American Idol's Traditional Ejection Surprise: Michael Johns Hits the Bricks

I've said it before: Idol always surprises us midway through the competition.

It happened to Chris Daughtry. It happened to Jennifer Hudson. It happened to Tamyra Gray. And now, it's happened to Michael Johns.

As much as I've complained about the judges overlooking the way Johns simply mimics every artist he covers, I was totally surprised by his ejection tonight. And, as usual, a little suspicious.

Simon Cowell can make all the noises he wants about Johns picking the wrong song; anyone who watched Tuesday's show knows he handled his cover of Aerosmith's Dream On powerfully and stylishly. Indeed, this ejection fit none of the things I usually cite after someone leaves the show: Johns sang well Tuesday, was rarely if ever in the bottom three before, seemed to be handling the pressure of the competition well and had a huge fan base inside the studio audience.

The only reason this ejection makes sense, is that Idol needed a surprise to shake up the contest. Which makes me even more suspicious.

Johns' departure makes me even more certain that this contest will wind up a fight between the two Davids; disheveled rocker creativity versus almost-too-earnest teenybopper appeal. But, given the way this Bizzaro Idol week has unfolded, anything seems possible.

So maybe Kristy really should start thinking about what she'll record on her debut album.   

Comments

[former tampanian]

While the revenue from a recording contract is of little value to Fox, the amount of exposure those artists bring to Fox in following years is huge. You can't buy better publicity than to have past Idol contestants all over radio, web, tv, itunes, etc. Also, the recording contracts are a huge value to the producers of Idol. I do agree that when a more talented singer gets ousted early, it provides some watercooler buzz. I'd be interested in seeing if the tv ratings increase or fall after a better singer is voted out.

[Eric Deggans]

I'm going to have to set my tivo to catch the end of idol -- because the show always runs long, tivo cuts off the credits at the end -- and I'll see if such a disclaimer exists.

Anything is possible regarding a TV show which makes so much money. Idol is literally the only reason Fox dominates the 18 to 49 demo every year anymore, and muillions are at stake to keep the show interesting and surprising.

So i wouldn't totally count out your thesis, though I think you give them too much credit. I would bet, if they are manipulating the vote, they're doing show to make the TV show as exciting and hard-to-predict as possible. The recording contract part of Idol, in terms of revenue and value to Fox, is an incredibly small part of that.

I also think that the judges clearly want a rocker to win this year's edition, precisely because R&B singers don't tend to have good post-Idol careers. But R&B singers tend to do well on Idol because they are usually the better singers. As I've written before -- this is the first time in a while tht the top singers on the show weren't also R&B singers....

[former tampanian]

This is a copy of my response to your March 27 entry on Idol--

I believe at the end of every show, there's a little "out clause" for the producers to "not adhere to the final vote tally." I haven't really watched the show in years (tune in now and again), but I seem to recall there being a little blurb in tiny font that's shown for maybe one second at the end of the show. Another thing to think about: If the producers can cash in on more than one Idol in a given year, then why not boot the one that will need less marketing (i.e. Clay, Daughtry) to Idol's core audience(middle-aged whites) and spend that money on someone who'll need it more(i.e. Studdard, Fantasia) to market to a younger R&B crowd (not Idol's core audience).

Posted by: former tampanian | March 28, 2008 at 08:44 AM

[DoctorDrew]

At first stunning but then when you sit back and reflect this fits perfectly just like you say Eric. The producers can manipulate the vote so easily. Everyone has one number, but those numbers roll to x numbers of lines until they are busy. Well, if you just decrease the numbers of lines 1 contestant rolls to, you can decrease their vote count because less votes get recorded. (Wait did a black helicopter just fly by?)

Anyway, if I survived the loss of my beloved Tamyra to those hacks in the first year (Clarkson excepted) and am still watching, Riss and the rest of the world will survive this. Oh, and don't forget to vote for your favorite idol next week.

jane don't forget the insipid Ford commercials.

and Ryan WAS especially cruel reminding everyone about no vote off last year, but, psych, we say goodbye to Michael Johns tonight.

[MarriedToTheMedia]

Having Seacrest remind viewers and MIchael Johns that last year they decided not to vote anyone off during Idol Gives Back Week ... and then saying, but THIS week Michael Johns, you are gone! . . .

Mean.

[jane]

As a veteran AI watcher (heaven help me), I think the only thing that would really surprise me is if there weren't a "surprise ouster" like this one. It seems to be as much a part of the AI fabric as the cheesy group sings and the forced judges' banter.

[Eric Deggans]

blame an idol voting conspiracy. Always works for me...

[Marissa]

Devasted blogger here. Yeah, I wrote about it. I'm just stunned ala Daughtry. I'm done ranting. I've entered the denial phase of mourning.