UPDATE: Battle of the Entertainment rags! Entertainment Weekly begs to differ with a few of THR’s deets:
- Contestants will be limited to cover songs when singing for votes, and it is unlikely that voting will move online this season. And the source is quite firm that the show was never planning on bringing Idol all stars back on the show in anything other than a performance capacity.
- No gender parity
More Idol changes, according to EW:
- One sudden death Top 20 round. – Yet another round in Hollywood will narrow the contestants down to 20 singers, and only then will America vote in a single sudden death round that will select the Idol finalists from among two groups of ten.
- A Top 12…or a top 10. While some reports speculate the final group could be as high as 15 contestants, the Idol producers tell EW the finalists will either be a top 12 or a top 10
Gee…do you get the feeling that Idol is flying by the seat of its pants? Honestly, all this stuff sounds totally undecided at this point. Everything could change in the meantime.
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Shirley Halperin of The Hollywood Reporter outlines 8 Big Changes for American Idol 10.
You can read all eight changes at the Hollywood Reporter. It’s part of a longer article found in the print edition.
Here are some juicy tidbits:
Jennifer Lopez is “in control” despite Randy Jackson’s unofficial title of “head judge, “- Producers considered bringing back an all-star cast that would include former contestants like Jennifer Hudson, but no one would agree to return.
- Original Songs: Producer-songwriters handpicked by Universal Music Group’s Interscope Geffen A&M Records Jimmy Iovine will mentor the contestants… will help them with song selection, then arrange and produce the musical accompaniment — a prerecorded track augmented by a live band — specifically for each contestant. And for the first time ever, the contest won’t be limited solely to cover songs.
- Faster Music Releases: Instead of taking the summer months to work in the studio and releasing an album in the fall, finalists will have music out as the season progresses.
- The music video idea may be off the table for now.
- The online voting rumor has been confirmed
- The elimination process is speeding up considerably; viewers at home will still shape the semifinals, but the Top 24 may go directly to 12 contestants — or 15
So, what do you think? I say YES to original music. But, in the past, Idols chose their own music. Looks like Jimmy Iovine and his All-star producers will be influencing song choice now, so we shall see.
NO ALUMNI WANTED TO COME BACK TO IDOL. That’s hilarious. And probably smart. Who wants to go back to High School?
I’m not entirely understanding the deal about releasing music during the season. It sounds like producers will be crafting music on the fly for the contestants during the season. The music could be available for download and maybe released to radio?
