NEW YORK (Billboard) - It's hard to imagine that the producers of "American Idol" would want to tinker with the show's formula following last season. After all, the hit reality program -- a talent search for music's Next Big Thing -- was 2006's top-rated TV series by a wide margin. But when the "A.I." juggernaut returns for its sixth season January 16, that's just what they'll be doing. In the biggest tweak of the show in years, a new national songwriting contest will be introduced and run parallel alongside the usual singing competition. The winning song, as determined by viewers, will serve as the first single from the champion of "Idol." It's fine-tuning like that -- a quintessential "Idol" touch -- that has enabled the franchise to maintain its steady upward trajectory during its five-year run. Last season was the show's biggest and best yet. According to Nielsen Media Research, the show averaged more than 30 million viewers -- ratings that trail only the likes of special one-off events like the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards. What is more, Ad Age says the show generated more than $500 million in TV sponsorship revenue in 2006. It now sets the value of the "Idol" franchise at $2.5 billion. A record four contestants were signed to album deals with Simon Fuller's record company, 19 Entertainment: Taylor Hicks, runner-up Katharine McPhee and finalists Chris Daughtry and Kelly Pickler. Now the franchise -- which through the years has given rise to the platinum-selling careers of Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard and Fantasia Barrino -- is thinking even bigger as it heads into its latest season. Says a relaxed and confident Fuller, "Idol" creator and mastermind, "We're just hitting our stride." So what can viewers, not to mention advertisers, expect in the season ahead? Details of the songwriting contest are still being sketched out, but it will be open to amateurs, with demos submitted through an "Idol" Web site. The show's producers and judges will whittle entries down to a dozen finalists, which will be performed in the show's stretch run and put up to a vote by the audience. The winner's song used to be chosen by Sony BMG executives and the show's producers early in the season. But picks of groaners like "Do You Make Me Proud" -- the song season five winner Hicks had to perform as his first single -- prompted Fuller to rethink the approach. "I want the moment of an unknown songwriter's song being performed by the hottest newly discovered singer in the country," he says of his new vision. The show is expected to start soliciting entries shortly after the end of the auditions. In an ideal world, previous "Idol" contestants will return to the show late in the season to give the songs a test run. But nothing has been decided. Details on the prize package are still to be determined as well. Ditto voting, which is expected to happen online. Also, show executives tell Billboard, look for rock singers. Given the success of performers like Chris Daughtry last season, and Bo Bice and Constantine Maroulis in season four, rock performers are turning out in greater numbers to try out. In any case, each week on the following night's live "results" episode, the contestant with the fewest votes is sent home. The bottom three vote-getters are separated from the remaining contestants. Over the course of the episode, two are revealed as being "safe" for the week, and the loser is sent home after performing one final song to end the episode. This process is repeated each week until the one remaining contestant is declared the winner. American Idol Live News: |
