Fixing American Idol

If you've followed my blog you know I'm a fan of American Idol. I've used examples from the program to show you how to incorporate what works about it into your content. It remains one of the most popular shows on television, and its success and the success of its imitators have spawned even more music competition shows -- Duets is the latest. However, both the network, Fox, and the show's producers, are concerned about the show's 30% drop in ratings. They can't blame it on the latest Idol champion, Phillip Phillips, who had an inspiring personal story and an engaging personality. Last year I told broadcast networks to revive the variety show, and it seems like they did listen to me. Since I want to help save my favorite show, here's how I would fix the show. First, change the judges and judging. Steven, Jennifer, and Randy's supportive comments didn't help the contestants improve. Phillip and Jessica, the two finalists, were the same in the last show as they were in the first. When Simon was the judge, the audience wanted to hear his comments, because they knew he would tell the truth. Because the judges hardly said anything critical, the producers included Jimmy Iovine's taped comments to the results show. That didn't help the lack of criticism in the performanceee shows. The producers should encourage Randy Jackson to be more critical. They should replace Steven Tyler, whose comments very often were incoherent, with someone of equal stature who's going to say something interesting. The judge's comments are a big part of the show, and they were just fluff this year. Second -- promote conflict. More critical judges would help in this area. The contestants are fighting for their professional lives and the audience needs to see that pressure. They shouldn't be nice all the time, like this group was, or pretended to be. We want to see them really want this. If the contestants don't care, why should the audience? Third -- show more work. One of the best parts of Hollywood week and the auditions are watching singers make mistakes. Let's see our Idol contestants struggle more to achieve their performances. Let's have the celebrity guests tell the singers they may never make it. Wouldn't it be great to see the Idol mess up in the rehearsal and nail the performance? Essentially, I'm tellling the Idol producers the same thing that I tell all of you -- Raise the stakes. You'd think they wouldn't need to be reminded, but the main problem I see is that American Idol, after eleven years on the air, has become too comfortable. Everyone was happy on the show this year: the judges mostly said nice things, the contestants loved each other, and the celebrities kept being "amazed" at how good the singers were. No one had any problems. That makes a fun experience, but also makes bad drama. Make the contestants uncomfortable. Make the judges more critical. Make the stakes higher, and that will make American Idol #1 again.