bill bodkin looks at the end of season 10 …
The people spoke, and Southern-twanged teen Scotty McCreery is your American Idol.
It’s a win that speaks volumes for not only the show, but the music industry as a whole.
American Idol, in theory, is supposed to be a reflection of the musical pule of the nation. And while the masses haven’t always been correct in picking the most successful artists, the genre of the winning artist, traditionally, has been a reflection of what’s hot in the music scene. And this year, without a doubt, America is country strong.
The finale featured not one, but two country crooners, both representing the two different appeals of current country. Scotty represents the old school, the more twangy, boot-scootin’, country with a tinge of rock to it, while Lauren represents the pop-country crossover that American Idol winner Carrie Underwood, whom Alaina performed with on the finale, forever solidified. The two teens will more than likely experience great success in the country scene, while it may be a little more difficult for both to become mainstay pop-crossovers. Call it a gut feeling.
As for Idol, it accomplished two major goals it set out to accomplish at the beginning of the 10th season: successfully incorporate younger teenagers into the show as contestants and produce a winner that strayed away from the singer-songwriter mold that dominated the last three seasons. These two major accomplishments helped the Idol brand win over even more younger audience members and voters since they can now get behind a contestant their age, someone they can possibly relate to. It also has helped Idol launch itself back into the most popular and profitable musical genres in the country and out of the “doldrums” of middle of the road light rock ‘n’ roll.
So was Season 10 == the first “Simon-less” season — any good? Did it live up to the hype? Did we care?
The answer is a decided thumbs in the middle.
See, despite all the “improvements” judges table, the mentor system and the overall production, Idol quickly fell into a same-old, same-old routine. The trio of Randy Jackson, Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez were the antithesis of Simon Cowell — they were super positive and supportive all the time. Very rarely did we hear anything negative, even about the worst performances. Cowell’s blunt-force-traumatic statements were replaced by with positive reinforcement and reluctant criticism. America got it, the Simon Cowell days are over, happy days are here; but it got old fast. Maybe some constructive, truthful criticism, like say the type Jimmy Iovine doled out every week is something Idol needs to maintain not it only its “street cred” but also to make for some sort of drama.
Does this mean we hated Season 10? No. Was it better than Season 9? No. The last few years of Simon Cowell’s regime became very one-note and predictable. It became more about the antics of the judges rather than the talent onstage, which also lacked. It’s at that time when Idol lost its magic, its immediate sense of drama, its spectacle. Even with the hype and hoopla of J-Lo and Steven Tyler joining the show, the magic didn’t return. It was just Idol.
Yet, at the end of the day, the show is still solid entertainment — musical hopefuls going out and sometimes delivering amazing performances. It’s not groundbreaking TV anymore, and while it still has a stranglehold on the ratings, I see the franchise leveling off in terms of popularity both in ratings. Could Idol run for another 10 years, sure. If it got canceled tomorrow, would it be justified, also sure.
In the end, Idol will no doubt return for an 11th season. Will the judges table remain intact or will we see another shake-up, we’ll see. In the end no matter what improvements, additions or subtractions are made to the show, next January we’ll all tune in to see what person will be our next American Idol.
