American Idol: All Four Judges Set to Return

hopefully Kara will have no hand in writing next year’s coronation song.

The four-judge format was often problematic for the live showà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s running time and Abdul, Cowell, and former executive producer Nigel Lythgoe all complained that it slowed down the pacing.

Thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s an issue that will be addressed for the next season.

Oh great. Now the songs will be cut from 90 seconds to 60 so we can hear the opinions of all 4 judges.

Oh great. Now the songs will be cut from 90 seconds to 60 so we can hear the opinions of all 4 judges.

And I thought they are going to get rid of the contestants altogether so there’s more time for the witty banter from the judges and seacrest.

And I thought they are going to get rid of the contestants altogether so thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s more time for the witty banter from the judges and seacrest.

I don’t know about anyone else but I really enjoyed the tickle fights between Paula and Simon. I would love to see more of that. The only way it could be better is if Kara and Randy would do the same.

I don’t really care anyway. I am done with this stupid show because I’ve already found my idol :wub_tb: Adam Lambert

I think I’m the only person around here who likes Kara. Heh. I actually want to see her get another season to grow into her role. Now if they could just get hire a director who makes the trains run on time, we’ll be good.

I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t really care anyway. I am done with this stupid show because Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve already found my idol Adam Lambert

me, too! totally digging SYTYCD now! such a better show than AI! and I love Adam Shankman’s judging style! maybe I love him partly because his name is Adam! lol

Oh I was hoping they would go back to just 3 judges. *sigh*

Have you heard that Simon took the incredible decision to change the X-factor auditions this year to include a 2000-strong-audience like the “Got Talent” franchise? It is all over the press and TV here in the UK. He said that he doubted Susan Boyle would have emerged from the old X Factor type auditions (no age restrictions in that) so he made the decision himself to change the X-factor audition process at the last minute (even after they had completed one regional in Glasgow). (There’s a good interview at gm.tv but it may be country restricted.)

Will American Idol follow?

this sucks!

Get rid of Randy and Kara and bring in another third judge! ANYBODY!! Gene Simmons would be better and I HATE him!! Christ!! Pee Wee Herman would be an upgrade!! Sharon Osbourne!!

But honestly, how many people would love to see Slezak in there even if it means missing the Idolotry episodes?

my hand is up!!

ITA. I can’t see them making any changes for the better, and aside from the fact that Kara seems to have a good relationship with Adam and Allison, there is no reason for her to continue with the show. Although I like the Top 5, I was also watching solely for Adam, and now all I really care about is his career. When I am completely excited about the Tour and could care less about S9, well, there ya go. Hello, SYTYCD, bye bye Idol.

edit: DON’T THREAD JACK. It’ll get you BANNED

Kara as the new girl is the one who continually gets made fun of, but at least she can put a coherent thought together once in a while. When was the last time Randy said anything useful, or even decipherable? He should bow out gracefully, to “spend more time with his family,” and stop wasting everyone’s time.

I think Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m the only person around here who likes Kara.

I especially like her when she scrunches up her face, jabs her finger in the air, starts doing the head snap, and goes all gangsta critiquing the contestants!

I literally could not watch the judging this year. Had to TIVO through it.

I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t really care anyway. I am done with this stupid show because Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve already found my idol Adam Lambert

me, too! totally digging SYTYCD now! such a better show than AI! and I love Adam Shankmanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s judging style! maybe I love him partly because his name is Adam! lol

That makes three of us. This year I continued to watch because of Adam, and then as the season went on Kradison. Now the thought of 4 judges and less singing seals the deal for me.

Yes, SYTYCD is a better, more fun show.

And I also like Kara. I would be pleased if Paula went off and focused on her Vegas show. The Paula-Simon schick is old, tired and boring. If you make me Queen of Idol, I would go back to 3 judges and get one judge who was younger and more in touch. Or at least give us a season free of Paula’s haikus and Native American poetry slams: “You dare to walk in the path of greatness”. Or my personal favorite, “There are no words …” followed by about a thousand words.

I will watch Idol again, but only when Adam is on as a guest. (Unless they fix the mess they’ve created and focus on singing talent.)

The judges should have a 30 second time limit for their critiques. After that, shut off their mikes.

I think Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m the only person around here who likes Kara. Heh. I actually want to see her get another season to grow into her role. Now if they could just get hire a director who makes the trains run on time, weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll be good.

I agree, tinawina. I didn’t really find Kara any more annoying than the other three judges this season. Randy was no worse than usual (very low bar set for the guy, who typically spouts the company line in between utterances of “dawg”); Paula was slightly more coherent than seasons past because she was on her best behavior with Kara sitting next to her; and Simon was a total tool this year: bored, dismissive without actually paying attention to many of the performances, disingenuous a good part of the time, and nearly as transparent as Randy.

If they really care about the franchise and ratings, they need to bring back Nigel (I can’t believe I wrote that), up their budget for more contemporary songs, and get a competent director.

More singing, less fluff, and for God’s sake, update that cheesy, dated logo.

If they really care about the franchise and ratings, they need to bring back Nigel (I canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t believe I wrote that), up their budget for more contemporary songs, and get a competent director.

More singing, less fluff, and for Godà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s sake, update that cheesy, dated logo.

Bootstar, you’re hired!

Can I add: they should update the set when they fix the logo, rethink the Ford promo concept (assuming they still have Ford in 2009), keep Ryan off “Adam’s stairs”, and fix the voting.

It would also be great if they posted the full auditions of the Top 36 online after they broadcast Top 36 show. (We still haven’t seen Kris’ audition except the short clip) And, while they’re at it, why not let people audition for AI with YouTube videos, and then audition some of them.

Finally, why not include Canada, too? The show is broadcast in Canada, the AI Tour includes Canada, let Canadians audition and vote.

NO! Why do they need to bring back Kara? Actually why do they need to bring back Randy either? Get rid of one or the other since they are both worth;ess!

“I think Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m the only person around here who likes Kara. Heh. I actually want to see her get another season to grow into her role. Now if they could just get hire a director who makes the trains run on time, weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll be good.”

Plus 1

Awful coronation song notwithstanding, I believe Kara is the most musically intelligent and relevant judge there by a mile and she’s the only one who’s had the balls to get up on that stage and sing live. When I listened to that LA Times clip of her explaining how certain types of melodies work better for certain singers than others and how she couldn’t figure out a way to explain this on TV, I realized that she just hasn’t figured out the TV medium yet. IMO she does deserve another chance. I also like that she made the other judges raise their games because they were insecure.

I want to like Kara, mostly because early on when she wasn’t trying so hard to fit in with the 3 stooges, she had spot on advice. Hopefully she’ll find her groove next year.

I probably like Kara more than Randy. At least she translated for him fairly well. I have separate and distinct issues with each and every judge. I also kinda line them all for separate and distinct reasons (except for Randy…I just find him fairly worthless). My biggest issue with last season is that they sand less songs and went over all the time. Maybe they should cut some of the crap that doesn’t pertain to judging (i.e. Paula and Simon’s childish behavior) and let the contestants sing.

Duplicate post….and it’s not like I had anything all that important to say the first time

They’re going to end up making some of the episodes longer- an hour and a half. They mentioned that when the top 8/7 shows were going long.

I’m willing to give Kara another shot. She didn’t do too horrible considering it’s her first year. Also, when the original 3 first started off in the first year, they were horrible too- like awkward horrible!

I really want American Idol to do well because I really love the show despite my strong dislike every year of certain contestants and pimping from producers and judging.

If they are insistent on a 4th judge- I think they should replace Kara with a more vibrant personality type- like Jaime Foxx pr Quentin Tarantino. Someone who shakes things up.

I really don’t like Kara- at all PEROID. :thumbdown_tb:

edit: this thread is not about adam. take it to the headlines thread.

I would change the entire judging panel personally, but that would create major backlash potentially. If Simon were to stay, his role on the show should be weakened to just a judge. He has been a god-awful producer, and the current production panel is just atrocious.

I agree with Slezak as a judge, and maybe Kelly Clarkson?

As for the executive producer, I have said for a while it should be our own mj!

Reminder:

People who continue to thread jack will find themselves in moderation. I’m not running a fan forum for a particular Idol here. If you aren’t interested in the show American Idol, my blog is not for you.

If I am going to keep watching , here’s what I would do:

Keep Simon and rotate the other judges, like they do on SYTYCD (okay, they have Mary and Nigel, but still…). If you keep someone, I guess you keep Kara (I don’t know, really), b/c maybe without Randy (that was DA BOMB) and Paula (gush gush), she would be able to articulate her thoughts more clearly without distractions. Keep three judges and limit the amount of time they get to speak (90 seconds, tops). Slezak, former Idols, and MJ would be awesome!

Let the Idols sing the entire song (usually around 3:20 minutes/seconds). There IS a difference, and often the studio versions are better than the performance versions, b/c: there is time for a beginning, middle, and end!!!

Make the results show a half hour. (I wish.)

Choose more contemporary themes/mentors. I LOVED rock week, even if we got SCREAM on, b/c it was relevant. I liked Kris solo and Allison solo, and loved Adam solo and of course Adam and Allison duet. NO COUNTRY WEEK EVER AGAIN.

Fix the lighting/sound issues (there were a lot this week).

Go back to Top 24.

Lose the save.

Go back to TWO songs for Top 5 and 4 (no duets) and THREE songs for Top 3 (and Top 2). Do not make Top 2 sing a retread, and do not pick a craptastic coronation song that BOTH finalists have to sing (WHY?) and that the winner has to reprise after winning (WHY?).

And none of this will happen, will it? *sigh*

NO COUNTRY WEEK EVER AGAIN.

Just because you don’t like country doesn’t mean it’s not relevant. The idols that went that route are pretty successful. Besides, country fans seem to like to buy albums maybe because the artists seem to be more accessible — yes, that’s a lot of seems and maybes because that’s just my personal theory.

They need to bring some ease and integrity into the voting process before I consider watching again. 1 vote per phone line so voters don’t have to devote 5 hours each week to watching and voting. That would eliminate the effectiveness of vote blocking schemes such as those perpetrated by college students during AI this year, and also eliminate the whole power voting debacle. One person x 10,000 votes is meaningless; 10,000 people x 1 vote says something important!

I’m very happy about this. I think Kara has really great advice and should have some input on the show. She knows a lot about music and can offer the contestants great advice. Perhaps she can also mentor the contestants? I’m sure they will solve the judge talking problem. Give Kara a break, it was her first year. Of course it was going to be a little awkward but now I think everyone feels a little more comfortable. If everyone stopped complaining about no more three judges and actually LISTENED to Kara’s comments, you will find they make a lot more sense then Paula and Randy combined. Plus, many of this years past contestants found Kara’s comments most helpful. Why get rid of that when they are the ones who have to listen to judge comments?

Actually, I liked Kara. I thought her comments were meaningful. She seemed to bring out the best in each contestant. Randy just did not engage this season. It was almost like he wasn’t there. Paula was much more together this year and actually made sense. Hated the lovebird cra** between her and Simon. Simon is almost worthless except to promote who he wants to win.

I don’t think I’d miss Randy too much. Love the show and hope they work for a better format.

Too bad. I’d keep Kara and toss out most of the rest. I’m even tired of Simon. He was terrible this past season. It’s time to change things up in a big way, and just adding another judge wasn’t the answer.

If you think just college students were vote blocking, you are mistaken, all ages baby for all contestants, with active fan bases.

Can’t stand Kara, her useless comments and her over-reacting, i’m disappointed she’s going to be back.

I think they need to separate Paula and Simon like they do to kids in elementary school when they keep disrupting the other kids.

Randy doesn’t bother me but if they forgot to replace his batteries this season I don’t think anyone would notice and it would certainly save some time.

Simon was so useless this year and I hate to admit it because I usually agree with him. He seemed so bored and it ticked me off.

Paula was Paula.

Randy had his moments and I think the time limit made me not like having Kara there.

I watch the show for the contestants only.

1 vote per phone line

Sorry… I don’t agree. What do you do for the families that watch together and each viewer has a different favorite they want to vote for?

DWTS had a better voting format, if there were 8 couples you got 8 votes per phone; that kind of thing would be an improvement. But I doubt AI will change anything.

I didn’t particularly hate Kara. However, I would agree with others that the show has become more about the judges’ comments than the contestants singing. And when the comments are restricted to either tongue bathes or being thrown under the bus why even bother?

Love your ideas Sue. Though I have some additions:

Add a week – original week. Either the contestants sing a song they have written or, if they don’t write, they find a song from a writer who has not made the charts yet. Only way we get a true representation of what the contestant will sing post Idol is to hear an original tune. The craptastic coronation song doesn’t count – the contestant’s don’t have a choice on that one.

Add a week – Idol week. Bring back the past year’s Idol winner as mentor. Who else can give input to the contestants post Idol then last year’s winner. Song choice could be Itunes top 40, or whatever. But not the Idol’s songs.

I actually liked Kara. She knows her stuff and was often the only one giving valid critique to the contestants. But put a muzzle on the judges – 90 seconds max or their mic goes out on them.

I love SYTYCD judging style – mixing in new judges every week while keeping a couple rejuvenates the judges I think.

Add time to performance night – at least 1/2 hour. Many fans thought the biggest Idol “crime” this year was the week where only 2 judges commented. I disagree. The biggest crime was the week prior that caused it – overtime where Adam’s Mad World performance (and Simon’s subsequent very rare standing O) was missed by millions of tivos. That absolutely cannot happen again.

Drop the save, or listen to the fans. The fans didn’t vote for Matt not once but twice. He didn’t make it past Idol week (the judges brought him over), and the fans voted him out only for the judges to use the save on him.

As for the final 2, go back to the Davids year. 3 songs. One an original, or retread. One picked by Clive (or some bigname). The 3rd song for the Davids year was the coronation “loser” – the Davids had to choose from the loser pile of coronation songs. Don’t do that obviously. So have the 3rd song being a contestant’s choice again. Having both finalists sing the coronation song is just dumb, and both record it no less?, even stranger. Only the winner gets the coronation song.

Keep the Idol trophy – I liked that touch. Hopefully past Idol winners get a trophy as well though.

Duets – hmmmm. I actually liked the duets – Adam and Allison at any rate. Mainly because it was different than the norm. I’d be fine with dropping the duets.

Change up the themes. Country theme – snore. Done every year. Birth year – really? Birth year? Drop it. ET had a better idea – year the contestant turned 16. Music taste is more “ingrained” by then (though it is ever changing obviously). Though Allison’s pick would have still been something on current radio.

Add a theme – club music. If the show is going to make someone like Adam sing country, then they should make someone like Danny sing club music with all its electronic tricks.

As for the finale results night, keep as is. This past year was easily the funnest Idol finale yet (and my pick for favorite season finale of any show), and my guy didn’t even win!

As for the votes, I would not limit to 1 vote per household. As mentioned, many households won’t agree. However the show does have to limit the votes. I would say limit to 5 per household. And open up internet voting – again with a 5 per email limit.

Won’t happen though – AI is too in love with their ability to say “100 million votes received”.

As for the judges:

Simon – fairly useless this year. He’s already checked out. I will be STUNNED if he returns once this contract is up.

Paula – being Paula. Sometimes coherent, sometimes not

Randy – lost in his standard phrases. He seemed to have retired the “you can sing the phone book” phrase this year, but he was stuck on trying to come up with a new phrase and half the time stumbled over his words. And very sad – first couple of seasons Randy was the one with the best critique.

Kara – wordy. But gave the most valid critique once she started ignoring the peanut gallery in the audience.

One more idea – I have lots of ideas about Idol. At the beginning of this season the show said we would see more “in house” and mentoring sessions. We ended up seeing very little – most likely because the show was going overtime. Bring that back – especially the mentoring sessions. Would be nice to see more of that.

I’m glad they’ll all be back. I love Simon, he’s hilarious. Paula is great, although she gushed just a little too much over Adam. (However, I did enjoy Simon’s perplexed face after she made her rambling “poetic” comments.) I became a Kara fan when she stood up to Bikini Girl. That was the funniest FU moment I think I’ve witnessed on t.v. And Randy is a cool dude.

If the new season of AI was starting next week, I don’t think I’d be able to watch. But by January, I will be more than thrilled to tune in again. Each year they manage to find some pretty talented people. I’m sure it will happen again.

You guys that have ideas should send them on to AI!!!

Season 7 we got 21 different songs from David Cook .
This year we got only 14 different solo songs from Adam Lambert plus one duet with Allison , one Medley with Kiss and one With Kris and Queen.

The themes this year were all over the place and everyone was expected to be a musical arrangement genius. Season 7 mentors and theme were more current .
We got a great performer in Season 8 (Adam) but we only have him perform 33% less than last year.

Season 9 – I am done . My computer is so filled up with Adam’s music videos and will soon be filled up as he publishes more, so no room for other new AI artist.
Maybe will check if someone can top Adam. That will be reason to watch specific performances otherwise. Sayonara. Bye to the show.