By Elizabeth Valentin
Arts Editor
One of the things that American Idol is most well known for its comical bad auditions during the first weeks of each season. A revival of the show was announced and people were shocked to hear that it will not include the bad auditions that it is infamous for.
The change in the show was announced as a way to avoid bullying contestants by airing embarrassing footage of them. There is also a concern of publicizing people with a mental imbalance, who act out when they are not put through to Hollywood after their auditions.
At the ABC’s Television Critics Association press tour executive producer, Trish Kinane, said “that’s not to say we don’t want humor in Idol. Humor is a very important part of Idol, so if someone’s eccentric, slightly different or if they’ve got a different voice or if they do something we don’t normally hear, we’ll put that up, that’s fun. We want the humor but we don’t want the exploitation.”
One of Idol’s most famous bad auditions is of William Hung, who sang Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs.” After his audition aired, he became an instant celebrity. His audition has been viewed on YouTube over 4 million times.
Hung spoke out about Idol’s decision to retire the bad auditions in an interview with TMZ. “American Idol is known for its unique entertainment value by having those, lets just say, off the cuff, funky auditions,” said Hung. If his audition hadn’t aired, “I wouldn’t have been on tv. I would be just a normal guy,” he continued. Hung has a current net worth of $1.5 million due to his fame after the audition.
He also predicted that fewer people would tune in to watch the revival season because of this decision. He explained that Idol’s biggest competitor is The Voice and that if Idol does not have something unique, like the bad auditions, it won’t stand out.
Aside from the elimination of bad auditions, the other major change that the show will see will be new judges. This season’s judges will be Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan. Speculation has began surrounding whether or not these judges will bring any value to the show. Simon Cowell was notorious for being the mean judge on the show, which added to the comedic value. It is unclear if any of these new judges will be able fill those shoes.
The revival of American Idol will premiere on ABC on March 11.
