» American Idol Questions Options

[splitchick59]

I clearly remember that in the first season, they intended to bring 100 contestants to Hollywood, but it was slightly expanded when they found so much so-called talent. Around 125 or somesuch. (Remember, also, that they gave some people a free trip to L.A. that year just because they were funny, such as Elias of the Simon suck-up and Britney Spears medley. Will Hung would've been a lock if he had auditioned then.) There were probably more sent there for AI2, possibly because people who would have been rejected the previous year due to image concerns were allowed through for the big Looks V. Talent battle royale.

Any remains of the mystique are gone now. Most people know how it works. Besides, the talent pool could be running low after three straight years of this.

[representin512]

You're not hallucinating...it was over 200 last season. When I heard that only 117 were going to Hollywood, I kept thinking how bad the overall talent must have been this year if they are cutting the numbers in half

I suspect the reason they sent a lot less through this year is that they decided to "background check" everyone who goes to Hollywood. Someone posted a link in the media thread to an article with one of the exec producers (can't remember which one, not Uncle Nigel though) who mentioned this, and who said that they were only doing checks on people who made it to the semi-finals before but that they would now be doing them on anyone going to the second round. Probably because of the plethora of scandal that broke out last season due to sloppy checking. (Frenchie, Craggle, etc.) Also, those background checks can be quite expensive, so I'm sure those money hungry fools figured that it wasn't worth the cost to send people through who had no chance in hell (in their opinions, of course) of making it to the "top whatever". Hence, far less people going to Glendale. That's the way it sounded to me, anyway. And as far as the talent pool running low, I doubt it. There will always be people who are at least halfway decent trying out for this thing until it gets cancelled. Far more who suck, mind you, but also ones who are good. And let's not forget all the people they reject for no bloody reason!! Maybe they're saving them for the next season?

This post has been edited by representin512: Jan 29, 2004 @ 7:35 pm.

[JRT Mom]

Besides, the talent pool could be running low after three straight years of this.

I also doubt this is the case. I've heard lots of local musicians that would be good enough to audition, but most of them wouldn't be caught dead being part of the media circus that is AI.

[lawyergirl]

The pool of actual talent shouldn't be running low, but the pool of semi-talented famewhores who would be willing to sign their lives away in indentured servitude to 19Evil likely is... All that to say that I think your impression of the talent pool seems pretty accurate, splitchick, given the overall meh-ness of this season's so-called
"talent".

[Cheese Pleese]

I want to know why there seems to be different versions of American Idol shown in different countries.

For example, VaNotssa and Terrance's auditions were not shown in Australia. Was this the case for Canada, UK, Singapore etc?

Another example is Jon. Canada did not see him perform. The show will be shown in Australia on Tuesday so I'll see if Network 10 here omits it as well.

Do they get rid of this footage to make up for ad time? Is it like The Simpsons, L&O etc in syndication? All I know is that I'm annoyed.

Edited for grammar

This post has been edited by Cheese Pleese: Feb 1, 2004 @ 4:17 am.

[MacMadame]

I want to know what happens next. This is my first AI and I am wondering how they wittle down the 117 to 32 (or 30 or 36 or whatever number it is).

[carp]

I want to know what happens next. This is my first AI and I am wondering how they wittle down the 117 to 32.

Well, I can only speak about last season, but IIRC, the first things that happens is everyone sings again for the judges, much like round one. They put groups of ten or so onstage in a line, then they have to say why they think they should be the next american idol (to which Candance Coleman last year replied "Because I pretty much suck at everything else" making all of us love her and wail incoherently when we found out she'd be in the same semi-final group as Ruben, Clay, AND K-Lo) then sings a capella again. They go through everyone and make a cut. The way they do the cut is to put everyone onstage in 4 lines - then each line is told whether they are being cut or were staying.

They then gave everyone a set of lyrics and had them make up a melody to it. Same deal, groups of ten or so in a line, everyone goes. Then they cut. After that, they broke everyone down into groups of 3 or 4 and they were given a song to prepare with their group. They rehearsed with vocal coach Debra Byrd and pianist Schroeder on this, were told to go off and rehearse on their own, and the next day the groups performed (I believe with a small band.) Following this round (which by-and-large blew fat smelly chunks last year, and was damn funny) they made another cut.

Finally, they were left with 48, and everyone drew numbers and went on stage one at a time to sing one last time for the judges, all dolled up and "polished." Still a capella. Following this, they were broken down into three groups of 16 and herded into separate hotel conference rooms. Two of the groups were told they were going on to the semis, the third group was cut. (Causing all of Juanita Barber's bones to shatter. One of Shack's more memorable descriptions.)

Hope that helps. (Edited for clarity. Not well.)

This post has been edited by carp: Jan 30, 2004 @ 5:18 pm.

[Aatrek]

Could somebody please explain what "affected" means? I mean, Paula throws it out at auditions all the time, but I'm really not clear on what it means.

[Blake]

I think "affected" basically means "totally fakey".

Officially? Dictionary.com says:
1.Assumed or simulated to impress others: an affected accent.
2.Speaking or behaving in an artificial way to make an impression

[MacMadame]

Thanks, carp. I had this impression that once they got to "Hollywood", the auditions would be done in a semi-professional manner but it sounds like they are still going for a game show atmosphere with putting people in groups and then not saying until the end which group is full of the losers. Not sure I like the sound of that.

[mercenary13]

Last season, 234 people were invited to the Alex Theatre in Glendale, California. The "Hollywood" workshop cutdowns took about a week. With only 117 invited back this time, the cutdowns probably only took about 3-4 days.

Last season, everyone got to sing and to tell the judges why they wanted to be the American Idol. Only Candice Coleman, who made the semifinal 32 did well with that question, saying that she "pretty much sucks at everything else." That first day, around half of the 234 were sent home, leaving about 120 contestants, as best as I can remember.

The next day, each contestant was given a set of lyrics (I think there were five different sets) and had to make up a tune to match the lyrics. After the second day, the field was cut to about 80.

Next, the contestants sang in groups of three (except for Frenchie Davis and Kimberley Locke, who did a duet, and the "drama" group of four that included Kimberly Caldwell and Julia DeMato). I think each group had a choice of three songs. After that, the field was cut down to 48.

The eliminations up to that point are done by lining up the contestants in rows (by gender), where the judges say something like "the second and fourth row is through to the next round, and the rest of you, thank you very much, you can go home." Some deluded contestants thought that they were through by being in the front row and had made-for-TV shocked reactions when the judges played "Simon says" with them.

Each of the last group of 48 got to sing a full song for the judges, a capella. When that finished, the group was split into groups of 16 contestants, and put in three separate windowless rooms. After waiting for what seemed hours according to the show but which was probably less, two of the rooms were told that they would perform on teevee, while the third room (usually informed by Paula) was told to beat it. Last season, delusional contestant Juanita Barber, who eventually was brought back to the semifinals, nearly had convulsions when she was told she didn't make the final cut. Which was hilarious.

So there definitely is a cheesy game show atmosphere at the "Hollywood" cutdowns.

[msladybird]

I want to know why there seems to be different versions of American Idol shown in different countries.

I dont know how many we've missed this season, but last year here in the UK, we NEVER got to see Keith's audition. A few seconds of it, that's all. I was waiting for it as so many on here had said how brilliantly awful he was. I wonder why they do cut certain bits out?

[gyc]

Wow, how many different countries show American Idol? I'd love to see all the different idols competitions held around the world.

[Cheese Pleese]

msladybird - I feel your annoyance. In the last episode screened here, I don't believe I saw Gilda Slice in the Australian broadcast either. But I'm pretty certain we missed the whole 'I AM an American' thing which is pretty good for Matthew since Asians probably make up the largest non-white minority in Australia.

gyc - I don't know. The ones that I know of are pretty obvious. Besides from the UK, Canada and Australia, it's shown in Singapore. It used to be shown in NZ but they are having their own Idol competition now. And I believe it is shown in South Africa as well.

Edited for spelling.

This post has been edited by Cheese Pleese: Feb 1, 2004 @ 11:19 pm.

[kcs]

AI 3 will be shown in Star World soon, which is broadcasted to tons of Asian and Middle East countries. This will be the first time that they air AI.

Yes, will, they are airing World Idol now and will start AI3 this Thursday (Feb 5).

This post has been edited by kcs: Feb 1, 2004 @ 11:01 pm.