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'American Idol' Producer Dishes On The Changes For Season Eight
It's the return of the Wild Card round for Season Eight of "American Idol." Goodbye Top 24. Hello top 36! More contestants will get the chance to shine on live television for audience votes - but it may not be a good thing for the contestants. The reason is that the way it will shake out only three contestants will make it through to the Top 12 each week, when the three live performance shows kick off Tuesday, February 17. In a conference call with reporters this afternoon, executive producer Ken Warwick spelled out exactly how this new format will work, telling reporters that after America votes, "From each week you will get the top boy, the top girl and the next highest vote through."
The remaining 27 contestants will then be eligible to compete in a wild card show set to air on Thursday, March 5. The fourth highest vote getter from each of the three performance shows will have a spot for sure and the judges will decide the rest, according to Ken,
"Judges can add to it anybody they like that they thought they knew was better and just off form or maybe they picked the wrong side. Whatever reason they choose they can make that fourth show up probably to about nine or ten people and then they will decide who the final three will be."
The whole idea sounds a little convoluted if you ask me. I think by now producers should already know the number who will be allowed to compete during the Wild Card round instead of deciding down the line.
The big question is, 'Why mess with success?' Warwick swore it had nothing to do with the show's seven percent ratings drop from last season.
"There were no panic changes I have to say. It wasn't, 'Oh my god! We dropped seven percent! What are we going to do to change the whole show?' This show wouldn't have been on the TV for eight years if it weren't doing it right. We are tweaking it around trying to make it a bit more interesting. Some things will work, some things won't."
And if the changes don't work and ratings drop, Warwick says he won't panic about that either, "I expect that the figures will probably drop a bit. I'm not ashamed of that because I have got eight years of success behind me."
Another burning question on reporters' minds was how is new fourth judge Kara DioGuardi fairing? Warwick says, "Fantastic."
"She is young. She is opinionated. She is incredibly talented. Also she is a really good singer. So, in the past, when the kids standing in front of them have said, 'Oh, well you can't sing. You sing it then if you know so much about it.' This is the one situation where the judge has been able to say, 'Alright then, I tell you what! You should have sang it like this,' and show the kid exactly how you should have sang it, which does happen in a couple of the audition shows."
I'm sorry, but isn't Paula Abdul a Grammy award winning singer? I'm all for giving someone else a spin in the judge's seat but let's not forget about the people who are already in the chairs!
Speaking of Paula, it sounds like if there is any thought of her leaving "American Idol," it will have to be her decision to pull the plug. Warwick made it clear that producers have no plans on getting rid of her.
"There has never been any discussion that we would want to get rid of Paula, even if there were people in production that didn't like her. The truth of the matter is we have never had the discussion of, 'Is her job in jeopardy?' No it's not in any jeopardy. America loves Paula. She is an integral part of this program. As far as I'm concerned, I hope she is there until the day it comes off the air. End of story."
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