Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Nigel Lythgoe:

Seems to me American Idol missed a golden opportunity last year.

It was the show’s 10th season, the perfect time to celebrates its past and present as the most-watched show in the nation.

But was there a 10th anniversary of any sort?

Nope.  Nary a sign of one.

Not only that, but past Idols were largely absent from the show’s Season 10 finale.

An opportunity missed, in my mind.

The good news:  Idol has another opportunity to get this right — perhaps an even better opportunity — in Season 11.

In just a couple of weeks, the Idol finals will begin.

You know what that means.  Each performance show will be followed by a results show.  And each results show will have slots for a couple of guest performances.

This year, let’s forget about inviting the Black Eyed Peas, the Iggy Pops, the Diddy-Dirty Moneys and the Il Volvos of the music world.  Let’s forget the guest bits by Russell Brand and the gang at TMZ.

If guest mentors are only interested in being on the show to hawk their new release on results night, let them go elsewhere.  After all, the only memorable guest mentor moment all last season came when Lady Gaga was coaching Scotty McCreery.

And if the judges want to hawk their own products … well, you pay them enough that they can afford a commercial or two.

Instead, let’s fill every one of those results show performance slots with past Idol contestants.  Give each of them a couple of minutes to talk to Ryan about what they’ve been doing since Idol.  Give them an audience of millions to market their latest project.

The timing couldn’t be better.  The list of former contestants who have recently released or are planning to release new music this year reads like a who’s who of American Idol.

Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard.  Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice.  Adam Lambert and Kris Allen.

Vonzell Solomon, Brooke White and Kellie Pickler just released new music.  Siobhan Magnus, from Season 9, has too.  Lee DeWyze and Casey James plan to.

And wouldn’t it be great to give David Cook a chance to remind Idol fans of his special talent, since they’ve apparently forgotten?

And to have David Archuleta back on the show before he embarks on his two-year mission trip?

Whenever the topic of slipping ratings comes up, someone with the show — often yourself — points out how remarkable it is that Idol has been on the air for 10 years and has retained its popularity over such a long period.

So celebrate it.

By celebrating and honoring the contestants who made it possible.

They deserve to be celebrated and honored.

There won’t be a better time than Season 11.

Mark Franklin
Idol Chatter

P.S.  I’ll make an exception for the season finale.  It’s always nice to see the current cast get a chance to perform with some of their idols. But the show can surely do better than last year, when Carrie Underwood was the only former contestant to perform in the finale.