My Proposal for a Singing Show

First Off, We Need to Talk About American Idol (and Singing Shows in general)

"We’re looking for America’s next big superstar!” Again? Seriously?? No thanks."

That is what I thought when I read that American Idol was holding auditions for their 21st season.

Not to sound rude, but after 20+ seasons on the air, one thing stands out for the show that was a pop culture powerhouse through my childhood.

The show may still be making waves today, but it's not the same as it was when me and my family watched it yearly for the show's first eight seasons.

Of course, that was when Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell ruled the world.

The show started falling off for good after Season 11.

All thanks to other shows like The Voice and America's Got Talent proving to be worthy successors.

Then, by the time it hit its last season on FOX in 2016, it went into obscurity.

That was supposed to be the show's last go ever before people would truly miss it.

Two years later, Idol was brought back by ABC as part of Disney's fantabulous rehash renaissance.

From what I saw in just a few performances of the new one, I saw what was happening.

The new judges don't live up to the old ones at all.

There are a ton of clips that read something like, "This Guy May Have the Same Appearance as Every McDonald's Employee Ever, But When He Opens His Mouth, Everything Changes!"

There are proposals that we could see on The Bachelor.

Dominating the show are discount country singers coasting their way through the finals.

As seen in the past, the best singers of each season predictably fall short of the crown.

Almost all the winners are good-looking country-singing white guys thanks to rabid teen girls dominating the phone lines.

And of course, there are a zillion reiterations of Carrie Underwood's and Kelly Clarkson's rises to prominence thanks to their big season wins.

Sure. It's THE underdog story to top all underdog stories.

It belongs in the same league as the biographies of presidents.

I get they became giant global superstars after they won and I watched their crowning moments countless times, but I don't feel like hearing the same thing over and over again.

The same thing can be argued for the other winners and artists that got their start on the show. And I'll have the same opinion for them.

Again, not rude. Just honest.

Allow me to address the elephant in the room.

I’m sick of American Idol

The Voice has dropped in quality for the past few years.

Dancing with the Stars just stinks now.

I barely even knew the first thing that was on America’s Got Talent.

American Song Contest was practically Eurovision from Wish

I forgot all about So You Think You Can Dance and I’m stunned to learn it still exists now.

Even The Masked Singer is losing steam.

All other singing shows would go away and very few will know.

To those that want to start a singing show: If you want to have one that features the EXACT SAME formula that has been done numerous times over the past twenty years, you'll have nowhere to go but down.

That translates to how the formula's predictability can make the singing show genre get stale very quickly.

And it has inspired my approach to transcending that genre to a new target audience.

The Structure:

This may sound like I'm throwing in ideas, but my vision would be something that will take talent contests to the next level.

Here's what I'm thinking:

A singing show like American Idol or The Voice with a sports broadcast-centered focus.

And to explain it better, here's how we will set up the show.

We will have Formula 1-esque formats to determine the best singer via points.

The points are determined through audience critiques and overall performance with song, producers’ observations in the mix as well. Stage points will be handed out wisely.

Powerhouse vocals, authentic connections with the audience (e.g.: gestures), and positive feedback adds to the points.

Pitch problems, poorly-executed connections, and negative feedback takes away points.

Pending on how strong they are.

Could it have March Madness vibes?

Absolutely.

For each performance following the "Job Interview" rounds (which we will get to in a minute), a live rock band is always present on stage.

Songs are assigned after the audition round.

But with a twist: There will be an emphasis on rock and rap/hip-hop, as well as songs that haven’t been covered a zillion times.

Themes will be labeled very differently. They are a far cry from each of the forementioned shows.

Maybe we can have songs from The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, Friends, The Office, SpongeBob SquarePants, Stranger Things, other shows, etc.

At any point in the competition, an audience member may request a random song if desired.

No instruments are allowed. All contestants must perform like they are the lead singer of the band.

Now, for the biggest changes of all.

There will be no judges sitting at a panel...

And NO backstories.

The whole thing is basically “Shut Up and Sing”.

The Voice has purified the backstory method, showing why it's the ultimate in that field.

The closest thing to a backstory would be a profile showcasing the contestant (like the one seen for an NFL Draft prospect when he walks up to meet Roger Goodell at the podium).

Because all is in the format’s hands, there will be NO public vote.

Can't stress the popularity contest thing enough. So, forget that style.

Also, to separate the show from the basic singing contest formula even more:

There is no host.

We would have a panel of commentators that are doing commentary on the show.

We will add a team of sideline reporters, backstage experts, analysts, and other positions that are usually done in sports programming.

The coverage lands in the middle of March Madness and Formula 1

Memes can work on social media

Wild Card Rule: Little to no commercial breaks, it’s a fast-paced show. WWE Pay-per-view, anyone?

If a contestant forgets the words (stalls or blathers) or has some unfortunate incident, they will automatically be eliminated.

No questions asked.

Unless, of course, there are exemption rules that may give that contestant another chance.

The scenario of potential disqualification stands if a contestant - gets in trouble with the law during his/her time on the show, lies about his/her criminal history, cheats as a way to stand out from the competition, violates a code of conduct towards other contestants, or breaks another golden rule (which we will discuss in the long run).

All contestants must be 21 or older to participate.

No singing background required.

No repeat songs until finale. Once a song is picked, it’s gone until next season.

The Journey:

Instead of handpicking a select number of people to be featured on the show, we would tell passersby that all they have to do is to show up and fill out a form in order to audition. All would be featured in the show by a completed form.

The auditions would be in locations that are set in various settings.

Those include a beach, a mall, a racetrack, State/county fairs, a small sporting venue, a tailgate, a hiking trail, a hotel lobby, a conference center in front of experts, a car dealership, a car show, a bridge, a restaurant, and other places.

The contestant that completed his/her form gets to the stage to sing in front of the participating public.

Up to five audience members are selected to give their critiques.

They, along with each song performance, will be given to producers to see if the contestant is good enough for the next round.

At least three Yes's from up to five audience members = You're moving on.

Three No's = Thanks for coming out.

The second round includes an audition called a "Job Interview" round.

It's split into two sessions:

Session 1 is in front of a VIP in a private room or the manager of a talent agency in an office.

Session 2 is in front of groups in an executive meeting room, an elite group in a country club, or at a super-expensive karaoke bar.

Questions may include: "How can you handle a different genre?" or "How can you hold a key change?" or "What can you do to win over a Queen fan?"

Groups will have their own critiques to contestants' answers.

The producers would tally up their scores from there. These will determine if contestant advances to the regional division (which we'll also talk about). This has the same vibe as Hard Knocks and Formula 1: Drive to Survive.

If you haven't watched those, I recommend you check them out on their respective streaming services. That way, you'll get a better feel for what I'm getting at here.

We might even consider having a special that exclusively follows the rest of the show from that point on.

There will be a focus where, after much deliberation, the producers call the contestant and let him/her know that he/she either goes to the next session or not. The same thing is applied for those that go to the Top 40 or are eliminated.

For the Final 40, I have two options on how this show progresses before the Final Four.

Option A:

The 40 contestants they got the highest number of points in each job interview round (first and second, after their initial audition) go to the region division qualifiers.

Ten contestants in four divisions.

Top three in each standing in qualifier advance to Top 16

Middle three go to the Last Chance qualifier

Bottom four are eliminated.

Last Chance Qualifier: Top four in points complete Top 16, bottom eight are eliminated.

Like what has been seen on Idol and The Voice, here's what will go down.

The contestants with the lowest number of points (four in Top 16 and one afterwards) after each week are eliminated before Top 6 (Artist Doubleheader week), where bottom two are eliminated.

Sudden death for tiebreaker (in ANY part of the contest) is a possibility.

We can also talk about double eliminations.

I'm fine with those too.

Option B:

Contestants are split into regional divisions.

Ten contestants in four different divisions competing before the best performer with the highest number of points after four weeks is determined.

In each division, we'll set this up like this.

Top 10 (Round of 40) -> Top 7 (Round of 28) -> Top 4 (Sweet 16, The Regional Semi-Finals) -> Top 2 (Elite 8, The Regional Finals) -> Contestants with highest number of points in each division go to the Final Four.

Artists with lowest number of points (performance and critique combined) after each round are eliminated. I don’t want too many contestants forgetting the words. It would be chaos.

Sudden death can be in the works too.

No matter which option is selected, here's what happens regardless.

Highest performing artist with the most stage points (or best overall performance) is named "Performer of the Night," in similar style to F1's "Driver of the Day" award and get extra points.

As well as "Best Critique" from the audience.

Immunity for the week (going to the next round without having to worry about the rest of the performers) is given through standing ovation or audience member going crazy while giving a critique.

The selected reporter interviews each eliminated contestant after he/she had the lowest number of points after each round. That happens as soon as two performances left on the night.

But that's just one part of the tension.

The rest of it relies on competition-related stakes.

For example, in one top seven round, last contestant of the night needs a Hail Mary performance to knock the 4th place contestant out of the running. And that contestant does so with a stellar performance and promising feedback from all three (the maximum number of) audience members thanks to key words that add to the points.

Thus, beating out that contestant by just ONE point.

Can you picture how exciting THAT will be?

Anyways, if the show gets picked up, feel free to vote for the option you would like to see in the show.

The Final Four:

It's like the season finale, but with a different location choice. Think about how Eurovision holds their singing contests.

That's right.

They have their contests in the country that won a year before.

Yet, it calls for a brainstorm.

For the Final Four, I've been thinking about places such as T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas or Amalie Arena in Tampa.

If skeptical of that idea, consider this:

It’s in a similar way to the locations for the College Football Playoff championship game, the NFL draft, and the Super Bowl being announced.

That is where the regional division winners/four highest scoring contestants through the show compete for the title.

Round one is the Audience’s Instant Choice to be announced in front of the singer. The crowd just screams out the song. You may have a very short time to prepare. It's like Judges' Choice but the song is screamed at you.

Round two is titled “Hindsight” - Song from earlier in season that could have been sung during a certain week but is given a chance in finale.

The two contestants that have the highest number of points advance to the Championship.

For those who are third and fourth, there will be a Third-Place Sing-Off to determine who ultimately places third as opposed to just naming the third-place finisher based off of...votes. The contestant that scores more points than the other places third.

The fourth-place finisher gets rewards of his/her own. Despite falling just short of the Final Three.

It's like how the World Cup determines their bronze medal recipient.

Championship:

Round one is a "Song Pitch" is the song that is given to the band if they win the show. It's like Idol's coronation song, but with a twist. It gets featured in a movie.

Round two is the Super Bowl Halftime Show challenge, which is a combination of the winning song and Dancing with the Stars’ freestyle dances. It's the contestant's turn to see what it's like to headline the big game's marquee intermission in-between the first and second halves.

The Song Pitch may be soundtrack-worthy, but the Halftime Show is the key moment that DEFINES the movie.

The winner of the entire show is determined by an audience member’s last critique. Simply put, it would be the contestant that has rightfully earned the title as the deserving champion.

Final standings will be shown at the end of the season. This will observe the total points for each contestant throughout the season.

We plan to have a Medal ceremony (1st-3rd) to take place after final result.

Same style as the podiums we see everywhere.

I'm not going crazy on the whole winner-gets-a-recording-deal thing, but I'm coming up with ideas on what the winner receives as part of being the best singer of the show.

Things such as a cameo in a movie, the song from the Song Pitch round being promoted in the movie, the Super Bowl Halftime Show challenge performance being featured in the movie, and the opening act for a rapper are all in the cards here.

I can't guarantee the best outcome, but I don't want to think about the worst.

Some will love my singing show idea, others may seem confused by it.

However, my plan is to truly shake things up in the most innovate way possible. And we'll see how this experiment goes.

I know, deep down, that this will bring a whole new demographic to the singing show trope.