AMERICAN IDOL…WHAT IT HAS DONE AND THE GOOD IT DOES
American Idol, and Ryan Seacrest for that matter, seem timeless to me.
The production itself and the host have been around forever.
Seacrest may be the hardest working figure in the entertainment world.
Today or any day.
But we’ll get to him later.
Idol, an American reality-singing-competition television series created by Simon Fuller, initially aired on FOX beginning in June of 2002.
For 15 seasons it was plenty good enough, in terms of what it brought to the table, and of course, viewership — record market share — to stick around.
But nobody likes stale bread, unless it can be made into edible toast.
The FOX television powers-that-be felt that Idol would not be a candidate for the toaster.
It was already toast.
After a two-year hiatus, a revival of the series began airing on ABC in 2018.
It’s now 2021 and Idol is still alive and kickin’.
That’s a lot of Judges over nineteen years.
Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson.
Kara DioGuardi.
Ellen DeGeneres.
JLo.
Steven Tyler.
Mariah Carey.
Nicki Minaj.
Keith Urban.
Harry Connick, Jr.
Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.
611…episodes and counting.
59 Emmy nominations.
Eight Emmys.
Its contestants have won 13 Grammys, 2 Golden Globes and an Academy Award.
The show: a recipient of the Television Academy’s 2016 Governor’s Award, in recognition of its seismic impact on the medium.
(The Governors Award honors an individual or organizational achievement in the television arts and sciences which is so exceptional and universal in nature, that it transcends the scope of annual Emmy Awards recognition).
Duly noted by Governors Award Selection Committee Chair Michael Levine, who remarked then with a nonchalance borne of certainty,
“American Idol wasn’t just a hit show.
With its successful integration of social media, dominance of the pop-culture conversation and legions of imitators, it changed television in a profound way.
You could meaningfully divide the history of television into ‘before American Idol and after American Idol.’”
WHEW!!!
American Idol started as an addition to the Idols (Superstar) format which was based on British TV’s Pop Idol, and became one of the most successful shows in the history of American television.
The concept of the series involves discovering recording stars from a nationwide pool of unsigned singing talents, with the winner determined by American viewers using phones, the Internet and SMS text voting.
Over 110 million votes were cast in the first season, and by the tenth season the total had increased to nearly 750 million.
Voting via text messaging was made available in the second season when AT&T Wireless came aboard as a sponsor, and 7.5 million text messages were sent.
That number rapidly increased, reaching 178 million texts by Season # 8.
Online voting was offered for the first time in the 10th season.
Nearly one billion votes were cast throughout Idol’s run on Fox.
The first season of the show was hosted by radio personality Seacrest and comedian Brian Dunkleman, but Seacrest has been the sole MC since season number 2.
Idol’s success is considered “unparalleled in broadcasting history,” according to Global Media Ecologies: Networked Production in Film and Television.
A rival TV executive in fact — Jeff Zucker, the CEO of NBC Universal at the time — commented that the series was “the most impactful show in the history of television.”
Another competing television executive observed that the weekly numbers Fox was getting from Idol in its heyday, was tantamount to having the Super Bowl on every week.
Fox executives agreed.
Emphatically.
“It really is an event every year,” marveled the network’s chief scheduler, Preston Beckman.
“Really, it doesn’t feel like a TV show sometimes. It’s like the Super Bowl.
It’s like a big sporting event.
Sometimes it almost feels like it’s bigger than Fox.
At some point in the year, it’s just time for ‘Idol.’”
Hardly praise misplaced, for a program whose performance show or result show was ranked number one in U.S. television ratings for an unprecedented eight consecutive years, from the 2003-’04 season through the 2010-’11 season.
At that time, it played to a worldwide audience of 460 million across 53 countries.
It has since become the world’s most widely viewed television franchise — as well as one of the most successful entertainment formats — adapted in over 46 regions globally, with its various versions broadcast to 150 countries and 3.2 billion people worldwide.
According to Billboard magazine, in its first ten years, “Idol had spawned 345 Billboard chart-toppers and a platoon of pop idols, including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard, Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken, Adam Lambert, and Jordin Sparks while remaining a TV ratings juggernaut.”
However, after a few years of sharply declining ratings beginning in 2012 — a precipitous fall from grace to the tune of 20% each season, during the period of 2012–2016 — it was decreed by Fox that the series’ fifteenth season would wrap it up, ending the run in April 2016.
In May of 2017, ABC acquired the rights to Idol — outbidding Fox and NBC — and the reality show competition returned for the 2017-’18 television season.
ABC revived the franchise and while at it, chided Fox for canceling.
Said ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey in 2017, “American Idol is a pop-culture staple that left the air too soon.
ABC is the right home to reignite the fan base.
We are thrilled viewers will once again share in these inspiring stories of people realizing their dreams.”
Added Disney Media Networks co-chairman Ben Sherwood, tossing a little fuel to the fire,
“Idol is an entertainment icon, and now it will air where it belongs, in ABC’s lineup of addictive fan favorites alongside Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor.
America, get ready for the return of a bigger, bolder and better-than-ever Idol.”
It had better be just that, because the shoes it wore proudly on Fox — and ABC hopes to fill — are quite large.
As in big.
At the end of the show’s run on Fox in 2016, Idol’s contestants had sold more than 60 million albums in the US, resulting in 80 Platinum and 95 Gold records.
Its participants had generated in excess of 450 Billboard №1 hits, and sold more than 260 million digital downloads.
With all of this in mind, perhaps Idol’s greatest contribution involves opportunity.
That is, furnishing the opportunity to change lives for the better.
Seacrest is the perfect poster boy to advance that cause.
The cherubic Dunwoody, Georgia native with the killer smile and sharp wit has made an enormous success of himself, and takes genuine joy in the prospect of doing that for others.
He’s real.
A longtime radio personality and producer, he has been the co-host of Live with Kelly and Ryan since 2017 and also hosts programs on multiple media platforms including Idol of course, American Top 40, and On Air with Ryan Seacrest.
His uncanny knack of identifying and mining talent, as well as eliciting interesting and sometimes heart-rending backstories is the lifeblood of American Idol.
He began his illustrious career in entertainment as one of these people.
His opportunity came early and he capitalized, but he is fully aware that sometimes, it just doesn’t happen that way.
This understanding has allowed him and Idol to make mega-stars of young folks who love to sing and play music.
Youngsters who only wanted the chance.
A chance.
To chase and catch their dream.
With Ryan Seacrest at the controls from day one — supported by accomplished judges and mentors — guiding and gently prodding a deep and hungry talent pool, it all makes perfect sense.
[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in February 2021.]
