American Idol is Bigger than Ever with Record Ratings


Home	About the Show	Contact Us

American Idol Information:

American Idol is Bigger than Ever with Record Ratings

The first American Idol of 2007 debuted last night and the ratings were even higher than Fox could have hoped for. The last season of American Idol reached such astronomical TV numbers that some thought a natural downward turn was inevitable. Apparently, that's not going to happen this season. The two-hour premiere, featuring auditions from Minneapolis, aired at 8pm last night on Fox and was the second highest-rated episode of the entire series to date, easily topping any primetime program that has aired so far this season, according to Variety.

More people watched American Idol last night than anything that has been on television so far this season. How many? According to preliminary nationals released by Nielsen, the first episode of the sixth season of American Idol averaged a 15.7 rating and a 36 share in adults 18-49 and 37.3 million total viewers overall. That's up 5% over last year's season premiere and only below the season two finale, in which Ruben Studdard beat Clay Aiken, in the series history. That episode aired in May of 2003.

The numbers for American Idol get more ridiculous. The broadcast last night was the most watched program in the highly coveted 18-49 demographic in almost three years, since the May 2004 series finale of Friends. Want some other comparisons? According to Variety, AI's numbers were 43% higher than the very successful season premiere of Grey's Anatomy and even 30% higher than the BCS Championship Game between Florida and Ohio State that aired on January 8th.

It keeps going. Last night, the 15.7 rating for American Idol doubled the 18-49 rating for ABC, CBS, and NBC COMBINED. It tied the network's highest ratings for a season premiere in almost a decade, since the 1997 season premiere of The X-Files.

And it's back tonight with another two hour audition special at 8pm EST. This time, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell head to Seattle to find the best and worst singers and score more insanely high ratings.

So, what was the competition? Believe it or not, there were enough viewers leftover to watch the other networks, confirming that more than one show can be competitive on network TV in the same time slot. No one must have been watching cable. NCIS was viewed by 15.9 million people on CBS in the early time slot. When American Idol was over, 14.1 million people turned in to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and 9.9 million people checked out Boston Legal on ABC.

'American Idol' Premieres 8-10 p.m. Jan. 16-17 on FOX

About American Idol The Show:
In the show, hosted by Ryan Seacrest, hopeful contestants are screened by preliminary panels to be selected for singing talent or humorous potential and human interest. Those which pass the prelims are potentially aired on the show. They then audition before the three main judges - Simon Cowell (one of the judges from Pop Idol), Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson - in cities across the United States. Sometimes a celebrity fourth judge is added. These are generally held at large convention centers where thousands of people wait in line for auditions. Past audition cities have included; New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans, Chicago, Philadelphia, Greensboro, Washington, DC, Houston, Honolulu, Denver, Detroit, St. Louis, Boston, Las Vegas, Orlando, Nashville, Memphis, Dallas, Cleveland and Austin. In order to be eligible, the contestants are not permitted to have any current recording or talent management agreements (but may have had one at some point in the past). Based on turnout and availability, producers select a certain number from the crowd to audition before the three judges (this usually takes 2-4 rounds). Contestants are required to sing a cappella. Those who impress the majority of the judges move on to the second round auditions which take place in Hollywood (typically only several dozen out of the thousands in each city move on). The contestants selected despite lack of singing talent for appearance before the panel provide a major attraction to the viewing audience as they simultaneously proclaim their talent while turning out gut-wrenching performances which are ridiculed by the judges.

In the finals, which last eleven weeks, each finalist performs a song live in primetime from a weekly theme (two songs in later rounds) at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California in front of a live studio audience. Themes have included Motown, disco, big band music, and Billboard #1 hits. Some themes are based on music recorded by a particular artist, and the finalists have a chance to work with that artist in preparing their performances. Artists around whom themes have been based include Billy Joel, Neil Sedaka, The Bee Gees, Barry Manilow, Gloria Estefan, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Queen.

When there are three finalists remaining, themes are no longer used. Instead, each contestant sings three songs: one of their own choice, one chosen by the judges, and one chosen by record executive Clive Davis. However in Season Two, in the final three, one song was chosen randomly from a bowl, with one chosen by the performer and one by the judges.

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 NEWS

Exclusive Carly Smithson Interview In our ongoing conversation with last season's top 10, we had the chance to speak with Carly Smithson this past weekend. After all, Carly is a little bit more than half way through with the summer tour, so we figured we'd check in to see what she thought of her experiences thus far. Carly was thrilled to be in Manchester, but not because of the rain that greeted her. Instead, it was only about an hour from their previous stop in Worcester, Massachusetts, which means it was a fairly easy bus ride for them. Typically, they're on the buses for several hours a night, but because Worcester is so close to Manchester, they were on the road for only about an hour and were able to hit their hotel rooms at a reasonable time (for them) of around 1:30am. Thus far, Carly boasts that "it's been great being on the road with all her friends" and that it's "a wild trip [she] never could have expected." The best thing, for Carly, has been the nightly "Meet and Greet's". In these regular sessions, Carly and the other Idols meet with a small group of kids in each city. A lot of the times, these kids are going through tough health issues or facing other obstacles and it's just a thrill for them to see their heroes up close and personal. As much as it's a thrill for them, it's even more of a thrill for the Idols. To emphasize that, Carly noted one such time, in Worcester, where she "met this great girl and took her around to the buses and gave her a teddy." Carly also mentioned that it's just really great to perform for all the fans who voted so often. Interestingly enough, apparently there are a bunch of Uber fans who travel from concert to concert, all across the country. They're kind of like the old Grateful Dead fans who used to follow the Dead from city to city. The bottom line, though for Carly, is that she "wants to really thank the fans". Without them, of course, there wouldn't be an Idols Summer Tour. In regard to what's coming up for Carly after the tour, she is going to pursue making music, to nobody's surprise. She's not sure if it will be a major or Indie label or self-produced, she just knows that she'll put one out as soon as possible. Asked what kind, she shared with us that it would be "kinda like Celine Dion mixed with Heart. Pop Rock, you know?" She laughed out loud when she thought about a previous interview when another writer wrote that she will be putting out a heavy metal album. Carly exclaimed, "Yeah, I'm gonna be opening for Slayer!" Overall, in addition to the support from her fans, Carly's thankful for the great reviews she's received on tour as well as the fabulous reviews she got while on the show. She singled out L.A. Times entertainment reporter, Richard Rushfield, for the incredibly descriptive way he writes about the show, Ryan Seacrest and all of the contestants. We're sure that we'll be hearing more from Carly once the Summer Tour has concluded. Check out Carly's Transformation Gallery!

Latest Daughtry News Billboard Magazine's Jonathan Cohen is reporting that Daughtry's four-times platinum self-titled 19/RCA debut will be released in expanded form Sept. 9, led by a newly recorded cover of Foreigner's "Feels Like the First Time." The original album will also have acoustic versions of "What About Now" and "Home" as well as a live version of "It's Not Over." A bonus DVD includes videos for "It's Not Over," "Home," "Over You," "Feels Like Tonight" and "What About Now," along with live clips for "Breakdown" and "There and Back Again." Daughtry is embarking on a month's worth of live dates starting Friday, August 15 in Las Vegas. Watch again our emotional Exit Interview with Chris Daughtry from season 5.

David Archuleta's "Crush" Season 7 runner-up David Archuleta is releasing his first post-Idol single, "Crush", digitally today and great reviews are pouring in. In fact, Entertainment Weekly notes that the single sounds "hip and contemporary". EW goes on to gush, " 'Crush' is good news for David, for his fans, and for the general health of the Idol Franchise." Congratulations David! Check out the latest photos of David and the rest of the Top 10 on Tour this summer.

Catching Up With Ramiele Once Ramiele Malubay was chosen as one of the top 24 contestants in season 7 of American Idol, life for her has been anything but dull. After competing for five weeks knowing that she would be on tour during the summer, Ramiele stayed in L.A. This worked out well for her, as rehearsals for the finale and the tour began in earnest before the season even ended. Life in the Idol world is always fast paced. As soon as the finale ended, rehearsals really kicked up and then the top 10 Idols were on the road, touring America from coast to coast. Luckily for us, Ramiele took some time out of her busy schedule while she was in Newark to share some thoughts about the past year. Ramiele has had a great experience on the road and she notes that "every city is different. We try to get off the bus, put our stuff inside and go and sign autographs before we have hair and makeup done and do press and whatnot." Later, she followed up, "I really didn't come into this with any expectations. I just love getting off the bus in other cities. I love waking up in different cities." While it sounds glamorous and exciting, being on the road can be somewhat exhausting. Ramiele, though, exclaims, "It's less exhausting than the show." Without having to stoicly receive feedback from the judges after every performance, she confirms there's just less stress. This is how Ramiele describes a typical day on the road for her: "Usually, after a show, if we have a show the next day, we'll travel to the next city and it will be, like, a four or five hour drive. We get out of the bus, take all of our stuff out, go and sleep for a couple hours, get ready, get all of our stuff back, get our hair and makeup done, meet the sponsors, perform, meet people after the show and, then, we go sign autographs outside and, then, we go and do the same thing all over again." Whew. "All of us have gotten it down to a routine schedule. We're working on getting things done quicker. You know, like hair and makeup because there are five girls and four of the girls are in the first set, so it's hard to get everybody done, but we're doing really well." Being on tour is also quite different from being on the show in that she is now regularly performing in front of thousands and thousands of people. Laughing, Ramiele told us what kind of effect this has had on her: "Backstage I freak out a little bit when I look into the audience. I go second, so when Chikezie is out there, I peek through the little cracks and see how many people are out there. I kinda freak out a little because there are so many people. Then, you go out there and you do the same songs every night. You don't have to learn new words or impress anybody -- you're just being yourself. Putting yourself out there for the people who have been watching you and supporting you." Being away from family and friends for so long can be challenging, but she speaks to them often. When we spoke to her, Ramiele was missing her dog very much, but, fortunately, her boyfriend was coming into town with her dog for a visit. After the tour, Ramiele hopes to meet with some major studios and will be retuning to the Philippines in December to do a few concerts. Visit our Tour section to find out where you can see Ramiele and nine other Idols in concert this summer, see Fan Photos and Fan Reviews..

Sitemap | About Us | Contact Us | Disclaimer