Music Blogs

Eight seasons in, has American Idol run out of gas? That's what some viewers have been saying, and the smell of desperation does seem to be behind many of the changes producers have made this season.
 
The case against:
 
1. New Judge Kara DioGuardi: One the hand, DioGuardi is just what the show needs--a seasoned music pro who actually has a hand in hit songs from (among others) Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Pink, and the Pussycat Dolls as well as (OK, this is where it gets ugly) non-hits from Lindsay Lohan, Hilary Duff, Paris Hilton and Vanessa Hudgens. But, finally, someone to take the place of Paula Abdul, who has more positive things to say than your grandma, and also has the same trouble staying awake that your grandma does. But, wait, what's Paula still doing on the show? Are the producers just too chicken to toss her? With four judges, the audition rounds were a colossal bore--the most tension we could hope for was a tie vote. DioGuardi may yet turn out to be a savior, but she's kind of a know-it-all (who can forget her showing Bikini Girl how to sing?) and she seems to vacillate between being as super-nice as Paula and as super-critical as Simon (thanks, we've already got Randy for that). Also, as we learned during this week's elimination show, she hasn't quite mastered the mic on the judges' table, so she was leaning in so close there was practically feedback.

2. The Judge's Mansion: This was a new feature for the show with the final cuts from Hollywood Week. Hey, I've got an idea! Let's get a mansion where we can stage a scene of a reality show! No one's done that! OK, reality television (like the rest of TV) doesn't exactly thrive on innovation, but this was corny even for Idol, and the walk up and down the mansion's grand staircase was nothing compared to the spy-cam footage of contestants from past seasons shaking by their lonesome selves while trapped in an elevator waiting to hear the verdict. Bad move.

3. Mom & Dad: What's up with featuring everyone's mom and dad on the couch on the first live shows? There are 36 contests--are we supposed to care about 72 moms and dads crying tears of pride and joy? It's waaaaaay too  early for this sort of shameless emotional manipulation. Once an overweight, bearded, hippie burnout dad weeps in public for the triumph of his little girl's dream, there's nowhere left to go--what's next? Beloved pets flown in to show their support? (Everyone loves puppies! And if that doesn't work: Real live LOLcats! Can I has votez?)

4. Your Top 12: This year, the Top 12 will be arrived at through three elimination shows in which the top boy and the top girl and also the next top vote-getter survive, and then after that there will be a wild card round. No matter how many times Ryan Seacrest explains this, it makes about as much sense as the electoral college, and is every bit as exciting.

5. This Week's Show: Did anyone else notice the microphone screwups, the throw to videotape package that didn't roll, and the totally awkward where-do-I-sit, should-I-hug-my-mom-now moments after each contest finished singing? Is this the biggest show on television or a special local-TV broadcast of a high-school talent-show fundraiser?

Admittedly, the early rounds are often awful. Idol is still the biggest thing on TV, and this week's ratings were up from this time last year. But year to date, ratings are down 8 percent. If it's going to get better, there's no time like the present.