Tonight the ninth season of American Idol crowned a winner in Illinois boy Lee DeWyze during a two-hour send-off spectacle for Simon Cowell that featured performances by Hall & Oates, Michael McDonald, Chicago, and the seemingly bionic Bret Michaels. Former judge Paula Abdul also appeared to say her good-byes.
But if you thought Fox would allow Idol to just going to drop out of the news coverage now that the season has wound down, you'd be sorely mistaken. Just minutes after the finale aired on the west coast, the network announced a plan to revitalize the audition process for their tenth season. Well, they have to do something to keep people interested without their most colorful judge at the table!
Following in the network's hit musical comedy, glee's footsteps, Idol will be adding an audition component through MySpace so that hopefuls across the country will have the opportunity to get their foot in the door-- from the comfort of their own homes. This is great for those who can't afford (or whose parents don't allow them) to fly across the country-- or even the world-- to the few select audition cities.
“As this is our tenth season, in celebration of this fact, we wanted to cast our talent net even further to make sure we discover the best talent ever,” said Idol creator and executive producer Simon Fuller. “Involving MySpace means now– for the first time– artists can post their auditions online prior to attending our live auditions. We are hoping and expecting this to be the biggest ever talent search in our history.”
Though MySpace has dissipated in terms of popular social networking, being replaced instead by the sleeker Facebook and Twitter, it has stayed on the cutting edge for new, aspiring, and independent musicians and artists who want to showcase their material and reach millions of potential new fans, all in a free forum. This partnership will serve as an attempt to revolutionize the social networking site, as kids who have probably never even heard of it will undoubtedly create profile simple to audition for this show.
Comments
A sad attempt at FOX to try to give a boost to its MYSPACE division by dealing it into the audition process for IDOL...how many MYSPACE subscribers are there left? About 23?
Could not agree more with both the article and the first commenter. I had a MySpace profile in 2005 but finally deleted it last year after not logging in for a solid 8 months. Ridiculous!
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!