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'American Idol' reverting to form -- yay or nay?
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"American Idol" announced Tuesday that it's reverting back to a Top 24, with 12 men competing against each other and 12 women competing against each other. Is this a good thing?We say yes. A resounding yes, for several reasons: gender balance, higher quality and more exposure before Top 12 starts.
Gender Balance
We love guys, nothing against 'em. But last year's "American Idol" Top 12 was 8 men and 4 women. We attribute this to the fact that the majority of people who vote (vote, not watch) on "American Idol" are female and they may be swayed by a cute guy who isn't actually one of the best vocalists. Then what happens is a female (usually a quirky girl, a la Jesse Langseth or Mishavonna Henson) gets left out who maybe could have made the Top 12 in lieu of a Scott McIntyre or Jorge Nunez, who maybe should not have.
Higher Quality
With a Top 24, each singer has to perform three times before they can reach the Top 12. Now of course, there could be someone who just has a bad night right out of the gate and goes home too soon. But more often than not, we really do cull it down to the best 12 out of the 24 the judges hand us because three performances is enough to know if someone can hack it or not.
More Exposure
This goes hand-in-hand with the quality issue. Last year, we saw each finalist exactly ONCE unless they were in the Wild Card night. That stunk. We like to be more familiar with our finalists before Top 12. For example... your recapper saw Kris Allen sing "Man in the Mirror" and didn't like it, so it took her a long time to come around on him once the Top 12 started. Also, the first three people to advance (Alexis Grace, Michael Sarver, Danny Gokey) were distant memories by the time the Top 12 started and maybe that's why Alexis Grace went home too early.
So is the Top 24 gender-split format that "American Idol" instituted in season 4 a good thing? We come down firmly on the "yay" side. What do you guys think? Vote below!
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I agree with everything you said except the gender split-up thing. Plus, 36 is just too mutch.
With the gender split you could also make the opposite case that a singer could go before their time because of the requirement to maintain that balance. It's happened on other shows like SYTYCD that have a gender split rule.
I definitely like the gender split for the Top 12, and the Top 36 was way too confusing for me! There were several contestants who left way too early, like Ricky Braddy and Alexis Grace. One thing I'm not looking forward to, though, is having Kara back - and too much focus on the judges! And now with Ellen, we'll be lucky to have enough time for the contestants at all. I predice that Ellen will use up even more time than Paula did! Nothing against Ellen (she's very funny), but I really think it could end up being yet another fiasco, like last season! We'll see!
I am actully Jessika Baier's grandma, and I say I will never watch that show again. They lost the best singer when they let her go.and its not because shes past away either,its just a dam reality show to hurt people. But she was stronger than that,she knew she could sing. It would be nice if they could at least have a prayer for her on air this year.Let the world know you are always being stone cold hearted people. This girl was a jack of all traits.SING,DANCE,AND ACT,BOY COULD SHE ACT. Ask american idol why they won't show the clippings of her singing in my 50s malt shop when they came to town to film her. I'd love to have a copy of that for my book. Jessy had already wrote plenty chapters of her life,now I am going to finish her book. she loved her friends, and family,and she always said once your my friend your a friend for life. she was one of a kind,and i will miss her.love grandma sandy