Lots Of Changes Coming To American Idol 8 - American Idol 8

Apparently we haven’t seen anything yet when it comes to changes on American Idol. The eighth season will have the most thus far, taking hints from their neighbor up north as well as borrowing ideas that seemed long over but are now renewed.

Here is the breakdown, according to another Idol blogger:

American Idol will be sticking to its Tuesday/Wednesday schedule - Not a surprise
There will be 3 weeks of auditions, down from 4 the past few years - YES!
Four weeks of auditions, particularly with the bad singers taking up the bulk, had become interminable.
There will be a Top 36, rather than a Top 24 - Hm…
The Wild Card Week will be re-introduced- Hm…
No Thursdays planned- and Hm…
There will be 2 weeks of Hollywood Rounds - In the past, there would be at least 3 episodes of Hollywood, which made for some really compelling TV.
I think the show really suffered when they cut these back to shoehorn in more crappy auditions. This is good news
There will be a Top 12 as in previous years - Just as it should be.
Promotional thrust will have fewer bad singers and more ‘aspirational’ singers. There will be no Idol Gives Back. - Fewer bad singers? Hallelujah.

First off, a few thoughts of my own here. Back-to-back days works better in my view and draws more viewers. So hurray for that. But only three weeks of auditions? Granted, all the singing wasn’t that great…but that’s not the point of the show, anyway. The point of the show was for all of America’s singers to be showcased, good or bad. I think this is a bad move from a marketing standpoint and is one that Idol will regret. Obviously the death of Paula Goodspeed had A TON to do with their decision here. The Top 36 idea has been essentially stolen from Canadian Idol. Whatever.

Other than that, the fact WildCard week is being reintroduced is good, because it will always leave us viewers on the edge of our seat wondering who’s coming back. I’m gonna throw out a name and that person is…David Osmond. While it may be true that Osmond is cut during Hollywood Week (and nobody seems to know for sure) I could see Idol trying to spruce up their ratings (and gain Mormon viewers). While you may well hear somebody tell Osmond he’s not good enough, in TV land that just means “Go back and we’ll call you when we’re ready.”

Finally, thank God somebody finally listened to me about Hollywood Week being too long (lol). Actually I don’t have that kind of pull. But I’m glad we don’t have to see what amounts to pithy soap operas with more editing than a porn film. It’s ridiculous and Idol knows it. It’s somewhat disheartening that Idol Gives Back is not gonna be a part of our viewing, but companies are cutting back, you know.