Producer’s Exit Could Enliven “American Idol”
By Chuck Barney
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 5:16 pm in American Idol.
It wasn’t a major headline — even in the dog days of summer. But still, the departure of executive producer Nigel Lythgoe from “American Idol” raises a few eyebrows. “Idol,” after all, is easily still television’s No. 1 show and whenever you mess with success, it creates a little unease.
On the other hand, ratings for “Idol” have slipped in the past two seasons and we have increasingly heard complaints about the show becoming stale, unexciting and predictable.
So will Lythgoe’s exit actually make for a better show? Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Slezak hopes so. Slezak, one of the more perceptive and witty “Idol” commentators, writes that a new producer might freshen up the mentors lineup, which is typically riddled with crusty has-beens. Maybe the new person might even try some bold new ideas, like going live with the announcement of the Top 24 or easing up on all the “rote interviews.”
And maybe, just maybe, they’ll get rid of the hideous mosh pit. For more of Slezak’s takes, click here.
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August 5th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
The biggest problem is the judges, but with the huge contracts doled out to them, I doubt we’ll see any changes.
Randy Jackson has 5 or 6 different sayings he recycles incessantly: “it was just a’ight”, “it was kinda pitchy”, “that was molten hot”, “you can sing anything, man”.
Paula just tells the contestants how great they look and then adds some nonsensical babbling.
Simon rarely gives any constructive advice, mostly just saying that a performance was “ghastly” or “cabaret”.
The judges on other shows like Can You Duet, Nashville Star, and even So You Think you can Dance (including Nigel Lithgow himself) are far superior to Randy, Paula, and Simon.
There are many things that could be “tweaked” to improve Idol, but a new panel of judges would the most welcomed change of all.