Jay Dee no safe bet for Idol
Speculation suggests Jay Dee Springbett may not be returning to judge Australian Idol -but TEN has much bigger problems.
- Published by David Knox
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There is speculation today that Jay Dee Springbett may not be returning to judge Australian Idol.
The Daily Telegraph suggests the Sony executive’s contract may not be renewed.
“He was a good fill-in but now they are looking bigger and better,” says one unnamed source. Another even suggests it desperately wants Kyle Sandilands back.
There have also been suggestions that research indicates viewers did not connect with his performance.
Officially, TEN has no comment.
“What you’ve heard is no more than a rumour,” a spokeswoman said.
Fair enough.
TEN and FremantleMedia Australia wouldn’t have begun discussions on Idol 2010 until December when the 09 finale was well and truly behind them.
Auditions for the show will need to get underway by March or earlier given the Commonwealth Games interrupts the scheduling this year.
Springbett was catapulted into the vacant chair after Kyle Sandilands was unceremoniously dumped by TEN. With little television experience it was a big ask. But his performance never seemed to find a groove, and contestants frequently commented on his nerves.
With a ‘positive judge’ and a ‘nasty judge’ essentially already in place, the third position has always been a tricky position. On the weekend, former Idol judge Mark Holden backed Springbett, saying “I think Jay Dee will evolve. The first time you do something like that it’s an absolute shock. No matter who you are, it’s hard to deal with that the first year.”
TEN knows it has a much bigger problem with Idol than replacing one judge. Last year was it’s softest season ever. The show is now at the point that Big Brother was before it switched hosts.
The network needs to communicate to the audience that everything we have ever known about Idol is now up for grabs. And like it or not, that means replacing more than one face from the show. It gets back to reassessing format, hosting, judges, talent, venue, auditions, scheduling, rules, voting -the lot.
But when the format is so strictly administered by rights owner 19 in the UK, TEN will only have so much room to move.
Source: Daily Telegraph
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- Tagged with Australian Idol, Big Brother, Commonwealth Games
48 Responses
Give us a year for the over 30’s every 2nd year. The show can survive but it has to grow up. Look at the popularity of DWTS and MC, they are watched by a predominantly older audience than Idol currently has.
@Dave, I did know that, damn typos – I think I was still thinking about Ricki Lee and wondering if she was supposed to be a host or set dressing, and then the ‘host’ thought continued. Yes, the fabulous Ellen will be hosting, which I hope will be good. I enjoyed her on SYTYCD, although some people weren’t fans – but dancing is so much more technical than singing and it is easier to say ‘you were out of tune’ if you aren’t trained – you can just tell. So i have high hopes for her.
Brian McFadden – decent suggestion there!
@ Beckala, Ellen Degeneres is one of the new judges to American Idol, not the host. The host is still the great Ryan Seacreast.
Either get rid of Marcia or wipe out the whole judging panel and start fresh.
tomothy: to build a stage as big as American Idol will require a huge space. I don’t think Fox Studios (where Australian Idol is made) has the space for that. Maybe Carriageworks at Redfern where So You Think You Can Dance is filmed?
I liked Brian McFadden when he was a guest judged. He was honest and has a good sense of humour.
I think they need someone funny. Mark Holden had his funny quirks. I know he is a lawyer now but couldnt they give him an offer he cant refuse? The cringeworthy but lovely touchdowns are missing. They need a personality not some slick DB.
One more thing. How about a decent set, look at the massive Americal Idol stage. The Aus Idol 2009 set was cheap, and the size of a shoe box.
If we have to keep Idol they need to choose people that can sing.
Dont choose them because they have a sob story,
Dont choose them becuase they are emo, rock, pop, country, soul, etc.
Choose them because they have talent.
They are not looking for a voice or individual, they are looking for a cast, which is why people are not watching.
Marcia has to go too, her “You go girl”, “That was a somethin’ somethin’ “, etc is not advice.
Bring back Mark Holden – really miss his touchdowns and “zaniness” !!!
Its time to go………. Aust Idol, its been fun, but 10 have just screwed it up way too badly, the franchise is as good as dead in Australia which is a shame.
It never recovered from Dicko being poached in 2004 as well as Casey Who winning it.
The US Idol still seems fresh after all these years.
I think the key to a revival of the show would be to add some drama and some bang…
Perhaps they could periodically have contests where each of the idols releases a song for digital download… the person whose song charts the lowest is then evicted…
Of course, there’s more money in people voting to keep someone in…
I wonder if there’ll be a “vote to evict” and “vote to save” next year… because that made sense to everyone on Big Brother…
But as you have mentioned David, it’s a tightly held franchise, and I doubt they’ll be allowed to do too much… Remember when it was a “World first” that they allowed musicians to play their own instruments. Shock horror! 😉
That World First took an awful lot of negotiation with 19.
“shudders” @ the suggestion to make Rove a judge. Please keep that hack off tv as much as possible!
On oz idol – bring back Mark Holden..problem solved and we’ll have the original team back.
so we will see next a tired format still going and probably a novelty judge like sandilands. so we will see peter helliar as a judge next year i bet. just so they plug his moronic and unfunny character
I think Chanel 10 need to revitalise The X Factor franchise, and not have X Factor and Idol in the same year which they tried back in 2005.
Last season The X Factor UK was amazing. The staging, the contestants. It was like watching a concert every week. They had back up singers and dancers interacting with the contestants as apposed to Oz Idol where they stand at the end of the stage and sign. Its just not captivating.
I would say try and lure Brian Friendman over to be the creative director to jazz it up and bring it some credible judges and host. (As soon as they announced in 2005 that Mark Holden was crossing over to also judge The X Factor Oz i new it would fail.)
I would suggest as judges
– Kyle Sandilands
– Danni Minogue (As AGT may not be returing and she has experience with it)
– Delta Goodrem or Vanessa Amorosi
– Maybe an unknown that has managed a successful pop group
The X Factor is also a lot classier as the judges came out looking amazing every week, suits and designer dresses as apposed to t-shirts and jeans on Oz Idol, it was like going down the pub for a beer and seeing who they had on stage.
Well thats my 2c worth.
It does need to be given a rest. I reckon that they would benefit from resting the show this year and focusing on the commonwealth games + their other shows. To fill in any gaps, the could simple put one of the many axed shows on in it’s place.
Every show must come to an end, and now it’s Idol’s turn. It’s as simple as that.
Get rid of idol and try something new as was done with Big Brother.
Oh no, time to commit ritual suicide.
I think they have to get rid of Marcia. Yes, she’s a singer, but she says nothing of any value. Never has, I think in the entire history of the program, but it is just becoming laughable now. “Well done, darlin” is not constructive criticism!! I guess it was hidden better when you had the ridiculous comments coming from Vile or Dicko – but with Dicko caring too much about his own ego, and JD not saying much of anything, it just makes Marcia look hopeless. Start by getting rid of her. Beg James Mathison to come back, get rid of Ricki Lee – what does she do, by the way?! Or just buy the rights to American Idol, which will have Ellen Degeneres as host – i’d watch that in a second!!
Time to retire what has been a phenomenal franchise.
The Big Brother comparison is an obvious and fair one – it’s nearly time to go…
Marcia.Needs.To.Go.Waste.Of.Space.
It will be interesting to see how the American version goes with four judges this year. That just seemed a disaster when they tried it here. It did get battered by Kath and Kim, though. I think the show needs all the judges replaced with three or four new judges such as Rove, Tina Arena or Darren Hayes. And get some guest judges similar to Liza MInnelli last year – there’s always people touring.
I must admit, I have always pushed the Ten network to friend etc. I admire many thing about them and what they do. they seem open to the press to a point, they try new shows, (Masterchief, the 7pm project etc) and were the first commercial network to have a full time digital network. (I love the extended versions of Moto GP and F1) I also have been a massive fan of reality TV. But last year, I think I only saw about 1/2 of idol. The new evection process just took to long and I found myself changing channel and not turning back. Let’s hope they do some positive changes…..
All I ask new is the V8’s come back home to Ten.