I got a chance to sit down and watch a 45-minute preview of the highlights from the New York and Chicago auditions of season 12 of American Idol which will begin on Wednesday, January 16, 2013 8 ET/7 Central with the New York auditions (actually Newark, NJ) and Thursday, January 17, 2013 8 ET/7 Central with the Chicago auditions.
I have been curious about the dynamic of the new judges and if there was any untapped talent left in America with all these singing competitions. I can reveal no specifics of names or whether or not they were voted through other than those things already released by Fox Broadcasting to the public at large. One New York contestant who attended Camp Mariah gave me goosebumps. There were several contestants like that; however, that occurred last year and those people did not make it through Hollywood week. Throughout the screener, there were some really talented people, and as always, there were some misses. The one young man, Lazaro Arbos, has an intense stutter. His story tears at your heartstrings without being exploitive. Although he got some of the lyrics wrong, his voice…wow, his voice. He hails from the Chicago auditions so be sure to tune in Thursday to see that.
As a side note, someone got their bucket-list wish fulfilled from Ryan Seacrest.
Some of the attraction of the show is to watch the judges bicker among themselves. Randy seemed to be the realist while the others were getting comfortable saying “no” to the contestants. As with Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler that will become easier with time. There are times when Keith Urban could not get a word in sitting between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj. He has a quiet positive energy that I really like. Randy Jackson, of course, is the veteran of the show, the “resident dawg” and we know what to expect from him. While the interactions were respectful from what I viewed, there is a diva struggle between Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey. Nicki is going to have to learn how to channel her opinion into short, concise sound bites and stop drooling over every good-looking male contestant, wondering out loud if they have a girlfriend or not. Mariah needs to stop doing the diva hair flip.
This is what the schedule looks like for the season:
(Other audition cities were: Charlotte, North Carolina; Long Beach, California; New Orleans, Louisiana; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and San Antonio, Texas)
Wednesday, January 16: New York auditions (2-hour show)
Thursday, January 17: Chicago auditions (2-hour show)
Wednesday, January 23: Auditions (2-hour show)
Thursday, January 24: Auditions (1-hour show)
Wednesday, January 30: Auditions (2-hour show)
Thursday, January 31: Auditions (1-hour show)
Wednesday, February 6: Hollywood week, part 1 (2-hour show)
Thursday, February 7: Hollywood week, part 2 (1-hour show)
Wednesday, February 13: Hollywood week, part 3 (2-hour show)
Thursday, February 14: Hollywood week, part 4 — top 40 announced (1-hour show)
Wednesday, February 20: Las Vegas Top 10 male singers perform (2-hour show)
Thursday, February 21: Las Vegas Top 10 female singers perform (2-hour show)
Wednesday, February 27: Las Vegas Remaining Top 10 male singers perform (2-hour show)
Thursday, February 28: Las Vegas Remaining Top 10 female singers perform (2-hour show)
The judges will pick the top 10 males and top 10 females here. Then live-voting begins:
Tuesday, March 5: Top 10 Male semifinalists perform in Las Vegas (2-hour show)
Wednesday: March 6: Top 10 Female semifinalists perform in Las Vegas (2-hour show)
Thursday: March 7: Results Show–Top 10 finalists announced in Los Angeles
Wednesday, March 13: The Top 10 Perform (2-hour show)
Thursday, March 14: Results Show
Going back to the original top 10 format will mean that the show ends May 8-9, two weeks earlier than they normally do, so there must be some twists along the way. It will be an interesting journey. Will you be watching?
Thanks again to Fox Broadcasting and the FOX VIP program for the privilege of seeing the preview.
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