Season 14 auditions for 'American Idol" start next week, believe it or not, first in Minneapolis June 18.
Atlanta is not part of the auditions this year. The closest will be New Orleans June 25 and Nashville July 30. Else, you can go onto Long Island (my home island) on July 23 or San Francisco Sept. 29. These are the fewest audition cities "Idol" has done since season one, not surprisingly considering Fox is scaling back the show in multiple ways. There will also be a bus tour that is probably far cheaper that will run through Portland, OR; Portland, ME; Reno, NV; Columbus, OH; Richmond, VA; Albuquerque, NM; Amarillo, TX; Myrtle Beach, SC; Branson, MO; Tallahassee, FL; and Kansas City, MO. They will also consider online auditions, too, until July 1.
So despite the lower costs involved here, opportunities have not really been shrunken. Just the prize itself has shrunken since the chances of becoming a "superstar" when so few people are now watching has fallen.
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Mark Burnett, executive producer of "Shark Tank," 'Survivor" and "The Voice," told Deadline how much pride he has that "Survivor" actually beat "American Idol" this past spring although "Survivor" is even older than "Idol."
His rationale seems kind of muddled to me about "Idol." I think "Idol" has maintained its spirit from day one (though season 12 could be arguably the one where they tilted way too much toward the bickering judges). "Survivor" has no direct competitor like "The Voice." Here he is talking about "Survivor."
I think it's because we've kept the game sacrosanct. We've kept the foundational values of the game completely in place. It's a fantastic game, and we can all see ourselves, at some point, as Robinson Crusoe, and Lord of the Flies, what would we do, and we're watching it play out. The thing about Idol is I don't think we know what it is anymore. It's neither here nor there. I think that all needs to be fixed if they intend to go forward.
He also said the humiliation model of "Idol" early on is out of favor but "Idol" itself has gotten away from that already. I think reality competition shows are no longer as en vogue as they used to be, with shows such as "Top Chef" and "Project Runway" and "America's Next Top Model" far below their peak ratings as well.
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Season 13 runner up Jena Irene graduated high school a few days ago. Here are details.
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Chris Daughtry, during a D-Day celebration on "Fox & Friends," declined to sing a patriotic song after his set was over and joked about it. That didn't go over well with the vets. He had to apologize. He said he panicked and was caught off guard and handled it poorly. You can watch it here:
Here's his very sincere apology:
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Okay my baby girl needs to come on out ASAP. Mama is tired, swollen and miserable hahaha!
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Carrie Underwood's duet with Miranda Lambert "Somethin' Bad" is now at No. 33 on the country charts.
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