Is American Idol doomed?

The ratings are slipping and those of us who end up tuning in already figured out who would win back when there were twelve finalists, so when will the jig be up for American Idol. This season started off fairly strong and it was obvious that it wasn’t filled with a lot of screen time stealers, but more talented musicians. We had a few who had already received a record deal and some more who were destined for the Top 100, so what’s going wrong? Fox has been switching things up a bit to see if that would pull in stronger numbers or more callers, but it hasn’t seemed to work in their favor. The judging incident last week with Paula when she commented on two of Jason Castro’s songs, even though he only performed one, it confirmed to critics and some viewers that things weren’t as “live” as we were to believe.

So where do you go from here? It will be a cold day in hell when they finally pull the plug on this show, but the time between them announcing this season’s winner and next years’ auditions, you can believe that there will be many changes on the show and possibly some replacement judges. A show, which is targeted to younger audiences and that allows them to pick their next “star” needs to be much more hip, which is really the bigger problem with “AI”. Having Mariah Carey as a mentor this year was a stroke of genius and hopefully next year there will be more currently influential artists. Unfortunately, Neil Diamond and Dolly Parton just don’t draw in the kids anymore.
If you want to keep credit and the history flowing, add a Bob Dylan night – that could be incredibly interesting. What the producers of this show need is a gut renovation. I don’t necessarily think the judges need to change but I feel the method of judging isn’t the best. I think a panel like “Top Chef”, where one judge is present for the rehearsals and sees the work and preparation going into the performance would be great and this could be a role that Abdul could fill perfectly. Also, the producers need to contact a rock singer, a hip hop artist and maybe Carey again to have hipper mentors. And personally, if you don’t want these people to be Broadway bound, then don’t have them perform Andrew Lloyd Weber songs. The show can come back and be better than before. It just needs a whole lot of shaking.

What do you all feel about “American Idol”? What can this show do to bring back it’s audience or even better increase its audience?

Linsday's picking herself up and dusting herself off.....

It looks my Lil Lohan is finally getting back into the swing of things and actually acting. The massive girl crush I have on my hometown hero is relatively known by my readers and friends and I was so glad when she was able to resurrect herself and career after Rehabgate of 2007. In the past few days, she has found her way into about a bazillion news/gossip stories and only one of them is actually negative. First, let’s discuss the positive. Lohan has started filming on the season finale of “Ugly Betty” and she reportedly plays a Mean Girl from Betty’s high school that used to torture her. Ok, this is perfect casting. My Long Island girl will present one of the finest Queens accents you have ever seen. I actually might tune into this hot mess to check out this performance. Secondly, Lindsay is currently working on the comedy “Ye Olde Times”, starring Jack Black and will be in production until late 2008. And today, the New York Post reported that the actress will also star in “Labor Pains”, a movie about a girl who fakes a pregnancy to keep her job. So congrats my little lady on the positive news coverage you have received this week.

And now to the negative, Lohan is being accused of stealing an $11,000 fur coat from a party at 1Oak a few months ago. The woman who claims her coat was taken from the party’s coat bin, said she contacted Lohan’s lawyers to get the coat back once she saw Miss Lindsay in it in some paparazzi shot. The woman, Masha Markova, a 22 year old student, is now suing Lohan for rental or damages or some other kind of bullshit for “damages” on the coat once she got it back from the lawyers. I don’t really care either way and I know how much it sucks because my favorite jean jacket in the world was stolen from me at a party and I still miss it 5 years later, but who the hell is dumb enough to leave an $11,000 coat anywhere? Ugh! Keep your head up LiLo!

No they didn't get to me....

Apologies for the delay in the third installment of CSI and the Wrath of Cruise. I have been working on presenting my readers with the most thorough story and actually have been sent many applicable links I am looking to use. As this story gets a bit meatier then my original vision, it takes a few reads before I can present it to the public.

And also, I waited just a tad because I was getting some interesting emails. I am one person shop here, so I don't have the same protection as say Gawker or CNN. If all works out, the third installment will be posted later today.

Thanks for the patience and huge interest in this story.

Super Tuesday

If you are in one of the 20 some odd states that are hosting the primaries today, please do me a favor and get out there and vote. Many states, like my New York, will only allow you to vote if you are registered within a party, i.e. if you are registered Democrat or Republican. It's incredibly important though that 2008 is not anything like elections in the past and that American citizens get out there and make their voices heard. And pretty much after the delegates are given out by the end of today's vote, we can figure out who will be running against who in November.

I will say that since 2000 our administration and government has been on a clear path to dangerous territory and the people are not being properly represented. And while I hope that my readers are looking for a change, like myself, I will not make you listen to the reasons I am voting with Democratic party, but I think you can figure from my tone and personality why. Whatever your views are, this is a monumental election year for America. We have a Mormon, a Woman, an African-American and a Veteran candidate for us to chose from. What you do when you enter that booth is up to you, but I do hope that you vote with your health, the earth's health, US' safety and the economic woes on your mind.

Here is a snippet of Senator Clinton on David Letterman last night being funny. I wish she could dress just a bit hipper, but I know thats the problem with politcal ladies.



For up to the minute coverage, please check out these following news organizations:

+ CNN

+ MSNBC

+ FoxNews

+ CBS News

Thank you.....

Here at The Spielster, I am seriously excited!!! Last week was our best week ever!!! Our daily hits multiplied by 11 times and our page views by 15. We saw a major influx of new and unique visitors and I am one hundred percent sure it is partly due to our coverage of the Cruise and CSI debacle and the untimely death of Heath Ledger. Another huge help has been the addition the flow of traffic and many new readers from Gawker & Jezebel.

I just wanted to take a minute out to thank all my new readers and those loyal ones who have been here from the beginning. I am looking forward to 2008 being a big year for me and The Spielster. I will also be working on another NYC centric site with a very talented friend, so good things are coming. As promised, the continuation of CSI and the Wrath of Cruise will wrap up this week and we will begin another feature story next week.

Again, thanks for stopping by, all of the comments and for those who are spreading the word. I would be doing this if I had only one person stopping by, but its great to see people are reacting to what you are doing. Also, if you have anything you want The Spielster to cover or link, please email tips or stuff to spielarama@gmail.com.

THANKS AND ENJOY!!!!