American Idol Launches Podcast to Address Key Show Challenges

American Idol is set to address a long-standing issue from its ABC era with the launch of a new official podcast. The 24th season of the iconic singing competition has brought back familiar faces, including host Ryan Seacrest and judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood, and Luke Bryan. This marks the series’ ninth season under the ABC banner, following its initial 15-season run on FOX, which concluded in 2016.

The current season follows the success of season 23, where Jamal Roberts emerged as the winner. Since his victory, Jamal has enjoyed a remarkable career, joining music legends Brandy and Monica on their The Boy Is Mine Tour and earning his first Grammy nomination. While American Idol has made significant strides in recent years, the introduction of the podcast aims to resolve a significant concern that has affected the show’s loyal audience.

A common grievance among fans of the modern American Idol era is the show’s inadequate farewell to eliminated contestants. During its FOX tenure, eliminated participants received thoughtful send-offs, complete with video montages highlighting their journeys, all set to a poignant song of the season. Memorable tracks included “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter in season 5, “Home” by Daughtry in season 6, “Celebrate Me Home” by Ruben Studdard in season 7, and “Home Sweet Home” by Carrie Underwood in season 8.

American Idol’s New Official Podcast Will Give Eliminated Contestants Proper Send-Offs

One of the biggest complaints that fans have about modern-era American Idol is the lack of proper send-offs for the eliminated contestants. In the FOX days of the show, when contestants were sent home, they were featured in a video package with clips of their journey set to a song chosen for the season, such as season 5’s “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter, season 6’s “Home” by Daughtry, season 7’s “Celebrate Me Home” by Ruben Studdard, and season 8’s “Home Sweet Home” by Carrie Underwood.

Ever since American Idol began airing on ABC, the eliminations have been rushed. Ryan announces the names of the contestants who are leaving, and the show closes, with no real acknowledgment of the journey of the competitors. Fans have felt that this is disrespectful to the singers, who’ve worked so hard to make it to the finals of the show.

However, this will change with American Idol’s new podcast. In an interview with Billboard, executive producer and showrunner Megan Michaels Wolflick shared why the show needs a podcast now. She said, “We’ve wanted to do a podcast for a while. Dancing with the Stars introduced a podcast as a companion piece for their programming and it did really well and it’s interesting.”

Megan then explained that the podcast will give the eliminated contestants the goodbyes that they deserve. She stated, “We had the after-show back in the day, Idol Extra, but this is going to be taped when each live show is over. We’re going to talk to the eliminated finalists. We never get that moment. There’s no kiss-off anymore, so this is a really nice way we can talk about that person and their journey.”

What To Expect From The American Idol Official Podcast

Via: Disney/Christopher Willard

According to an ABC press release, the American Idol official podcast will debut on Disney+ and Hulu when the live shows begin. Every week, the podcast will discuss the performances, have exclusive interviews, give behind-the-scenes insights, and offer expert analysis of the judges’ critiques.

The American Idol official podcast is going to be an incredible companion piece for the main show. It’s about time that the eliminated contestants are given proper send-offs, and this podcast will allow for that. It’s also going to be so much fun to get behind-the-scenes scoops about the show. After over two decades on the air, American Idol keeps finding ways to stay fresh and new.

Sources: Billboard, ABC

Release Date

2002 – 2016-00-00

Network

ABC

Showrunner

Nigel Lythgoe

Directors

Ken Warwick

Franchise(s)

American Idol