MotownSubdivision said:

http://variety.com/2017/t...10691/amp/ Why? They literally canceled the show last year. Who exactly was clamoring for it to return? What's the point?

Well the article you mentioned here gives the explanations, so perhaps you don't agree with them. They are not claiming there is a major clamor. The fact that despite it's decline it was still more highly rating than many returning shows per the nielsen's, they are scared of the writer's strike and are trying to get as many non-scripted series as possible, and they believe it is better Sunday counter-programming to the NFL than the lowly rated shows they currently have. I am not saying it will succeed but don't think it is a crazy idea either, especially if they get a really popular host like Kelly Clarkson as they are apparently trying to do.

No thanks. Some things ought to remain dead, defunct, cancelled, and so on.

[Edited 5/7/17 5:47am]

Proof that television is a creatively bankrupt enterprise.

gandorb said:

MotownSubdivision said:

http://variety.com/2017/t...10691/amp/ Why? They literally canceled the show last year. Who exactly was clamoring for it to return? What's the point?

I have to get technical and theory-istic for a moment. (Made that word up, btw.)

When AI signed off two years ago, Ryan Seacrest said, "Goodnight America.... for now", practically creating one of the biggest cliffhangers in reality show history. Everyone was abuzz with "Wait......what?!" as soon as it ended. It coming back isn't too much of a surprise. Being on ABC is a surprise.

For me, the show lost its initial appeal after about 5 or 6 years. They stopped showing the bad auditions, which is what people watched half of it for. It created a balance between the good, the bad, and the top 10 or top 12. You saw that one guy trying to sing "Like A Virgin" or "It's TA-MEE-KA" give Simon a piece of her mind, then you saw Kelly Clarkson, a waitress in Texas, rise to the well-deserved top. People rooted for the bad people as much as they voted for the best. But when it got all "everyone gets a participation medal" on us, it was over. It was just dismal and boring. Even the Mariah & Nicki fights became status-quo instead of a peak of interest.

As far as ABC bringing it back, it's a good move for ABC. CBS is a juggernaut with Big Brother, Survivor, and The Amazing Race. They rule with those shows. BB is still so popular, they did another season on CBS All-Access (where the new Star Trek series is going to be airing). And while ABC has The Bachelor franchise, it's always an epic fail because how many of these people are still together? They break up before the show actually airs. There are like what...one or two couples that have stayed together? Fail. ABC has revived Match Game, and people love it. And Family Feud is popular ,too.

AI could prove to be a game show beacon and go right up against CBS's powerhouse reality shows, and give CBS a run for their money. By comparison, NBC has practically no reality shows or game shows in prime time. FOX seems to be Gordon Ramsey's own personal network for his pet projects, so they're out.

Will I be watching? Eh - probably not. I might watch the first show just to see how it changed, but I'm not investing in anyone at this point enough to watch their journey from pond scrubber to 19 Entertainment puppet.

Fox wanted it, ABC outbid them. Honestly it seems like a pointless event anymore since their last success story was Jordin Sparks in season 6 and that was short lived. Adam Lambert is more famous for touring with Queen than his own music that doesn't sell. Like The Voice (which has only one success story in Melanie Martinez) it's just about putting something on that does better than your network's average Nielsen rating.

Hudson said:

MotownSubdivision said:

For how long AI has been on the air, it's made a laughably low amount of stars, the biggest of which (Kelly Clarkson) was never that big a name. I don't expect The Voice to blow AI out of the water when it comes to discovering talent and making new stars. However, that's only been around for what? 5 years? 6? The Voice only having one success story to their name is far more justifiable than AI only having produced 3-4 recognizable names over the course of 14 years.

I'd have to disagree about Clarkson. She was the first, and there was so much anticipation for her music, because she really was just a good singer. Carrie Underwood is a country music superstar, and Kelly Pickler is in there, too. Jennifer Hudson and Fantasia are arguably known names and famous for many things. I still see Clarkson all over the place, singing etc.

Interesting you mentioned The Voice. Randy Jackson said, without any malice or hatred, that The Voice never produced a notable or memorable star. They either don't know what they're doing, or they just don't have the machine behind them like AI did to produce an artist with staying power. I mean, when Judith Hill goes on there after working with Michael Jackson and is in a featured documentary released at the same time, gets eliminated, and still sorta gets ignored (although she sang for Josh Groban and John Legend), except by Prince two years later. I know one other girl that was on there, Kimberely Nichole whose first album Yellow Brick Journey I played a lot on a radio show I was part of back then. To me, these folks were already in the game by that point.

Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Clay Aiken, Rubben Studdard, and a few others are notable names. Most are working though, either in acting, or still singing. But yeah, producing a huge star hasn't been a thing for over half the series' run. Some of their debut albums were pure schmaltz anyway. Typical music machine producers cranking out crap.

MotownSubdivision said:

Hudson said:

Fox wanted it, ABC outbid them. Honestly it seems like a pointless event anymore since their last success story was Jordin Sparks in season 6 and that was short lived. Adam Lambert is more famous for touring with Queen than his own music that doesn't sell. Like The Voice (which has only one success story in Melanie Martinez) it's just about putting something on that does better than your network's average Nielsen rating.

For how long AI has been on the air, it's made a laughably low amount of stars, the biggest of which (Kelly Clarkson) was never that big a name. I don't expect The Voice to blow AI out of the water when it comes to discovering talent and making new stars. However, that's only been around for what? 5 years? 6? The Voice only having one success story to their name is far more justifiable than AI only having produced 3-4 recognizable names over the course of 14 years.

However The Voice does 2 seasons a year and Idol never did more than one a year. The Voice is finishing up its 12th season right now which is getting close to Idol's 15, with season 13 planned for the fall and season 14 for the spring. I'd say Carrie Underwood is the biggest success of Idol. She's been one of the top female country recording and touring artists since she started. Kelly's success was inconsistent and she's over commercially as of now.

TrivialPursuit said:

MotownSubdivision said:

For how long AI has been on the air, it's made a laughably low amount of stars, the biggest of which (Kelly Clarkson) was never that big a name. I don't expect The Voice to blow AI out of the water when it comes to discovering talent and making new stars. However, that's only been around for what? 5 years? 6? The Voice only having one success story to their name is far more justifiable than AI only having produced 3-4 recognizable names over the course of 14 years.

I'd have to disagree about Clarkson. She was the first, and there was so much anticipation for her music, because she really was just a good singer. Carrie Underwood is a country music superstar, and Kelly Pickler is in there, too. Jennifer Hudson and Fantasia are arguably known names and famous for many things. I still see Clarkson all over the place, singing etc.

Interesting you mentioned The Voice. Randy Jackson said, without any malice or hatred, that The Voice never produced a notable or memorable star. They either don't know what they're doing, or they just don't have the machine behind them like AI did to produce an artist with staying power. I mean, when Judith Hill goes on there after working with Michael Jackson and is in a featured documentary released at the same time, gets eliminated, and still sorta gets ignored (although she sang for Josh Groban and John Legend), except by Prince two years later. I know one other girl that was on there, Kimberely Nichole whose first album Yellow Brick Journey I played a lot on a radio show I was part of back then. To me, these folks were already in the game by that point.

Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Clay Aiken, Rubben Studdard, and a few others are notable names. Most are working though, either in acting, or still singing. But yeah, producing a huge star hasn't been a thing for over half the series' run. Some of their debut albums were pure schmaltz anyway. Typical music machine producers cranking out crap.

Yes to all of this. There are even more names that have had success, mostly in the first half of the series including Fantasia (several urban radio hits and Broadway), Lauren Alaina (her first country #1 a few weeks back), Scotty McCreary (country), Danny Goaky (Christian radio star) and Phillip Phillips ( a couple of big pop hits). This is not to say these are great artists, but that AI for years was a decent springboard for several careers. I agree though with the prevailing opinion that it's time has come and gone.

They gotta be kidding.

I have only watch Seasons 1 - 3. After that meh, no more

MotownSubdivision said:

http://variety.com/2017/t...10691/amp/ Why? They literally canceled the show last year. Who exactly was clamoring for it to return? What's the point?

Now you see why Ryan is with Kelly now... cant have the co host on another network with AI going to ABC

gandorb said:

MotownSubdivision said:

It's not that AI hasn't produced any recognizable names but that for the vast majority of its run, it's produced such a pitiful amount.

I think that's a much fairer statement. In 15 years of a show, we are struggling to name 15 people that truly are recognizable by name alone. It's also interesting to note that a lot of the names we rattled off were in the earlier seasons. Later seasons were forgotten, as were the contestants.

There is a burnout factor here. The show ending, and the second half of its entire fun being absent from anyone's memory speaks volumes. They're going to have to really revamp things, and make it new and exciting again for it to succeed. So many people (even in this thread) have said "Oh I used to watch it the first few seasons, not since season ____". I think it should have ended after 10 years. The Mariah vs Nicki stuff, the rotating judge's table, etc., - that became the story, not the competition among the hugely talented and the moderately interesting. It became the scourge of Fox, so let's hope ABC doesn't inherit an albatross.

D.O.A.

TrivialPursuit said:

It's true - the show is coming back and Katy Perry will be one of the judges.

Its a ratings thing, it will get more than what they have but it has absolutely ZERO effect in the music sales department, the days of Carrie and Kelly and Clay etc are well well gone.