5 Best And 5 Worst Things About The New American Idol

In the wake of the millennium-era American Idol, most every other network tried to launch its own series featuring unknown singers vying for a record deal, fortune, and fame. To simply rip off American Idol would have been far too transparent, so most of these shows offered a twist on the original formula. For example,

In the wake of the millennium-era American Idol, most every other network tried to launch its own series featuring unknown singers vying for a record deal, fortune, and fame. To simply rip off American Idol would have been far too transparent, so most of these shows offered a twist on the original formula. For example, VH1's But Can They Sing? was a singing contest for B-list celebrities. Fox's own The Next Great American Band was American Idol for bands. Bravo's Platinum Hit wanted singers who wrote their own stuff. 

By far the most successful and long-lasting American Idol Johnny-come-lately is NBC's The Voice. The format of The Voice allows for performers of many different genres of music. While American Idol focused squarely on pop (with a hint of country or R&B, on occasion) The Voice panel of judge-coaches have always represented the worlds of country (Blake Shelton), rock (Adam Levine), pop (Christina Aguilera), and R&B (Alicia Keys). 

A good artist steals, and the new American Idol artistically steals from The Voice (which is ironic, because The Voice only made it to TV because of American Idol.) Recognizing that there is popular music beyond top 40 radio hits, the Idol revival has carefully selected judges who represent expertise across genres. Katy Perry holds it down for pop, Luke Bryan brings the country flavor, and Lionel Richie can handle soul, R&B, and even funk (he was in the Commodores, after all).

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