Idol Chatter & Voice Views

American Idol ratings dipped again in Season 13.

And while the show’s new producers made noteworthy improvements this year, they made their share of missteps, too.

Jennifer Lopez snaps a selfie during the American Idol Top 3 results show. (FOX Photo)

But there will be an American Idol Season 14, leaving hope that some of them can be corrected next spring.

Here’s a rundown of 10 Idol oops from the past five months.

Believe me, I could have made the list longer. I’m also annoyed by the show’s obsession with selfies, and the camera’s habit of straying to the judges when we should be watching the contestants perform. That habit to turning off the light on a singer after they’re eliminated seems pretty rude, too.

But these 10 top my list.

See also
10 reasons Jena Irene should win American Idol
A look back at Jena Irene’s Idol performances
A look back at Caleb Johnson’s Idol performances
10 things Idol did right in Season 13

1. Contestant profiles: Those extended clips designed to help us get to know contestants were missing from this year’s audition shows. Instead, we got lots of footage of the judges dancing around holding hands (I exaggerate, but you get the idea) and quick glimpses of lots and lots of Hollywood hopefuls. The result: It took much longer to get attached to any of the contestants.

2. The mentor: Randy Jackson? Really? After 12 years of hearing him spout the same old lines from the judges’ table, Idol thought he’d be able to offer some valuable insight to the contestants. If so, we didn’t hear it. What did we hear? Randy’s advice to M.K. Nobilette before one of her performances: “You gotta give it your all and give your best performance.” Ah, really?

Talented teen Kenzie Hall was one of the semifinalists cut without ever getting a chance to sing. (FOX Photo)

3. The unfairest cut of all: American Idol made a big deal out of advancing 30 singers to the semifinals. Then it cut 10 singers without ever letting them perform for the public’s vote. It smacked of one of the most unfair moves the show has ever made. The gals cut before they could sing were Kenzie Hall, Austin Wolfe, Jillian Jensen, Brandy Neelly and Andrina Brogden; the guys were Briston Maroney, Casey Thrasher, Ethan Harris, Jordan Brisbane and Maurice Townsend. Hopefully, we’ll see them excel on a future season of The Voice.

4. Featuring who?: As the finals began, Idol began featuring upcoming new artists on its results shows. Like Jake Bugg, Koadline, Mali Music and Royal Teeth. Huh? What sense did that make? Especially since its own alumni — like Elise Testone — had released or were preparing to release new material that deserved and was worthy of Idol’s promotion.

5. Early voting and mid-show results: At long last we had vote limits on Idol in Season 13. But we also had Ryan encouraging viewers to vote as soon as a performance show started (so what, the performances don’t matter) and providing pointless mid-show updates on how the voting was going. In truth, Idol seemed only half committed to that gimmick, showing it some weeks and not others. Sorta like the producers didn’t quite know what they were doing.

6. The cast: Truth be told, it wasn’t much deeper than Season 12, though Idol did manage to find more talented guys this time around. When a guy who can’t sing on pitch — C.J. Harris — finishes sixth, your cast isn’t exactly brimming with singers worthy of winning the Idol crown. I just kept wondering how well those singers cut in the semifinals without being given a chance could have done.

The confetti fell after Sam Woolf was saved on American Idol, but was anyone really surprised? (FOX Photo)

7. The save: For the second straight year, Idol left itself with too few contestants to make it through the season if the judges didn’t use their save. Which sorta meant everyone expected it when they saved Sam Woolf, even though his tepid save-me performance hardly seemed worthy.

8. Playing favorites: Were the Idol judges better in Season 13? Yep. Did the show revert to its old habit of playing favorites? Yep. While Jess Meuse was criticized every time her eye twitched the wrong way … well, let’s just say other contestants weren’t scrutinized nearly so closely. After one less than inspiring Sam Woolf performance, Jennifer just raved about how cute he is. Ugh.

9. iTune shortage: Apparently, American Idol can only manage to put one song from each singer on iTunes each week. Who knows how the show determines which song to release. But it amounted to a major misfire on Top 4 week when Jena Irene delivered an Idol moment — probably the best of the season — with her recreation of the old Elvis Presley hit “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and the only Jena song on iTunes was her cover of Pat Benetar’s “Heartbreaker.”

10. The twist: It happened on Top 5 night. The contestants were given a choice: They could save everyone and set up a double elimination for the following week, or they could proceed as normal and eliminate one contestant. The contestants hated it. The ploy smacked of an attempt by Idol to manipulate the outcome. Special thanks to Alex Preston and Jena Irene for not going along with such nonsense. Just call it “the twist that blew up in Idol’s face.”