Here comes Idol’s new and improved Vegas round

Here comes Idol’s new and improved Vegas round

February 19, 2013 By Mark Franklin 0

The scene is the same but nearly everything else has changed.

American Idol heads to Vegas this week, with two-hour shows scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

In past years, that would mean a repeat of what we saw in Hollywood — a solo round, followed by a group round, followed by another solo round, followed by the judges making heart-wrenching choices over who stayed and who went home.

Season 12 brings a new and seemingly much improved format.

Over the next four episodes, 10 singers will perform solo each night — gals on Wednesdays, guys on Thursdays. Each night, the judges will pick five to advance, whittling the current field of 40 to just 20.

Then, in the first week of March, we’ll be voting on which of those semifinalists make the Idol Season 12 finals.

Here’s what I like most about the new format: Barring some incredibly creative editing, we will get to see each of the top 40 perform in Vegas.

In past years, mystery contestants have shown up in the semis, contestants who have barely been mentioned in previous episodes. I always thought they entered the voting shows with a huge disadvantage.

And Idol enters Vegas with mystery contestants again this year. Like Amber Holcomb and Jett Hermano among the ladies. Like Elijah Liu and Kevin Harris among the guys.

Under the new format, we’ll get to see a complete solo performance from each of them and the other 36 remaining contestants before viewer voting begins.

Want to learn more about the Vegas-bound contestants in the meantime? The links below will take you to a profile of each contestant as well as videos of them performing, mostly in a non-Idol setting.

THE LADIES