"American Idol" has been canceled

May 14, 2015 11:02 AM

The Fox network's once-mighty "Death Star," which for years easily dominated any other show in its time slot, has revealed that next season will be its last. Meanwhile, somewhat creepy season 14 mentor Scott Borchetta, head of Big Machine Records, talks about his plans for Nick Fradiani, the season 14 winner who was crowned last night.
posted by Clustercuss (51 comments total)

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
posted by Myca at 11:15 AM on May 14, 2015 [10 favorites]

harry connick jr was such a good addition - as was the change of production team - but it was too late. this season was actually interesting with interesting voices, lots of people of color, a good number of straight up weirdos, and then little by little they kicked them all off until they were left with two boring white dudes, and of course, the white dude with guitar won again. i'm glad i stopped watching when joey cook was kicked off. i do hope to see a lot of the contestants from this season popping up elsewhere.
posted by nadawi at 11:16 AM on May 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

Maura Johnston, who's probably my favorite writer about all things American Idol (and, full disclosure, was also my roommate in college many moons ago), wrote about the decline and fall yesterday in Deadspin.
posted by incessant at 11:22 AM on May 14, 2015 [4 favorites]

Besides Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood has anyone else managed to sustain a moderately successful career after winning?
posted by PenDevil at 11:24 AM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

I saw Frenchie Davis, who was kicked off in season 2, back when she joined the Broadway cast of Rent. The cast exited through the same entrance as the audience and would often talk to people in the lobby. For somebody who was still in their fifteen minutes of fame, she was a genuinely nice person, at least in the bit of time I met her.
posted by graymouser at 11:27 AM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

PenDevil: "Besides Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood has anyone else managed to sustain a moderately successful career after winning?"

I think the third-most successful (or "successful") American Idol winner is supposed to be either Taylor Hicks or Adam Lambert, for whatever that's worth.
posted by mhum at 11:35 AM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Believe it or not, Lambert didn't win either.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:36 AM on May 14, 2015 [3 favorites]

has anyone else managed to sustain a moderately successful career after winning?

William Hung?
posted by Ogre Lawless at 11:36 AM on May 14, 2015 [5 favorites]

MCMikeNamara: "Believe it or not, Lambert didn't win either."

Oh man. That's right. He was runner-up to someone named Kris Allen (who?).
posted by mhum at 11:37 AM on May 14, 2015

As non winners go, Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar.
posted by m@f at 11:38 AM on May 14, 2015 [14 favorites]

Strictly on album sales, after Underwood and Clarkson comes Daughtry.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 11:43 AM on May 14, 2015

Daughtry also did not win.
posted by Clustercuss at 11:45 AM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

So the secret is to not win?
posted by cirhosis at 11:48 AM on May 14, 2015 [4 favorites]

To not play.
posted by box at 11:50 AM on May 14, 2015 [8 favorites]

I actually think not winning is better because you aren't as controlled by the Idol machine. If Clark had won this season and released that awful "Champions" song they made him sing, he would have sunk like a stone. Now he can go make the Michael McDonald-meets-Ray Charles album that's in his soul.
posted by Clustercuss at 11:51 AM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Amber Riley (Mercedes in Glee) didn't even get through the AUDITION stage!
posted by JenThePro at 11:53 AM on May 14, 2015

So the secret is to not win?

And now I lost The Game.
posted by graymouser at 11:54 AM on May 14, 2015 [4 favorites]

OH GOD DAMN YOU TO HELL GRAYMOUSER
posted by numaner at 11:57 AM on May 14, 2015 [12 favorites]

Kelly Clarkson

And she only became really interesting when she rebelled against her management team.
posted by maxsparber at 12:00 PM on May 14, 2015

unfortunately, everyone who goes on the tour is signed by the idol machine. the not winners generally have a little more wiggle room than the winner, but they're all fucked over. for instance, phillip phillips just sued 19 entertainment for making him take jobs that didn't pay him and not even telling him the title of his own album.
posted by nadawi at 12:01 PM on May 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

There's actually a long list of successful alumni, for varying values of "successful." In addition to those already mentioned... Kellie Pickler's released four albums, and also won her season of Dancing with the Stars. Constantine Maroulis has been active on Broadway, and got a Tony nomination for Rock of Ages. Haley Reinhart showed up on the Blue a couple weeks ago for her work with Postmodern Jukebox, which also has Casey Abrams on board these days. Fantasia got three Grammy nominations in 2014. And this is just scratching the surface.

Putting aside the publicity of being on the show, American Idol is a boot camp. Those who aren't crushed by the process do appear to come out stronger.

(I watched it for the first 12 seasons, running a pool for all but the first two. It's been dead to me since they brought Harry Connick Jr. on as a judge, but it had a good run.)
posted by Shmuel510 at 12:10 PM on May 14, 2015

Great now I know about The Game... that really is something you can't unknow.
posted by cirhosis at 12:14 PM on May 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

Kelly was interesting the whole time! We just weren't allowed to know it!

(Sorry, I pretty much have a huge blind spot when it comes to my love for Kelly Clarkson.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:18 PM on May 14, 2015 [4 favorites]

And in second place, with three stars, Girls Tyme.
posted by maxwelton at 12:42 PM on May 14, 2015 [7 favorites]

has anyone else managed to sustain a moderately successful career after winning?

William Hung?

I went to UC Berkeley for grad school at the same time that William Hung was there as an undergrad. Hung was not as "fresh off the boat" as he appeared on TV. Unlike the American Idol contestants who were on the show, Hung never had to sign any contract that put him in indentured servitude to Simon Cowell. His novelty recordings certainly outsold Justin Guarini (the guy who beat Kelly Clarkson, where is he now?), and he's probably the best paid of anybody who's ever been on American Idol, except for the previously noted exceptions of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. He certainly doesn't have to pay off any student loan debt any more, and I think he probably laughed himself all the way to the bank.
posted by jonp72 at 12:46 PM on May 14, 2015

His novelty recordings certainly outsold Justin Guarini (the guy who beat Kelly Clarkson, where is he now?)

March 2015: Justin Guarini for Diet Dr. Pepper.
posted by iviken at 1:08 PM on May 14, 2015

What a strange game. The only winning move is not to play to come in second place.
posted by dr_dank at 1:14 PM on May 14, 2015

and he's probably the best paid of anybody who's ever been on American Idol,

(Re: William Hung)

Do you mean from music he made, or from whatever job he has now? Just curious. I was working at UCB when he was here and saw him on campus once (my claim to fame, whee).
posted by JenMarie at 1:16 PM on May 14, 2015

He certainly doesn't have to pay off any student loan debt any more, and I think he probably laughed himself all the way to the bank.

And he led the house band for Judge Reinhold's judge show.
posted by maxsparber at 1:21 PM on May 14, 2015 [5 favorites]

Clay Aiken?
posted by riverlife at 1:48 PM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Also didn't win.

God, I haven't watched since Kelly won. How do I definitely know this? Oh yeah, because Aiken had HILARIOUS(ly sad) sex scandals when he was still closeted.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:57 PM on May 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

He came surprisingly close to being a Congressman from a fairly conservative area of North Carolina.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:18 PM on May 14, 2015 [3 favorites]

Clay Aiken gave a fantastic interview on Stern recently. I love Clay the most.
posted by hush at 2:24 PM on May 14, 2015 [4 favorites]

any aversion i had to clay aiken can be summed up by being creeped out by closeted people, because i've pretty much loved him since he came out - weird face, vests, and all.
posted by nadawi at 3:53 PM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

idol still hasn't had an actually out on the show contestant yet, have they? and i know, i know, adam lambert - but much like he didn't win, he was somehow sold as straight to the preteens and grandmas.
posted by nadawi at 3:54 PM on May 14, 2015

Did I miss something?
posted by wonton endangerment at 3:59 PM on May 14, 2015

That ballotpedia site, where's it been all my life, thanks Rock Steady. Seems like there's a tragic ballad for someone to sing in the life of Keith Crisco. /derail

Though it was never really a solid feeling, the idea when AI first hit that your vote counted, CALL IN THE NEXT HOUR FOR YOUR CONTESTANT really seemed novel, interactive, Web/Life X.0. Funny how quaint, at best, that seems now less than fifteen years later.
posted by riverlife at 4:04 PM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

I flipped on American Idol at the start of Season 2 simply curious to find out what all the hoopla was about. I stopped watching after Simon Cowell left the show in 2010. In between that time, though, I was ridiculously addicted (anyone want to borrow my Elliot Yamin CD?). With the advent of DVR's, online streaming, Netflix, etc., AI is really the last show I can think of, personally, that was "water cooler" TV. So much of my enjoyment of the show was going to work the next day and discussing/arguing with my coworkers about who we were rooting for, who was overrated, who the judges missed the boat on, etc.

(The one major annoyance I did have about the show: It was extremely obvious that about half or more of the supposedly hysterical "bad" auditions were put-ons; people going on the show with the intention of singing awfully just to get on TV. I always found it insulting to my intelligence that the show portrayed these as sincere auditions).
posted by The Gooch at 4:31 PM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

It was extremely obvious that about half or more of the supposedly hysterical "bad" auditions were put-ons; people going on the show with the intention of singing awfully just to get on TV.

I'm not so sure about that. I've known too many enthusiastic bad singers, and also experienced too many sincerely terrible karaoke performances.
posted by Shmuel510 at 4:42 PM on May 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

well - sincere or not, the show wasn't being honest. the auditions we see in front of the judges is not anywhere close to the first time these singers have been heard - they go through multiple rounds on multiple days with some amount of time (a month-ish?) between the all call and the judges auditions. some of them i think do it for a laugh and some think they're really good because multiple people from american idol have told them that they're very good. it's pretty cruel and i don't like it.

which is why i've enjoyed the last couple of seasons, far less of that bs these days - now it seems much more likely that it's someone who shot their voice or is having a bad day or whatever when an audition is terrible. there are still a couple "lets just laugh at this person" auditions but there are way less than there were before the voice premiered.
posted by nadawi at 5:02 PM on May 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

# of Seasons

- NCIS: Season 12
- CSI: Season 15
- America's Next Top Model: Season 21
- Survivor: Season 30
- American Idol: 14
- My faith in the human condition: Cancelled.
posted by Fizz at 5:19 PM on May 14, 2015 [3 favorites]

William Hung lived a couple doors down from me in college, and even asked me out once in one of the more awkward experiences of my young life. This was right before he became famous, and I remember just screaming at the television when I first saw him in an American Idol commercial. My mom thought I had lost my damn mind. Dude was deeply creepy and used to literally practice for hours every day. It was excruciating and the sole reason I ended up with a karaoke machine (our RA proactively coordinated a group of enlightened bidders at a dorm auction to ensure it would not end up in the wrong hands). We used to joke about what would happen if he auditioned, never dreaming things would turn out the way they did.
posted by Diagonalize at 5:20 PM on May 14, 2015 [14 favorites]

survivor has been fantastic tv at times. next top model in the beginning was great. as far as procedural cop shows go, ncis and csi in the beginning were certainly competent. really, any amazing tv show can't last 15+ seasons - it needs to be formulaic and safe to go on for so long. i mean, sure, i would have liked firefly to go on for 4-6 seasons (unless that thing joss says about inara is true in which case, fuck that), but if it had gone on for 15 it would have been terrible.
posted by nadawi at 5:25 PM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

GOOD. FUCKING. RIDDANCE.
posted by jonmc at 5:47 PM on May 14, 2015

Thanks for putting the TV spoiler on the front page of the blue.
posted by Metro Gnome at 6:07 PM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Thank goodness. Praying fort he TV Gods to please have ABC cancel The Bachelor/Bachelorette next.
posted by discopolo at 8:55 PM on May 14, 2015

Metafilter made me listen to the Clay Aiken interview on Howard Stern. I'm at the 40-min mark, and enjoying this at 12:02 AM.
posted by Dragonness at 9:02 PM on May 14, 2015 [3 favorites]

I've never watched one episode of this show or whatever the hell it was, but my late SIL did and this just reminds me how much I miss her still even after 2 yrs. She was so excited to do her text-msg voting back in the day. She wouldn't even answer the phone when it was on for the first couple seasons. It should have ended 2 yrs ago in her honor when Theresa died but better late then never.
posted by RichardHenryYarbo at 11:01 AM on May 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

I've watched 13 seasons of this show hoping to see another moment like this.
(Fast forward to 1:20 to skip the crap and get to the singing. Skip to 2:20 to get to the real meat of the thing.)

Idol's biggest problem has always been that they hit it out of the park the first season, and have never come anywhere close to that level of success since.
posted by MexicanYenta at 9:09 PM on May 15, 2015

Kelly vs. Tamyra was certainly a hard act to follow, but I thought Season 2 was the one that transformed the show from a mid-season replacement to a juggernaut.

One has to credit the producers for learning from the mistakes they made in the first season. There was one woman that season (whose name I no longer remember) who was cut in Hollywood solely because she wasn't skinny enough. In every other season, she would have made it. In fact, Season 2's top three—Ruben, Clay, K-Lo—all would have been rejected in the first season due to their not looking like the producers' idea of pop stars, and they were the strongest top three of the first five years. It got better.
posted by Shmuel510 at 10:56 AM on May 16, 2015

Aw, man, the finale doesn't air here until next Sunday.
posted by Bugbread at 5:38 PM on May 16, 2015