Ryan Seacrest Interviews Ken Warwick About the Twist – One Time Only Veto Power?

By On 03/11/2009 · 95 Comments · In Uncategorized

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Ryan Seacrest interviewed Ken Warwick on his radio program today.   Ken says the “new rule” that will be introduced tonight came about to solve a “problem that’s been around since Season 1.”

Ken says they tried the rule out in the French version of Idol first.

Listen to the interview:

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According to the Wikipedia entry for Nouvelle Star, in the last series, the judges were able to exercise a one time veto on an eliminated contestant at any point in the competition.   The judges used their veto during the first week, sparing a contestant named Kristov, who was eventually eliminated 3 weeks later.

According to poster Valentin432, here’s how the new rule worked in   France:

The judge get a veto power, it means that they can save one contestant during the whole season.

It works the following way, after the contestant(s) was eliminated, the judges have a meeting and decide if he is worth saving or not. If they decide he deserved it they give him another chance and the following week they start the show with the same contestants.

If it is a one-time only veto, I’m still not liking it, but I can live with it–much better than a weekly sing-off between the bottom dwellers, with the judges choosing who goes home.

Of course, the American version of the rule might be tweaked a little. For instance, a double elimination would occur the next week to make up for the reprieve since AI cannot be extended another week.

If a rule like this had been in place in prior seasons, Tamyra Gray, Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry, Michael Johns, and Constantine Maroulis may have lasted on the show longer…

But then, what’s American Idol without it’s yearly shock boot?   That’s controversy right there.   And AI thrives on controversy…

 
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  • Michelle

    Veto an elimination? But I thought their problem was they needed to get rid of them FASTER now that there’s 13 instead of 12!

    I think this season, they donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t care whether the winner will be a dud or not. Theyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve got Kelly, Carrie, Jordin and David who are all still in the media a lot and making/performing music. And theyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve still got Fantasia, Daughtry, and even Ruben is putting out an album in May with 19 Recordings/Hickory Records, whilst Taylor Hicks is making music on his own now.

    I don’t think they care at all about post-show viability for this season. This season is strictly about TV show ratings. Hence all the weird gimmicks. Maybe with the Idols they have in the stable they figure they can play around w/the formula this year cause they don’t need/can’t support a new one this year anyway.

  • Caffiend

    For the record, I don’t think Adam comes across as effeminate. He comes across as a nice guy, humble, actually, and gentle. Very likable.

  • thesheriff

    as long as i agree with their veto, it’s fine by me!

  • BootStar

    So will Ryan actually tell us who the scheduled bootee is? Will they call that person out and then “save” him or her before exiting the stage, kinda like it looked like they were going to do with Michael Johns last season, and which they did in effect do with Anoop? (Yes, I know it was all staged, but that’s kinda my point in asking.)

    Because I would think the potential backlash could be fierce. For every voter who is relieved that his or her favorite was spared, there will others who will actively vote for anybody BUT that person. Of course they could just call out the final two (who appear to be the “bottom two”) and spare them both.

    Seriously, all these changes are just giving me a headache. I’ve believed for some time that they’re trying to kill the franchise so they can start up a new X Factor, so maybe this is all part of the plan. Make it all so intolerable Americans are more than happy to say goodbye to the show.

  • hcpoirot

    So this season we might have double elimination twice? That better than the juges had the power to eliminate finalists each week before top 5.

    Too early to predicted that no one will success in this season. each season even not so good one from1 -7 will at least had one top singer in the end. Though maybe their popularity will only last few months or year.

    The real star from AI (in music industry) so far had to be only Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.

    Other singers had to waited for their second album and singles from that album to prove they can mantain their star status.

    Look how well Ruben, Clay and Fantasia first album sales. And then the fans move to other new singers.

    That also happen to ( smaller extend) Joshua Gracin, Bo Bice, kellie Pickler. Their first album had more than 500000 copies sales. But the second one didnot do even half the amount .

    So Daughtry, Jordin Sparks, and David Cook and Archie had to prove with their second album and other singles.

  • weelassie

    To me, Adam does not come off as looking anything but like a nice guy with a great smile who is darn good looking. I could care less about his sexual preference but I do not in the least find him feminine like.

  • ordinarygirl09

    really its not a big change like I thought it would be, so I like it! That way if there is a bad singer!! TA TA to you!:) or if it is a favorite who just had a bad week then that would be cool to give them another chance! Um so does this mean the finale will end up in June???

    and JUST because someone is gay does not mean that have to be feminine. Its really ignorance on peoples part when they think if someone is feminine they MUST be gay. not true.

    I love Adam, not his voice.

    To me,Carrie and Kelly (eventually maybe David) are only the true stars of AI.

  • CRB

    Caffiend Mar 11th, 2009 at 2:45 pm

    For the record, I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think Adam comes across as effeminate. He comes across as a nice guy, humble, actually, and gentle. Very likable.

    I actually like Adam more than his performances. He seems like a good guy who says what he is thinking rather than what he thinks you might want to hear.

  • janerazor

    Ià ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ¢â€š ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ¢â€ž ¢ve believed for some time that theyà ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ¢â€š ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ¢â€ž ¢re trying to kill the franchise so they can start up a new X Factor, so maybe this is all part of the plan. Make it all so intolerable Americans are more than happy to say goodbye to the show.

    I wonder about this too. It’s as if TPTB are trying to emphasize and exaggerate all the bad cliches that AI has accumulated over the years. The back stories have been OTT. The cannon fodder during the semis was stacked like cordwood. Tatiana and Normund were the longest joke auditions in AI history. The wild card round was really just an excuse for the judges to pick who they wanted to go through. The limited-song-choice issue will no doubt come up again, a la poor Jorge, who nearly just came and said he was given that song to sing (LMAO at Paula’s zip-it reaction). And now the veto (possibly. I guess we will find out tonight). It’s as if the worst things about AI have been turned up to eleven this season.

    Edited to add: Adam doesn’t strike me as feminine at all, but he does strike me as very gay. That’s all fine with me, but AI hasn’t been the nicest to nonheterosexual singers in the past, and the homophobic banter between Ryan and Simon has become a staple form of humor for the show. So Adam’s presence on the show has me wondering what AI’s plans for him are.

    Also, I wouldn’t be shocked if the judges at some point use Alexis’s “dirtying up” against her (like Haley, but more insulting).

  • Michelle

    The limited-song-choice issue will no doubt come up again, a la poor Jorge, who nearly just came and said he was given that song to sing (LMAO at Paulaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s zip-it reaction).

    LOL oh that moment. It does seem they are setting up the ramp and ordering the shark.

  • Niall

    Don’t think this has been addressed yet but…how will the double elimination impact the office pool? I’ve got all my points on one person but with two people going home, will we be getting points for two contestants if we divide our points up and happen to guess two correctly?

  • http://www.myspace.com/gundomom CarieB

    You only have a total of 20 points to play with, regardless of how you spread it around. So if the person you have all your points on does in fact go home tonight, you’ll get the full 20.

  • oceana

    To me,Carrie and Kelly (eventually maybe David) are only the true stars of AI.

    Which David?

    as long as i agree with their veto, ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s fine by me!

    LOL. Same here.

  • lovegoodmusic

    oceana Mar 11th, 2009 at 4:36 pm

    To me,Carrie and Kelly (eventually maybe David) are only the true stars of AI.

    Which David?

    I think the poster was talking about the Idol winners.

  • http://absinthedreamers.blogspot.com/ Starrlight

    Constantine lasted too long. As a Greek I was completely embarrassed by his smarmy hamster faces :P

    Adam is gay. That does not equal effeminate.

  • nomi

    OK, so the judges can save a contestant one time during the season. Perhaps there is nothing inherently wrong with that, but I do wonder what kind of pressures and manipulations the judges would probably employ on the double elimination week that follows. Because that’s certainly what will happen.

  • CynicCritic

    I think a lot of people are missing the point here, Cowell, 19ent. etc who have the finalists contractually tied up, do not want anybody escaping the
    fold early on, especially if that person potentually would be a big dollar
    earner for them. They do not want another Gray, Hudson or Daughtry, slip through their fingers nor the aggravation they had with Clarkson and Aiken!

  • hankjmatt

    It’s too early to predicted that no one will success in this season. each season even not so good one from1 -7 will at least had one top singer in the end. Though maybe their popularity will only last few months or year.
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