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American Idol Season 8

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marigold:
An interesting article with AI Judge Randy Jackson:

Randy Jackson honors former 'Idol' cast-off

When American Idol judge Randy Jackson agreed to MC the fifth annual Songs of Hope benefit gala honoring outstanding achievements in songwriting, he wasn't expecting to present the prestigious Martin Bandier Vanguard award to a former Idol auditioner who never made it past the first round. But that's exactly what transpired when Colbie Caillat accepted the prize Thursday night at the Esquire House high atop the Hollywood Hills. After Jackson complimented Caillat on writing the No. 1 hit "Bubbly," the 23-year-old Malibu native reminded him that she tried out for American Idol with that very same song — and was rejected. "No, you did not!," Jackson yelped. "I didn't refuse her, I think it was Simon Cowell." In an attempt to save face with a crowd of music business heavyweights (among them: Dave Stewart, Hans Zimmer and Will.I.Am), Jackson stuck with the kudos: "I'm telling you something, this 'Bubbly' song is huge, because we just finished auditions for season 8 and we've been hearing a lot of 'Bubbly.' Look, they're no Colbies, but what are you gonna do?"

So how does the new crop of Idol hopefuls look? Speaking to EW.com earlier in the evening, Jackson acknowledged that this year's auditions started off shaky. "But by the time we hit the third city, it was off and running," he said. "Season 8 is gonna be unbelievable. America's got a lot of talent." And with yesterday's announcement that the show will start airing a week earlier than in past seasons, will it also end sooner? Don't bet on it. "They'll probably add more weeks," joked Jackson.

Link: http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/music_biz/index.html

marigold:
An interesting article:

Donny and Marie Osmond’s nephew, Jason Castro’s brother made it to Hollywood

The semi-final rounds for American Idol 8 took place in Hollywood last week, which means it’s time for information about the contestants to leak out, including some quasi-familiar names.

Once again, a message board poster who goes by Joesplace has revealed more than 20 people who made it to Hollywood, and many others who performed in front of the judges at various auditions. (Last year, Joesplace revealed the top 24 after revealing the top 50.)

MJ’s Big Blog helpfully sorted through the names, finding highlights including Jason Castro’s brother, Michael Castro, and Donnie and Marie Osmond’s nephew, David Osmond.

Others include Anna Kaelin, “the daughter of David Archuleta's vocal coach, Dean Kaelin”; Miss New York, Danielle “Danni” Roundtree; possible ringer Joanna Pacitti, who has had previous record deals and other music industry experience; and Jackie Tohn, an actress who appeared on The Sopranos and On the Lot.

Link: http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/american_idol_8/2008_Nov_24_hollywood_names

marigold:
An interesting article:

Ford Sticks With 'American Idol' Sponsorship

Ford Motor. Co. to continue as "American Idol" sponsor as TV weighs fallout from Big Three's struggle

While the economic uncertainly surrounding American car makers has called into question some of the nation's biggest marketing budgets, struggling Ford Motor Co. will be sticking with its American Idol sponsorship for the 2009 season.

"Yes, the partnership between Ford and Idol continues in 2009," confirmed a Ford spokesperson.

Spokespersons for Fox as well as Idol producer Fremantle also confirmed that the relationship remains intact.

That is welcome news to everyone involved with the show, as Ford last year spent nearly $78 million on its American Idol sponsorship (including commercials), and has spent some $328.5 million over the seven seasons of Idol, according to data from TNS Media Intelligence.

The Big Three automakers' hopes for a $25 billion federal bailout were dimmed but not completely dashed last week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has asked the auto giants to submit a plan for how they would spend the requested amount. Congress is likely to reconsider the proposal sometime before Dec. 8, according to reports late last week.

Washington's reluctance to help left media executives everywhere skittish about the future of some major contracts, as General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are the nation's third-, sixth- and 14th-largest overall advertisers, respectively. GM's measured-media ad spending was $3 billion in 2007, while Ford's was $2.5 billion and Chrysler posted $1.7 billion, according to TNS data.

GM spent $1.1 billion on TV last year, Ford spent $982.1 million and Chrysler clocked in at $750 million, according to TNS.

Overall, BMO Capital Markets Managing Director of Internet and Broadcasting Research Lee Westerfield notes the automotive industry accounts for 20% of all advertising, and that doesn't bode well for the TV business.

"Automotive at the national and local level is likely to pull back further in 2009, but for slightly different reasons," Westerfield says. "The national dealers are driven more by automotive output and by new brand introductions, both of which are likely to be smaller in 2009 as business investment dwindles."

But a downturn was already evident long before the recent stock market crash. Through July 2008, Ford and Chrysler had each spent 22% less on advertising than last year and GM was down 6%, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

And it is no secret local TV stations are bearing a good amount of the brunt of the automaker troubles.

"Local TV is expected to be down 17% in 2009; excluding political dollars, on an apples-to-apples basis, down 11%," Westerfield says. That underscores the challenges at the station level and in each case, network and stations anticipate autos will be one of the downward drivers for 2009.

Television Bureau of Advertising President Chris Rohrs called the downturn in car sales "a serious, serious problem and a vivid demonstration of the collapse of the consumer economy."

With the economy as it is, Rohrs predicts next year "is going to be very difficult for all stations and particularly for stations that are not leaders in their markets."

Link: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6616931.html?desc=topstory

marigold:
An update on AI judge Randy Jackson:

ABC Television Network
 
PRESS RELEASE

NEXT WEEK ON THE VIEW (12/1-5)

HUGH JACKMAN, RANDY JACKSON, DRAKE BELL, JOSH PECK, PATRICIA HEATON, MARLO THOMAS, JEFF GOLDBLUM AND JENNIFER ESPOSITO ON "THE VIEW," DEC. 1-5

Music from Martina McBride, Harry Connick, Jr. and Kristin Chenoweth

"All My Children" Stars JR Martinez and Beth Ehlers, Dec. 5

Hugh Jackman ("Australia"), Randy Jackson (author, "Body with Soul") , Drake Bell and Josh Peck ("Drake & Josh"), Patricia Heaton ("Front of the Class"), Marlo Thomas, Jeff Goldblum ("Law & Order: Criminal Intent"), Jennifer Esposito (ABC's "Samantha Who?"), "All My Children stars JR Martinez and Beth Ehlers plus music from Martina McBride, Harry Connick, Jr. and Kristin Chenoweth (ABC's "Pushing Daisies") are all featured DEC. 1-5 on ABC's "The View" (11:00a.m.-12:00 noon, ET). 

Scheduled guests for the week of Dec. 1-5 are as follows (subject to change):

MONDAY, DEC. 1 - Randy Jackson (author, "Body with Soul") ; Kristin Chenoweth (ABC's "Pushing Daisies") performs.

marigold:
An interesting article:

Fox Plays Up ‘Idol’ Emotion

Fox is thinking small in its efforts to promote the biggest show on television.

It’s not that the network is scaling back the breadth of its campaign for “American Idol,” the beyond-adjectives reality juggernaut that has kept it No. 1 in key ratings for the past four seasons. From relentless on-air spots to shopping mall takeovers, Fox is readying a marketing push the size of Simon Cowell’s ego to make sure viewers know “Idol” will return on Jan. 13.

The network even recruited reigning “Idol” champ David Cook to headline an on-air promo, marking the first time a past contestant has been used to market a new season of the show.

But after playing up the notion of “Idol” contestants as outsized personalities in last year’s pre-launch promotional campaign, Fox marketing chief Joe Earley has decided to scale things back for season eight.

The changes to the marketing, which come in the wake of a 9% decline in “Idol’s” ratings in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic last season, are in part a reflection of some of the expected tweaks to “Idol” next season, Mr. Earley explained.

“The show is more real, it’s back to its roots,” he said. “It doesn’t have a veneer.”

Mike Darnell, Fox’s president of alternative programming, said it’s too soon to offer specifics about the changes in the works. He did say, however, that “Idol” would be “more intimate” and “more raw” than last year.

“It’s going back to letting the kids be more emotional and seeing more of their reality,” he said. “We’re going to allow the public to see a little more of their emotional state.”

Overall, he said there “are subtle changes and there are bigger-than-subtle changes. But I wouldn’t call anything ‘radical.’”

Two significant shifts already announced include the addition of fourth judge Kara DioGuardi and the departure of longtime showrunner Nigel Lythgoe.

Mr. Darnell said that on a scale of one to 10, his excitement level regarding the tweaks to the show ranks at an 8.

“And I’m a 9 when it comes to the talent,” he added. “We just got done with Hollywood Week, and the talent and the characters we have are the best since season five.”

To fit with the more intimate feel of “Idol,” the marketing for the 2009 model of the show will be more down-to-earth, although Mr. Earley said the network will be spending a little bit more than it did last year.

“Last year, we had contestants reaching a level of perceived stardom much earlier, both in the show and in our marketing campaign,” Mr. Earley said. “We made them look great; the concept was that they had arrived. But looking back, we think that maybe it was too soon to have them arrive. This year, we wanted to make sure we started out with real people.”

Gone, then, are the images of Godzilla-sized generic “Idol” contestants Fox used last year to push the idea that the show created overnight celebrities. Instead, look for print ads that speak to the notion that the next “American Idol” could be anyone—a waitress, a cowboy, a single mom.

“We’re putting our models (in the print campaign) in the real world,” Mr. Earley said. “The hope is to convey that within all these everyday people there is an ‘Idol.’ It takes it to a more relatable place.”

Last year’s ads were accompanied by the tagline “Dream Big,” a phrase that played off the outsized show. The motto for “Idol” this season is the more grassroots-themed “Share Your Voice.”

Mr. Earley said Fox is hoping that slogan—and the marketing that surrounds it—will match the post-election zeitgeist in the country.

“It would be reaching to say we’re trying to tie into the election itself,” he cautioned. “But what we are tapping into is what we’ve just been through and the mood of the culture and the state of our economy. We’ve been through a lot of divisiveness lately, and our message is, ‘It’s time to stop arguing and fighting, to all pull together.’ And the most important message in the on-air campaign is that ‘American Idol’ is an event that brings us all together.”

Mr. Earley said Fox’s on-air spots will “show the range of emotions” that contestants go through during the “Idol” audition process.

“There’s pure celebratory joy ... but the heartache is there, too, the anger of the people who don’t move forward,” he said. “When I watch these spots, even though I’m a cynical television executive who has seen more of the ‘Idol’ process than viewers, I get chills. I’m not exaggerating. You get excited that this journey is back again.”

As for the spot featuring Mr. Cook, Mr. Earley said the ad begins with the singer about to go on-stage to perform his new single, “Light on.” He begins recalling how his “Idol” voyage began, with viewers seeing clips from Mr. Cook’s appearances on the show. “He then steps on-stage, and when he starts singing, you get that rush,” Mr. Earley said.

Mr. Cook spent a whole day shooting the spots for Fox, which began running the promotions over the Thanksgiving weekend. The benefit for Mr. Cook, of course, is promotion for his new album, which was released Nov. 18.

“We’re looking at doing some spots with some other past ‘Idol’ contestants,” Mr. Earley said.

Building Up

Fox’s promotional push for “Idol” will continue to build throughout the holidays. In addition to plenty of on-air, look for the network to aggressively go after the “Idol” audience where they’ll be spending a lot of time during the next month: shopping malls.

The network will dominate kiosk advertising in a number of big-city shopping centers. In addition, several malls will feature an interactive advertisement that will allow shoppers to take a picture of themselves as an “Idol” contestant.

“I love that anyone who’s in the mall can put themselves in one of our ads,” Mr. Earley said.

Also, Fox is teaming with its stations in major markets on a promotion designed to reinforce the feel-good nature of the show.

“Because a lot of the media buys are in malls, we’re doing promotions where ‘American Idol’ and the stations will be giving people gift cards for the holidays,” Mr. Earley revealed. He also said the network would once again “do a ton of radio” advertising, and that AmericanIdol.com—which is not owned by Fox—would also play a key part in touting the show’s relaunch.

Between weekly Paula Abdul crises and endless debate about the quality of each year’s contestants, “American Idol” would seem to be the show that promotes itself, making Mr. Earley’s job relatively easy. But whatever built-in advantages the network has when it comes to hyping the series are more than balanced by the pressure of keeping the show a dominant force in the ratings—and the pop culture.

“It’s imperative that we continue to have the biggest show on television,” Mr. Earley said, fully aware that it’s “Idol’s” supersized ratings performance that has propelled Fox to first place in the Nielsens for the past four years. “We have never taken it for granted.”

Mr. Earley closely coordinates the marketing and publicity efforts for “Idol,” ensuring that both are in sync as Jan. 13 approaches. The spot featuring Mr. Cook, for example, was scheduled to premiere on an entertainment newsmagazine before it popped up on TVWeek.com and then began airing on the network.

And while there will be no shortage of free media reminding audiences of “Idol’s” return, Mr. Earley makes sure not to overlook the smallest details. He insists that every spot include the date and time “Idol” premieres. For the mall ads, “It’s important that from far away, you can see that the ad is for ‘American Idol’ and that the show is back.

“We’re conscientious about every detail,” he said. “When you’re in season eight of a show, you don’t take anything for granted. We need to make sure people know that, OK, we’ve been away—but now it’s ‘Idol’ time.”

Link: http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/11/fox_plays_up_idol_emotion.php

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