Newest stars: Hicks and McPhee

Deconstructing American Idol
I was amused by the fact that the American Idol show wrapped up with over 60 million people actually voting for the finalists. People take more interest in this than they do politics. Maybe through this show we should pick our next President. You can have the three nasty panelists grill the candidates then make them give a speech.

While this show is a phenomenon, the concept is very old. In broadcasting it began in the 1930′s with the Original Amateur Hour. This was a kindler, gentler format that eventually used an applause meter to determine winners and losers. It did not take itself so seriously. This sort of format lasted until around 1970. There were variations on this theme that were eventually mocked by the popular Gong Show which was essentially a parody of all amateur hour type competitions. The parody essentially killed off the old model and in 1983 a new model emerged called Star Search. It introduced the single elimination one-to-one match-game tournament style of competition. In its original form it lasted 12 years and managed to discover an incredible array of talent from Dennis Miller to Britney Spears.

American Idol uses the same single-elimination tournament model but added elements of the Gong Show with three on-stage judges and scenes of humiliation. It also added a back room “behind the scenes” element taken from sports locker room interviews to add pathos and supposed insight as well as a human connection to the audience. This was topped with TV audience participation utilizing over-the-phone voting. The show also took only the most over-weighted aspect of amateur competitions: singing, and made it the specialty. Comics and dancers and jugglers could look elsewhere to be discovered. Whether Simon Cowles, the producer (and mean-spirited judge), actually knew what he was doing when this show was developed remains to be seen. His spin-off, American Inventor, seems to indicate otherwise. This show may actually be a case where network meddling resulted in a winner. A rare bird ifso.

Improving the model.
The only way to improve the current model would be to do the obvious, change the basic model from a single elimination tournament to a double elimination tournament. In double elimination you have to lose twice to be eliminated. The folks who lose the first time go into the losers rounds which are essentially death matches. This format would keep audience favorites in play to potentially win at the end in a showdown with a hated rival in the winners round. This sort of tournament style is underutilized in sports since it takes longer to complete, about twice as long in fact. But with a show like American Idol it could be added to increase the show frequency and network profits. It would add a new element of drama and the show ratings would go even higher. And the viewers would perceive it as “more fair and honest” and thus be more attracted for a longer time period.