“American Idol” was one of the biggest singing competition shows on television for over 10 years until it was canceled after its 15th season in 2016. “American Idol” created some of our nation’s most famous singers including Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson. As the years progressed, it lost a significant amount of viewers and reached its record low leading to the cancellation of the series.
Nearly two years after its cancellation, “American Idol” released its revival season on Mar. 11. The series still stars Ryan Seacrest as the host, but the network has hired three new judges: Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. The new season of “American Idol” had high expectations, and to me the first episode ultimately lived up to the hype.
I personally really liked how the start of the show began with a voice-over by Carrie Underwood. It was able to show how “American Idol” can really change lives and build stars, and Underwood is the perfect example of that.
“American Idol” does a great job of showing many of the contest’s interesting backstories. Some standout stories included an immigrant from the Congo who only received one ‘yes’ from the judges. After he left the room upset the judges conversed with one another about his performance and Lionel Richie eventually changed his vote to a ‘yes.’ They brought him back in to the room to tell him that he made it to the next round. The contestant was at a complete loss for words. Another story that I particularly liked showed an old clip of a young girl singing the National Anthem at a professional soccer game. Her performance went viral and was known as the “Worst National Anthem.” Almost six years later, this same girl auditioned for “American Idol” and blew the judges away with her performance of an original country song, as well as her rendition of “Young Dumb & Broke” by Khalid.
Although Perry, Bryan and Richie seem like an odd group of judges, I think the three of them worked well together and had great chemistry. The first episode seemed like it was off to a good start and I am hopeful for the rest of the season.
