Last week, I came up with seven reasons to hate Idol’s new format for the semifinals.
After one week, I’ve come up with more.
Boy, oh, boy, Idol producers. This just seems like a giant step in the wrong direction.
The first round of the semifinals was horrid. Filled with very weak performances.
And, in part, I blame the format.
Anyway, here are my new reasons … and, hey, I’m interested in what readers think of this new format, too.
But first my newest reasons …
Reason 1: Michael Sarver. Hey, I like Michael. He was among the contestants I rooted for in week one. But the performance he turned in last week was not worthy of a spot in the finals. And he reminded us all over again when he sang the same song a second time on the results show.
Yet, presto, he’s in. He won’t have to sing again for a month.
Reason 2: Ricky Braddy. Idol is playing favorites big time this year. Some singers, we saw all the time in the Hollywood episodes. Some, like Ricky, we barely saw at all.
So what happens? Ricky turns in the best male vocal of the night and doesn’t get enough votes to hang around because he’d had virtually no TV time prior to the semifinals. So he’s gone. After one song. Under the new format, viewers don’t have time to get familiar with him.
And it doesn’t bode well for this week’s mystery candidates, Jeanine Vailes (above) and Kris Allen (right).
Reason 3: Determining the fate of so many singers based on just one song seems all wrong.
In the past, a David Cook or a Jordin Sparks had to sing well for four straight weeks before securing a spot in the finals. Not this year.
In the past, a singer could have a shaky first week, survive and improve over time. Not this year.
Reason 4 (OK, this one is recycled from last week, but it’s worth repeating): I still have no idea how Idol decided which singers perform with which group.
Who decided which gals would have to sing on the same night as Lil Rounds, the only female Idol producers have shown much interest in as a singer rather than a ratings booster (insert Bikini Girl and Tatiana here)?
And how is it that three of Idol’s favorite guys — Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert and Scott MacIntyre — wind up performing in different groups? Luck of the draw? Or rigged?
Reason 5: I truly believe the do-or-die nature of last Tuesday’s competition psyched out a couple of singers.
First, Simon tells Brent Keith that he had one chance — just one — to make an impression and that he blew it. Then young Stevie Wright gets on stage, seems really nervous, sings really badly, and gets really bad reviews.
We’d hear five more lackluster performances before Tatiana “turned things around,” so to speak.
You saw Carly Smithson and Michael Johns on the results show, right? They were interviewed afterward by the LA Times. Both alluded to how different the atmosphere seemed among the singers this year because so many were getting eliminated so quickly under the new format.
Talk about nerve-wracking. Your entire musical career hinges on a single song.
Doesn’t seem fair to me.
What do you think about the new format? Let me know by posting a comment below.
Coming Tuesday: Round two predictions.
Coming Wednesday: Live blogging during the show, with song by song grades; followed by a recap on who should stay and who should go.
Go here for the round one grades and round one recap.
Leave a reply