Simon Cowell goes Gaga?

American Idol judge Simon Cowell would like to see Lady Gaga come on as a mentor on the show this year. Cowell believes that the artist is very relevant to the pop world at present which would make her an obvious choice for the role. Former mentors on the show have included Bono, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Slash and Diana Ross to name a few.

On the future of American Idol without Simon Cowell, the judge said that whoever replaces him should be a person with a solid background of music industry experience. He downplayed Howard Stern’s chances by saying that since Stern did not fit those criteria it was unlikely that the shock jock would be chosen. However, Cowell did wish Stern the best of luck if he was serious about taking up the job. Stern has been stirring up a storm on his radio station Sirius XM trying to get his name into the hat for consideration. Many think that this is another attempt in a long line of attempts to belittle the show.

When asked to name a replacement, Cowell remained neutral and reiterated his earlier point by citing an example of judging Olympic Ice Skating. He said that unless you know exactly what the sport is about you cannot pass criticism or award points. He also pointed out that increasingly on TV, judges were being replaced by personalities and that this trend would cause issues in the long run as they would not be able to spot a “diamond in the rough” as well as a person from the industry would.
Cowell leaves Idol at the end of this season to launch his own show next year.

For more info visit American Idol Fan Forum.

Ellen Judges Herself in American Idol

The long awaited debut of Ellen DeGeneres on American Idol was… a hit! In the days leading up to the show, fans were very much divided in their opinion on Ellen’s inclusion as the fourth judge. But happily for Ellen, her performance was good enough to keep the fans and the show’s creator Simon Fuller more than happy. The show also did very well in the ratings game.

However the real test for Ellen was her own critical self-analysis. Passing that was her major concern and in reflection she said “I was honest with them (the singers). I was concerned about tiptoeing around too much, but I didn’t”.

Congratulatory tweets, messages and phone calls after the show have vindicated any fears that Ellen might have had about her performance; even Simon Fuller was quoted as saying that he was “really, really happy”.

The Idol debut marks another good day for Ellen as her daytime talk show was also renewed for a further three years. The much expected war of words between her and über judge Simon Cowell did not materialize, but Ellen did hint that this was not how it was going to be. She said that Hollywood Week was all about the difficult task of pruning the 181 contestant to just 24 which did not leave much time for banter between the judges. She also said that she didn’t know how things will turn out in the later live stages of the show, describing it as “That’s going to be an intersting thing”.

For more info visit American Idol Fan Forum.

Jordin Sparks Light Up Career

Jordin Sparks’ music career had a grand start – winning American Idol – one of the best launching pads in the music industry for young and upcoming music artists. The challenge begins once you leave the shores of American Idol.

Sparks says, “”On ‘Idol’ you have to be prepared every week and understand that people are watching and judging you. I carry those lessons (with me) every day.”

Merely a month after winning the competition, Sparks released her first album. The self-titled album sold 1.6 million copies globally, and won Idol’s youngest winner a Grammy and an American Music Award in the adult contemporary category.

Once she had spotted out producers for her next album, she spent almost four months on it. Her 2nd album, Battlefield was launched in July, and earned her much acclaim for her dramatic R&B pop feel that made her one of the firm favourites of American Idol. Two tracks on Battlefield made it to the Billboard top 10: the title track and her cover S.O.S (Let the Music Play).

Sparks opened for the Jonas Brothers, Britney Spears and Alicia Keys – an incredibly clever method of reaching her audience.

Sparks has quite a few honors to her name, some of them include:

– Appointed by President George W. Bush as a member of the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation for a two-year term in August 2008
– Youngest person in history to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl
– No Air won New Zealand’s #1 song of 2008

‘Flash Forward’ sets winter hiatus

ABC has called a long hiatus for the thriller “Flash Forward”. The show will take a three month long break this winter. According to promos aired on the channel, the show will return on March 4. While the finale was broadcast on schedule, the original return date was to be in January.

There are several reasons behind the decision to delay the show’s return.
The American Idol juggernaut returns in January to be followed by the Winter Olympics in February, so it seems to be logical to keep the show out of the fracas till the appropriate time. Producers of “V” also made the same decision way before the premiere of the show. “V” returns in late March and will move into a post “Lost” slot at 10 p.m. The Alphabet is not the only network to freeze shows; Fox has also given time off to “Glee” (four months in fact) and “Lie to Me”.

The late call for “Flash Forward” may be due to the fall in ratings the show has experienced since its decent opening. The critics are growing in numbers due to the direction the show is taking. These critics are former fans of the show who are growing wary of the story. The decision to let go of Marc Guggenheim from “Flash Forward” and faltering production in November to tweak the story are some of the reasons why fans are up in arms.

But more importantly, the burning question right now is how the break will affect the show’s April 29 episode, a date which is crucial in the show’s mythology.

Masterchef coming to Fox

A culinary ‘American Idol‘ is set to hit the United States. Masterchef, starring Gordon Ramsay will feature nonprofessional cooks who will compete to create that perfect dish. Ramsay will co-produce the show through his domestic banner. Production is due to begin soon, with Fox expected to order close to 12-15 hour-long segments of the show. Fox has so far only confirmed that it had sealed the deal with Reveille, but has declined to comment on other details.


Several manifestations of the MasterChef format have aired in the UK, with the oldest one dating back to 1990. The Australian edition is by far the most popular, with its finale one of the country’s most-watched program in a decade.

Howard T. Owens, Executive Producer, Reveille said, “This is a huge, nationwide search for the best amateur cook in America. It is about people who are lawyers, construction workers and stay-at-home moms, but whose real passion is to make great food. This is their shot to prove they have what it takes.”

Fox’s MasterChef is expected to closely follow the format of its Australian counterpart, with each season seeing a contestant create a dish for the panel of three judges to earn their respective spots in the semi-finals. The remainder of the contestants meanwhile compete for the rest of the weeks on team-based challenges.

The show is yet to be scheduled and tentative plans at Fox include a late spring edition of Hell’s Kitchen, which will go into summer, and then will be followed by the unveiling of MasterChef.

ABC eyes ‘pod’ treatment for ‘V’

Despite rave reviews for the pilot from fans and surprisingly, critics, the unofficial word on “V” is that it is in trouble. Although the network confirmed that the Sci-fi drama would launch as planned on Tuesday, November 3rd at 8 p.m, its decision to split this seasons episodes into 2 pods has everyone questioning the future of the series.

ABC announced plans to initially run 4 episodes, take a break, and return mid-season in March. This led to rumors that the number of episodes on the show had been reduced. However, ABC and producer Warner Bros. vehemently denied these rumors, stating that the show will run for 13 episodes as planned. The reason for the break is logical, as network insiders point out that “American Idol” launches in January followed by the Winter Olympics in February, making the return of the second half of “V” in March a smart decision. The show, a franchise initially written by American Writer, Producer and Director Kenneth Johnson, is about Aliens known as “The Visitors” trying to take over the Earth and a group of humans called The Resistance who fight them. It debuted in 1983 as “V” a two part miniseries, followed by a three-part miniseries in 1984 titled “V: The Final Battle”. A regular one hour weekly series aired during the 1984-1985 television season and was referred to as “V: The Series”.

In February 2008, Johnson released a novel disregarding the two series which followed the 1983 miniseries. The alternative sequel was titled “V: The Second Generation”. Negotiations with Warner Bros. for a TV adaptation of this novel failed later that year, followed quickly by the announcement that Warner Bros. TV would be producing a complete remake of “V”. The remake is now written by Scott Peters, the creator of the show “The 4400”.