What if American Idol was a Radio Competition?

American Idol is losing it’s edge. It’s becoming more and more like a popularity contest and less and less like the talent competition it was intended to be. The American Idol women are getting an especially raw deal. I realize that American Idol is about being an “Idol” and looks do play a role in that, but it shouldn’t be the focal point. Every week when the men sing, the judges comment on their vocals. They say things like “a little pitchy”, “you were ahead of the beat a little”, and “I really like the tone of your voice in that song”. The women get a few comments on their vocals as well, but it is almost always mixed in with “great outfit tonight, “you look good in green” or “you look so much younger in that dress.” So we give the women a subliminal message that they must be skinny and cute in order to win.

I can’t help but think that if American Idol been around when Aretha Franklin or Mama Cass was getting started, would we have voted them off? What other great artists might we have missed out on because they didn’t fit the physical mold that the media has created for us? What if Season Six of American Idol was a radio competition?

Music is a huge part of my life. My stereo is on every waking minute of my day. I have a 2 gig memory card on my palm full of mp3’s and if I’m not listening to music, I am playing drums with the band. Can’t get enough. Do I base my musical choices on how an artist looks? Hardly. In fact, looking through the majority of my CD collection I can tell you that seeing the album cover as I made my purchase was probably the first time I ever saw the artist. Yes, I grew up in the MTV age, but my parents refused to get cable so I rarely ever saw MTV or VH-1. My musical choices were based entirely on whether I liked the sound of the artist. American Idol is missing that.

To be fair, it’s not just American Idol that is missing it – it’s America. Supposedly we AI fans are the ones swaying the vote for this show. Whether that is really true we will never know, but “in theory” American viewers are picking the winners.

So let’s imagine that American Idol became a radio show. Contestants would have to be chosen through blind auditions. A blind audition is where the applicant stands behind a screen and sings. The judges can’t see anything about the person. They don’t even see the person walk in or out. It is a completely unbiased way to hold an audition.

A fine example of this type of screening can be found in the story of Abbie Conant (which I plan to expand on soon). Abbie was a world class trombone player who wanted to play in a symphony orchestra. At that time almost the entire orchestra was made up of men, especially in the brass sections. The industry had just moved to a blind audition format. Abbie auditioned against several men. She played a very difficult piece flawlessly and held on to the last note for a very long time. The judges were expecting to hire a man for the trombone chair because they figured only a man would have that kind of lung capacity. They were shocked when a small-stature woman stepped out from behind the screen.

To keep America in check, the contestants would have to go by a single name so that we can’t Zaba or Google search them and then find the on MySpace or Facebook. The American Idol web site would have to show only fuzzy silhouetted head shots of each person along with their one-word name. Their biographies would be based on character traits and personal interests. We would get to know the contestants by reading about them. Their personalities would shine through in their song choices and in mini-interviews that we would hear during the radio broadcast.

So if this year’s competition was held on the radio, perhaps the standings would be a little different at this point. I am betting that Chris Richardson wouldn’t be so popular if we based our opinion on vocal quality. We would have lost interest in Sanjaya Malakar and his wild hair-do’s and save-the-day smile by now. Blake Lewis would be getting a lot more attention as the vocal genius that he is and Chris Sligh would still be around. Phil Stacey would have been long gone based on his pitchiness and struggles with starting the songs. Those are my opinions, take ’em or leave ’em. Or add your own in the comments. ;)

For the ladies, we would be wondering why Melinda DooLittle was ever “just a backup singer”. LaKisha Jones would be less self-conscious about what dress she chooses for each performance and she could pour herself into her singing. If they could choose their own songs without the genre or featured artist restraints, Gina Glocksen could be Gina without being compared to everyone else’s vocal style. Jordin Sparks would be holding her own vocally and perhaps if it were on the radio the judges would quit referring to Haley Scarnato as a “pageant queen” and let her vocals speak for her.

As a longtime fan of Idol (since season two), I am getting tired of hearing a girl sing her heart out and all the judges can say are “nice boots”. Had this been a radio performance, boot choice wouldn’t be an issue. They would have nothing to comment on except the vocals. Let’s get back to the heart of the show folks. As Simon would say, “it’s a singing competition!”