In the face of mounting pressures to do well in the competitive fall TV season, The X Factor US is shaking things up by firing or "agreeing to let go" key personalities. Last week's entertainment news outlets have been abuzz with announcements that Steve Jones, Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul are leaving the reality singing competition. Since Paula was her usual flighty self and Nicole was on a whole other level altogether when it came to giving comments as a judge, I didn't really care much for their departure from the show.
I do have to admit, though, that I was disappointed that they let go of host Steve Jones. The Welsh host had a great start during the audition and judge's home component of the reality program. It was during the live shows when he gained the reputation of being robotic, and was thought to have a hard time connecting with contestants, judges and audiences. While some of the criticisms have been true to a certain extent, I felt that the producers of The X Factor US could have given him another chance. They sure as hell didn't make it easy for both Steve and the contestants when they drowned everyone with overbearing stage productions and light effects. Neither do I think it's Steven's sole decision to rush everyone when they're "running out of time". And the last few episodes showed that Steven made improvements based on those criticisms.
Even with all of Steve Jones' areas for improvement, I felt that he did a much better job than Carson Daly on The Voice. NBC's reality singing competition program showcased a unique concept and a judging panel that has the best chemistry in the genre. So, it was a bit of a letdown when Carson hosted the show with a constantly sleepy look on his face and little to no energy. While it's true that the witty banter was mostly expected to come from the great collection of judges/coaches that included Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera, it was still no excuse when Carson didn't even make an effort to reply with a comeback or give his comments when opportunities presented themselves. Surely, he could have drawn from his previous experience as the host of MTV's TRL, where he wouldn't have survived if he was as drab as he was at The Voice. Alison Haislip did a much better job as the backstage and social networking correspondent, making me wish they just switched places during the show. With the recent start of the new season of The Voice, I can only hope that Carson improves on his hosting skills.
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And of course, there's the reigning king of reality singing competition hosts. Steve and Carson can only hope to achieve the success that Ryan Seacrest is enjoying with his experience as the long time host of American Idol. The show marked Ryan's first transition to TV host and he did a good enough job for the producers to think that they can do away with former co-host Brian Dunkleman. Ryan is the one constant in a show that has experienced a new batch of contestants every season and a judging panel that changed every few years. He was a radio personality long before he became a TV host, so it was a given that he spoke well. But Ryan brought personality and humor to the task. You can always count on him to give a good comeback when needed,
whether it came from snarky judges or smart ass contestants. Always quick on his feet, Ryan has expertly dealt with and taken in stride the various technical issues and programming challenges that came with hosting a live show. And the guy deftly maneuvered a show, segment or conversation without making judges, contestants or audiences feeling rushed. He's worth every cent of the $15,000,000 they paid him annually for the last three seasons of the show. He's so good at what he does that I forgive him for sporting the blonde hair and horrible orange tan during his first year on the show.
American Idol and The Voice are vying for the top reality singing competition this season, and The X Factor is gearing up to impress audiences more effectively next fall. The shows may fight over who has the best concept, prizes, judges or crop of contestants, but we all know who wins at hosting. Yep, that dude who also successfully created a signature way of introducing his show.
All together now.... "This.... is American Idol!".Labels: American Idol, FOX, Musings, NBC, Reality, Singing Competition, The Voice, TV, TV Series, X Factor
