stand on a stage and sing for thousands of fans.
Ryan Seacrest also reminded us that not only was he born in Atlanta (they showed a picture that can't possibly be him, because it looks like someone's aunt), but three Idols came out of previous auditions there: Fantasia, Clay Aiken and Jennifer Hudson. On with the show!
Continue reading Reviewcap: American Idol - Auditions #2: Atlanta
Posted Dec 29th 2009 1:02PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: American Idol, Watercooler Talk, Judges, News and Gossip
2009 was a big year for
American Idol. After airing for seven wildly successful seasons with three judges,
Simon Cowell,
Randy Jackson and
Paula Abdul, producers decided to throw a fourth judge into the mix, bringing songwriter
Kara DioGuardi on board for season eight. It was a controversial move, and to the surprise of very few people, it went ... poorly.
The judges, who had spent seven seasons learning the rhythm of the show, were suddenly forced to contend with a fourth voice. As none of these folks were exactly shrinking violets to begin with, this led to a lot of jockeying for the mic, which in turn wasted a lot of time. It wasted so much time, in fact, that critiques would get cut off, the show would run long, and at times, judges wouldn't be allowed to speak at all.
So at the end of this harried season, it was no surprise that someone would be shown the door. Many thought that it would be newbie judge Kara DioGuardi. Instead, it was Paula Abdul who was given the boot, and replaced by music legend ...
Ellen DeGeneres?
Continue reading Top TV stories of 2009: Paula is out at Idol, and Ellen is in
Posted Dec 7th 2009 8:40PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: News and Gossip, Reality-Free
The former
Family Ties star has been busted again, this time for an assault he barely remembers.
Brian Bonsall, the actor who played little Andy Keaton on
Family Ties, has been picked up in Colorado for assault. Police arrested him for smashing a bar stool over his friend while the two were drinking. Drugs may also have been involved since the police report said, "He and Trujillo both are bipolar and like drugs. Bonsall said that he takes a lot of drugs and sometimes those drugs make him forget things."
It gets worse. Prosecutors believe he violated his probation from
his previous assault involving a former girlfriend and filed a warrant for his arrest, so now he could face serious jail time.
Posted Oct 13th 2009 1:05PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, American Idol, Music and Variety, Contestants, Alumni, News and Gossip, Casting, Reality-Free
Oh man, that variety show format worked so well for Nick & Jessica! Remember what a smash sensation the Osbournes variety show was? Boy, Rosie O'Donnell sure rewrote the book on how to do a great variety special! The networks remember how great these attempts to revive the long dead TV format went, because they're at it again.
This time, FOX is dipping back into the
American Idol well and plucking out plucky season four winner Carrie Underwood. They've scheduled
Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special for a December 7 air-time. Luckily, since Underwood is doing just fine in her recording career, this isn't likely to be an attempt at a weekly series.
If the networks really do believe they can revive the variety format, this is a good way to do it. The holiday season seems to be the best time to lure American audiences into one-off specials and different kinds of programming. If the special does well, they can look for another one next year maybe. Or perhaps they'll have found something to do with all those former
Idol contestants.
Posted Sep 24th 2009 5:26PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Pickups and Renewals, Judges, Alumni, News and Gossip
Simon Cowell's
The X-Factor has been a huge in the UK for several years now; that's where we got Leona Lewis. Due to his contract with
American Idol, he hasn't been able to bring it to the US. FOX feared the increased competition from a similar singing competition might hurt their juggernaut.
Now that Cowell is in the final year of his current contract, open negotiations to keep him on
Idol are including
talks of bringing The X-Factor to FOX. If
So You Think You Can Dance continues to underperform in the fall,
The X-Factor might be a logical replacement, pushing
SYTYCD back to the summer.
Continue reading Simon Cowell may bring The X-Factor to FOX after all
Posted Sep 17th 2009 5:35PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, American Idol, Judges, News and Gossip
The past few seasons have seen some controversy about some
American Idol contestants. Particularly in the case of Carly Smithson who'd already had a major label deal. People want their American Idol to be an unknown. Some waitress plucked from Texas or something.
Now that Kara DioGuardi's sticking around on TV's top show, she wants to have her own reality show. Everybody else on the panel has side projects. So
DioGuardi is shopping around a show she's developed called Dropped. The idea is simple: grab the best acts that have been dumped by their labels and give them a second chance to make it big. America loves second chances, right
Biggest Loser?
What a great idea. There are a lot of talented artists who got dropped by labels because of poor sales on an initial CD, or just differences in creative direction before they even got that far.
Continue reading Kara DioGuardi thinks Dropped artists deserve a second chance
Posted Sep 10th 2009 4:28PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Judges, News and Gossip
If the news that
Ellen DeGeneres was going to become a judge on American Idol had broken a year ago, I would have been totally psyched. Hopefully she would replace Paula, and bring some much-needed humor to the show (humor that isn't mean-spirited or
allegedly pill-addled, that is). But now that Ellen will be the new fourth judge on Idol, the news comes as somewhat as a disappointment.
I've been a huge fan of Ellen since her stand-up days, so I'm all for her showing up anywhere. I also think her purpose of bringing a "fan's perspective" to the show is a good idea on the producers' part. But does Paula need to be the only judge Ellen replaces?
Continue reading Can Ellen replace another American Idol judge too?
Posted Sep 2nd 2009 4:25PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: American Idol, Celebrities, Judges, News and Gossip, Casting
I'm not a giant fan of guest judges on
American Idol. I don't mind when musicians come in during the later rounds to mentor the contestants, but guest judges during auditions just kind of throw off the dynamic of the judging. However, recent judges like
Kristen Chenoweth and
Neil Patrick Harris are awesome enough that I totally don't mind them showing up.
Avril Lavigne and
Katy Perry? Well, that's an entirely different story.
FOX has announced that the "I Kissed a Girl" singer will be guest-judging the final two days of the Los Angeles auditions along with Lavigne, who from what I remember from 2003, is an angry Canadian. If I was asked to think of two people that I would enjoy watching less, I would be hard-pressed to come up with anyone. Wait, okay.
Heidi and Spencer Pratt would be worse, but that's just a given, right?
Continue reading American Idol tries to annoy me to death with guest judges
Posted Aug 26th 2009 11:02AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Pickups and Renewals, Judges, Alumni, News and Gossip, Reality-Free
I'll admit I have no way of knowing what Paula Abdul's thinking at any given time. Even people who listen to her talk generally have no idea what she's thinking. You have to figure that after negotiating to join
So You Think You Can Dance,
Dancing With the Stars and
Ugly Betty,
Adbul hosting the latest VH1 Divas special on Thursday, September 17 is a bit of a let-down.
It's a great nab for VH1; people will be curious to see her first post-
Idol gig. You can even argue that the choice makes sense, considering the concert will feature two former
American Idol winners: Kelly Clarkson and Jordin Sparks. Joining them are Adele, Leona Lewis and Miley Cyrus. It doesn't take nearly as much to be a diva these days.
It'll be fun watching Abdul try to steer an entire show rather than just a single coherent sentence of criticism. Who knows, maybe she'll find out that she's great at this and she can take over VH1 the way Ryan Seacrest took over E!. As long as they don't do a
Who's That Girl? series with male skanks like Corey Clark trying to date her.
Posted Aug 21st 2009 8:36AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Alumni, News and Gossip, Casting
The rotating guest judge slots in the wake of Paula Abdul's departure continue. The latest celebrities
guest judging American Idol are Kelly Clarkson and Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers. I'm starting to see an upside for the show post-Paula.
With ratings on the decline the past couple of years, it's also been observed that the median age for the show had been getting older as well. As we all know, old people don't exist to advertisers, so youth is where it's at. Kelly Clarkson is a great choice to bring in a hip and young crowd, and she's a great story for the show. Here's their first crowned champion coming back to offer sage advice and wisdom ... or at least a lot of "Y'all!"
Joe Jonas is sure to bring legions of screaming pre-pubescent girls to the screen. And nobody obsesses over stars like pre-pubescent girls. I'd love to see the permanent slot filled by an artist as current and relevant as these two. Maybe Amy Winehouse is available; it'd be like Paula never left!
Posted Aug 17th 2009 12:09PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: American Idol, Celebrities, Judges, News and Gossip
If this is true (and it's still in the rumor stage), it's not a big shock: Paula Abdul is thinking about coming back to
American Idol.
TMZ is reporting that Abdul is seriously considering coming back to the show she recently left because they didn't offer her enough money. They're also reporting that
Abdul is ticked because the show is giving Victoria Beckham $275,000 an episode for her guest judge stint.
Continue reading Now Paula Abdul might want to come back to Idol
Posted Aug 6th 2009 12:45PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, News and Gossip, Casting, So You Think You Can Dance
Nigel Lythgoe really was serious about wanting to work with Paula Abdul again. Lythgoe used to be executive producer on
American Idol, before he left to devote his full attention to
So YouThink You Can Dance. This upcoming week, they'll be filming "Vegas Week" for the upcoming fall season six of the hit summer series.
But before that starts,
Lythgoe has invited Paula Abdul to fly down to Vegas this weekend so they can talk about her possibly becoming a part of the show. He'd love to have her, of course, "If I can afford her," he says. The question becomes: was it the money over at
Idol, or the fact that she felt disrespected?
As to what capacity Abdul could be involved in the show as it takes
Idol's time slots in the fall, she could be very involved. Hell, if they agree to things quickly, she could be a part of the judging panel for "Vegas Week," meaning she'd only have missed the initial auditions, and she could certainly join the choreographer pool immediately.
Continue reading Nigel Lythgoe really is in talks with Paula Abdul about her joining SYTYCD
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