Miscellaneous Midweek Musings

In my last post, I began with an apology to Caleb for strongly doubting his ability to sing a Prince song. Since I’m not used to being wrong, I failed to recognize that I also needed to apologize to My Girl Gabby, seeing as how I wrote this about her decision to sing How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore:

“I’m not sure about this. This is a straight-up R&B song.” 

As with Caleb, I was proved severely and loudly wrong. Sorry, Gabby. You slayed.

I’ve re-watched the Prince performances of Caleb and My Girls Gabby and Maddie[1] numerous times and each viewing confirms my opinion of how excellent they were.

Ratings – this is interesting. Over the last three Sundays (the voting rounds beginning with the Top 14), Idol has grown from 7.6 million to 8.6 million viewers. During that same time, The Voice Monday shows have remained at 8.3 million viewers, while their Tuesday shows have dropped precipitously from 9.3 million to 7.2 million. I don’t have nor have I seen any explanation for the shows’ relative exchange of fortunes. In any case, Idol is being renewed for next season and the ratings for the reboot have exceeded (thus far) what was promised to advertisers.

The last two weeks of the season will look like this: on Sunday the Top 5 will sing with Carrie Underwood mentoring them. The live voting will cut them down to the Finale Three. These Three will perform the following Sunday (5/20) with the Grand Finale and crowning of the next American Idol coming the next night (5/21).

I can’t stress enough how important it is in my not-so-humble-opinion that the rebooted Idol gets the right winner. The show’s brand is that it is the reality show that produces stars. For years, you were certain that you would see the American Idol on the charts after their season. But in recent years it has failed to keep that brand promise. What Idol and all the other singing shows have proved is that it’s not the TV exposure that turns people into stars. It’s that AND talent that can eventually compete in the music business – and by the business, I mean the industry – that turns them into stars.

It’s noteworthy that megastar ex-Idolist Carrie Underwood is using Idol as part of her “comeback” from her November accident. That’s a good “get” for the show and a reminder for the viewers of what Idol is all about. And here’s what you can’t have – an Idol winner (Kris Allen) being the “with special guest” for the Idol summer tour, especially when the morning after Ryan announces the tour, Adam Lambert – the guy who “lost” to Kris – is on LIVE with Kelly and Ryan announcing the Queen + Adam Lambert 10-date Las Vegas residency in September. It would be a HUGE boost to the show for the Idol to become a hitmaker, especially since Voice “winners” have done so poorly.

See you again on Sunday. I’m gonna go listen to some Miles with Eggs, my daughter’s monk parakeet who clearly knows what’s up. 🙂

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[1] When Doves Cry, How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore, and No One Compares 2 U, respectively.