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It’s Idol v Dancing

Seven's plans for Dancing with the Stars avoiding a head to head clash with Idol just got torpedoed by TEN.

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aus idol6:30pm Sundays is hotting up as a battlefield with TEN signalling it will take on Dancing with the Stars from August 9th.

The reality juggernaut returns with its first audition in a 130 minute edition -the only episode to air all week. Previously TEN has compressed auditions into a single week. It is cleverly finishing at 8:40pm to undermine Rescue: Special Ops.

Mumbrella website has reported that stripped episodes begin in its third week as the show moves into the final 100 contestants. The next week will be back to just Sunday, as a wildcard round, before entering the finals stage on Sunday, September 6, featuring the last 12.

Scheduling the show at 6:30pm Sunday will thwart Seven’s hopes to avoid a head to head clash with Dancing with the Stars. If it stays for the duration of the series (and it probably will) it allows Rove to stay put as well.

This year Idol has also eliminated its Monday nights, preferring to kick off Sundays with an elimination. Talk about drama!

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  2. I dont think there’d be much difference is DWTS numbers, as even up against masterchef it still had good numbers. I think it targets different audiences, with idol targeting younger viewers and dancing going for the older viewers.
    Plus audition episodes at the start of the season always rate lower then the actual performance shows, so it may be a while before we see there being true competition between the two. I dont think idol qualifies as a ‘juggernaut’ either anymore, the last few seasons have turned out a bunch of duds.
    The commercials arnt as good as last year, with last years being more catchy.
    I guess one of them will have to be iq’d, prob idol to begin with.

  3. I think it could work…
    6.30 – Group performance to open the show. A quick re-cap of the week before and the bottom 3 announced, followed by one announced safe.
    * Add break
    6.40 – Eliminated contestant announced, re-cap of their time on Idol and then they perform the song they were planning on performing that night.
    *Add break
    6.50 – Performances

    I like it and would much prefer this than a dragged out elimination show the next day.

  4. I think TEN’s idea for having eliminations at the beginning of the ep is to give people a reason to turn onto TEN and hope that they watch for the rest of episode. Maybe they think that the people who aren’t really interested in watching all the contestants performing and just want to see the results will otherwise just tune to the last few minutes if they put the elimination at the end of the show. Hope that makes sense. Obviously having the elimantions at the end of the ep works better so maybe TEN might change their mind.

  5. I agree that the eliminations at the top of the show aren’t extremely smart, but if that part is recorded in advance, and then they have a break so everyone can get their emotions in check and then go to being live afterwards.

    Still, Idol isn’t going to be thrown in our faces so much this year so I reckon it will get a modest ratings boost this year thanks to that and so long as they keep the performance shows from going extremely overtime.

  6. David: elimination at the top of the show basically means a week’s worth of rehearsals will have gone to waste, as contestants will be practising songs for a new theme each week. How can they concentrate on preparation when they know one of them will be eliminated at the start of next show? How will the contestant cope when he or she is out? I hope the producers will take this into account.
    As for the August 9 start for Idol, I have checked the AFL website and discovered that the Fremantle-Port Adelaide game on that day will be shown on three hour delay in Perth because it is one of four “window” games for WA (which are shown on Foxtel first before free-to-air coverage can begin). So DWTS will be shown in Perth at 8.30pm, avoiding most of Idol. Regional WA will have DWTS at the normal time of 6.30pm (as it will get the Dockers-Power clash on one hour delay, at 3.30pm).

    1. Yes I think there are a number of issues with elimination at the top of the show, including that several have seen many in pools of tears. And then we all have to cheer up for the next round? Odd. But I specifically raised this question and was told that’s what they’re planning. I agree DWTS model is better at eliminations.

  7. I think the voting could be much like Dancing with the Stars: voting lines open at the end of top 12 performance and run until Saturday night, then the next night one contestant is eliminated at the end of the show (meaning top 12 perform for two weeks in a row), then voting lines re-open. This process repeats every week until only two people are left.

  12. You only have to look at the ages of the contestants in the current ads to realise this is going to be another ordinary year of Idol. I reckon this will finally be the last season (put it out of its misery!!!) because Australian Idol is just not producing consistent stars the way American Idol does.

  14. Cancel this show immediately! Jeez – it’s a Z-grade talent show with nothing but forgettable performances. And I just can’t respect singers who don’t sing their own songs.

  16. Not interested in idol at all anymore but that is very clever programming by Ten. Getting rid of eviction night and having it before performances is a good move. So is putting auditions into a single episode. I think Ten are the only network that actually learn anything and listen to viewers.

  17. It’s a stupid move to make it 130mins, surely with that extra 10mins they wont over-run. and also, with Sunday Night elimination.. I wonder have they even thought about the people living in WA & SA.. If not they cant call it Australian Idol cause 2 states wont have a say in the voting.

  19. Are there still any talents left worthy to be the Australian Idol? In the last couple of years, it’s been a ho-hum bunch just like Dancing with the Non-Stars.

  21. The 8:40 finish is a bit rude on Ten’s part, and it’s why video recorders are increasingly having 2 built in tuners to compensate for networks running over time. Ofcourse, 7 and 9 run over time all the time without updating their epgs, so maybe DWTS will ‘accidently’ run over time by ten minutes on 9 Augst

  22. They should have kept it at 7:30. As the days get longer, more and more people stay out longer. Not a very smart move to bring it forward to 6:30 IMO. We’ll just have to wait and see.

    Hopefully this season has talent, unlike last year. C’mon, Idol, the only real singer you guys have got is Jessica Mauboy. The rest are gone, and no one cares about them.

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