'American Idol' Is Nothing Like Coca-Cola
posted in: Features • Music News
Billboard today has a piece regarding the highs and (more recently) lows of American Idol and the show’s upcoming season. It rather sadly exposes the whole production as a microcosm of the floundering, old-school end of the music industry. The players are scrambling behind the scenes to figure out why ratings plummeted in later seasons, changes are being made, and the faces of the show are desperately trying to make us remember Idol‘s former glory as a ratings bonanza and a legitimate factor in the music industry. Harry Connick Jr., a former mentor and now judge on the show (along with Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban), says:
Remember when they came out with new Coke and everybody was upset by it? It couldn’t have teed up the return of Coke Classic any better. When Coke Classic came out, it exploded even bigger than it was before because it created this void and people missed it. And I think that’s what this year can potentially do for this brand. People sort of missed their classic ‘American Idol.’ And it’s back.
Yeesh. New executive producer Per Blankens, who had great success running the Swedish version of the show, similarly stresses a “back to basics” formula. We think that this is the best show there is — the original that’s inspired others,” he says, “so it’s not that viewers necessarily want that big gimmicky change in order to come back to the TV couches. They want to see the show they’ve grown to love.
Here’s the thing, though. Coke was awesome and everybody loved it, and when it went away, the people who loved it were not happy switching to Pepsi, because, for them, it was never an acceptable substitute. Viewers of American Idol, on the other hand, are just as happy to switch over to The Voice, because it is not only an acceptable substitute, but it is widely perceived as a superior version of the product. So now you’re watching an interesting twist, an evolution, of what you liked in the first place and Idol thinks you’re going to come back to the same old show just because they were there first and, don’t you remember how much you liked it?
Hey, guess what wasn’t the first cola? Do you remember what the first cola was? No, no one does.
And even if that theory held, the truth is that this will not be the same show. People loved to hate Simon Cowell, he was a classic villain. And they were compelled by the bickering between him and the truly and uniquely bonkers Paula Abdul. You can’t invent that kind of chemistry. Last year Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey sniped constantly and it was not charming and people hated it. Now, Blankens says, We stressed that we wanted a panel [of people who] enjoyed each others’ company and could actually sit down together or go out to lunch.
And I ask you, who doesn’t want to silently observe a friendly lunch?
It’s almost beside the point now, but there’s another glaring fact that no one is really acknowledging: American Idol really no longer produces American idols. I mean, I’ve got Rueben Studdard, Kris Allen, and Lee DeWyze posters on my wall, just like every other music fan, but I’m not so sure Scotty McCreery can continue that hot streak. So if American Idol has lived up to its implied promise one-sixth of the time (arguably, but, I mean, really), what is the point of participation (viewing and voting) for the audience? At least The Voice has the entertainment value of, say, The Price Is Right.
More like this:
Has American Idol Lost Its Platinum Touch?
10 Former ˜American Idol’ Contestants Sue Reality Show
The Voice Goes Live