‘Idol’ returns as winter comfort viewing

Teenagers who start strong and flame out
After the debacle of season three, which saw talent execs petrified about who would be getting a record deal if Fantasia Barrino didn’t win, producers decided to raise the age limit to 28.  One side effect is that the teenagers look like, well, teenagers by comparison.

Most of the younger hopefuls were overwhelmed early last year, with only Mikalah Gordon, Jessica Sierra, and Anthony Fedorov making it into the final 12 and Gordon and Sierra getting the boot in the first three weeks. Singers with more experience in the music scene (think Constantine Maroulis and Bo Bice, each with years of band experience) have proven less likely to be rattled by the pressure of the national spotlight in the early weeks.

WWTJD?
What would the judges do? That’s the big question performers have to answer every week. If they can’t guess what Simon, Paula and Randy are looking for, they’re apt to get the boot early. The problem is that the judges' criteria changes every week.

Last season, judges loved Nadia Turner's originality in the early days, then hated it when she continued singing obscure songs and dressing in her unconventional manner. She went out earlier than expected. Mikalah Gordon was praised for her voice, then criticized for not being goofy enough. She went early as well.

On the other hand, Anthony Fedorov was criticized by Simon every week, but kept on singing the same songs and came in fourth, showing that pleasing the viewers counts for more in the end than keeping Simon happy.

Secretive voting system
Of course, pleasing the audience is difficult when it's unclear who is the most successful at it.

"American Idol" reveals the bottom vote-getters every week, but not the full standings. While this may add to the drama, it also gives viewers a false sense of security — in the finals' early stages, nobody knows if their favorite came in first or ninth.

A more transparent voting system would help "American Idol" increase the number of viewers motivated to call in for their favorite. As it stands, there's only a sense of urgency for a couple of contestants per show — the two that finish next-to-last.

Ranking the contestants based on votes received would make the rise and fall of each participant clearer. That would ratchet up the pressure on the contestants as well as the callers, which would probably make the folks at Fox very happy. Imagine the stress on a teenager who not only has to deal with being ripped by Simon every week, but who also knows she's fallen from third to seventh in recent voting.

Rankings could be tracked like the Top 25 polls in college basketball, another TV event that winnows its contestants in the spring until only one remains. Message boards would obsess over their favorites, with detailed plans to get out the vote the following week.

But that probably won't happen anytime soon. All preseason talk of changes aside, "Idol" is likely to remain comfortably the same.

The judges will bicker and flirt, host Ryan Seacrest will make his usual array of dumb jokes, and by the end of May, someone else will be signing a million-dollar record deal with a ready-made group of dedicated fans lining up to buy the album. That's the precise mixture of talent show, product placement program, brand-name enhancement and marketing gimmick that's worked for four seasons so far.  That's the "American Idol" way.

Craig Berman is a writer in Washington, D.C.

MORE FROM AMERICAN IDOL

Happy birthday, Simon, the best mean Brit ever

Happy birthday, Simon, the best mean Brit ever ‘Idol Gives Back’ returns to ‘American Idol’ Ellen brings EveryFan sensibility to ‘Idol’ Paula Abdul wishes Ellen luck on ‘Idol’   Add American Idol headlines to your news reader: