More ‘Idol’ changes are coming
January can’t get here fast enough. Right?
American Idol starts its seventh season in the first month of 2008, but much of the show already is underway. The auditions have wrapped. Hollywood week is coming soon — though we won’t likely get many details until the show starts — and producer Nigel Lythgoe is talking about other changes fans can expect.
One of the changes that certainly could change the face of the show is the fact finalists will be allowed to use instruments during the Hollywood week rounds at the very least.
“We knew Chris Daughtry, Carrie (Underwood) and Bo (Bice) could play the guitar but we really couldn’t show it,” Lythgoe told the New York Post. “If (the contestants) can play an instrument this year we want to be able to see that, and we’ll introduce a couple of days of that during Hollywood week.”
There are about 160 finalists from seven regional auditions. At the end of Hollywood week, it will be down to the top 24 — 12 males and 12 females.
Adding the instrumental element certainly will bring a new flavor to the show. And it will pull in a completely different style of talent. There certainly is no faking when it comes to playing guitar or piano or any other instrument.
Lythgoe, who also produces So You Think You Can Dance, said next year’s summer tour of Idol may combine the dance kids into the mix. That announcement comes after both shows’ tours struggled to do as well as they had in the past.
“I’d love to see the Dance tour go out with the Idol tour and put the singing and dancing together,” he told the Post. “They should never be separate.”
This season also will feature fewer celebrity mentors — at least not every week, Lythgoe said — in order to focus more on the lives of the contestants.
American Idol, Nigel Lythgoe, So You Think You Can Dance, Chris Daughtry, Bo Bice, Carrie Underwood
November 6th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
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