Wheaton man to be featured in American Idol auditions

“And we have this ability to give them this incredible journey”.

The days of William Hung are not over for American Idol.

There was a fierce bidding war for this revival, and the bidders included the show’s original home, Fox. There are three celebrity judges (this time, they are Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan), a series of auditions that enable amateur vocalists to show off their talents, and eventually a Hollywood-based sing-off that winnows the pack down, week after week, to a singular victor.

All of that, and still choruses of doubt greet this kinder, gentler incarnation of “American Idol”. It reigned as TV’s No. 1 series for nine years, peaking with 30 million viewers an episode in 2006. Season 15 averaged a 2.3 rating and 9.4 million viewers on Wednesdays and a 2.2 and 9.1 million viewers on Thursdays. He has participated in talent shows and posted musical videos to social media, but, he says, “nothing professional. just singing for pleasure”. “Maybe you’re a Broadway star; maybe you’re in voiceover, maybe you’re gonna do jingles”. Merrick’s Robbie Rosen, who made it to the Top 24 on season 10 of “Idol“, supports ABC’s move to largely dispense with the bad/humorous acts because they take “time away from people who have spent their lives trying to get attention for real music”. The viewership not only got smaller, it got older, which became anathema to Fox executives.

While the show might not be a completely ideal format for new artists, Alaina is still thrilled to see it returning in 2018, after being off the air for two years. Sensibility-wise, though, ABC’s Idol is different.

This is evident throughout Sunday’s two-hour ABC premiere, which follows auditions in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville.

DEGGANS: Country star Bryan joins pop star Katy Perry and R&B legend Lionel Richie as judges.

Perry is no slouch herself: previous year, the pop superstar became the first artist in history to go “diamond” 3 times, passing the 10-million mark for record sales on three of her hits, “Roar”, “Dark Horse” and “Firework”. The crop of talent was better than that of The Voice and The X-Factor and the format, with intimate auditions set in across the USA, allowed for the contestants’ real, observable growth. As we get closer to the real deal I can nearly feel that we’re going to be able to voice our opinions, ‘ he said, before adding the fighting words: ‘I’m bringing my mace!’

The network has shown its gratitude by forking over a reported $25 million for the “Roar” hitmaker to headline the reboot of “American Idol” that premieres Sunday and will go up against “The Voice” the following night.

What did you think about Dennis Lorenzo at the end of Sunday’s American Idol 16 premiere? For that, it has already acquired the rights to the show. Accused by his former stylist of harassing her over a period of years, Seacrest (as well as E!) has denied the claims. “So no, I haven’t been singing for that long”, said D’Onofrio. ABC is making a shift in this new season, putting full attention on the stories behind the music, for the panel and the people standing within that famous oval. Now ABC has brought the talent competition back with Ryan Seacrest, as host and producer, who squeezes the gig into his ultra-busy schedule. While they’ve corned the market on people looking for love in all the wrong places thanks to The Bachelor and Bachelorette franchises, they’ve had no luck launching an Idol or The Voice of their own. Eyes will be on the ratings.

“There are a lot of singers out there but this isn’t a singing competition”.