By now, I’m sure that you are all aware that “American Idol” is back on television, only this time it is no longer on Fox, it is on ABC. When I first heard that the biggest singing competition show of all time was coming back to television, I was ecstatic. I will never forget the magic that the show had when Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson were the judges, and I thought that the show would have this same magic again. However, so far, the show has not lived up to my expectations.
Even though the show did, in fact, bring back a key member of the original “American Idol” cast in Ryan Seacrest (you can’t have “Idol” without him, it just wouldn’t be the same), the revived series just does not have the same appeal anymore. Personally, I think that the judges are very easygoing, and honestly, it seems like almost anyone can make it to Hollywood now. The judging on this show used to be very tough and critical, and despite what people thought of Simon Cowell, he was a necessary element to the show. I think that any great singing competition needs to have that one judge that everyone wants to impress. For instance, when a singer received a compliment from Simon, that person knew that their performance was great. With these new judges, I hate to say it, but I think that they are all too nice. Don’t get me wrong, of course I respect Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan. They are all very successful artists in their respected genres and it would be awesome if I were able to sing for each of them. However, I think that these judges are too lenient.
“American Idol” used to have some of the best singers I’ve ever heard perform on this show, but this year, I haven’t seen the powerhouse performers that I am used to seeing. Honestly, I think that “The Four,” which is a new singing show on “Fox,” is now a better singing competition than “American Idol,” and “The Four” has only been on television for one season so far. What I like about “The Four” is the way that the singing competition is set up. I like the idea of one singer challenging another singer to a face off, and the singer that has the better performance wins. I have seen some powerful singers on this new show, and even though I disagree with the judges a lot, I like that they are tough to please. That is what “American Idol” is missing. The judges on “The Four” don’t just let mediocre singers challenge the other singers on the show. Only the top performers get a chance to challenge.On “Idol,” it looked like everybody was getting a golden ticket.
My last issue with the rebooted show is the fact that it airs on Sundays and Mondays. Personally, I do not think that this is a good day to air “American Idol,” and I think that it would be better to show it only during the week, but as I said, this is just a personal preference. I think that it will be hard for the show to compete with "The Walking Dead," and yes, I know that these two shows are completely different, but I like singing shows and zombie killing, so I chose to watch "The Walking Dead," instead of the "Idol" premiere (I think I made the right choice).
American Idol airs on Sundays and Mondays at 8 p.m. EST.
