Jennifer Fengler
Special to the Southern News
New changes could make or break American Idol this season, while the Southern Idol competition will continue to be a hit on campus.
Students at Southern voiced their opinions about this year’s season of American Idol and the Southern Idol competition, held every year in the spring.
This year, there are two new judges joining Randy Jackson on American Idol. One of the new judges is lead singer and frontman Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. The other new judge is pop star Jennifer Lopez.
“Both the judges go too easy on contestants and the show will suffer without the harsh critiques,” said psychology major Hannah Jones.
Can the show survive without Simon Cowell’s famous feedback on contestants?
“As a whole, it made American Idol bad because he was the only one who gave an honest opinion about anything,” said sophomore Bernadette Hernandez. “So I think him leaving is going to mean them sending a lot of people to Hollywood who have really bad sob stories.”
Some students said they did not watch the entire season all the way through in the past to begin with, and they do not plan on changing that.
“I watch the tryouts with the hope of finding another William Hung,” said Jones.
William Hung became famous with his off-key performance of “She Bangs” by Ricky Martin on American Idol back in 2004. He was such a big hit he got a record deal from Koche Entertainment and released three albums in 2004 and 2005.
While the first auditions grab some audiences’ attention, Hollywood week is marketing major Erica Lynn’s favorite week.
“You really start to pick your favorite, because you can see how they all act in groups with each other,” said Lynn.
Just like the people auditioning, the new judges will have to show their chemistry together as they pick and choose who will move on to become the next American Idol.
American Idol also decided to lower the minimum age requirement to audition to 15. After seeing the success Justin Bieber has become, American Idol producers decided there may be some talent out there within younger age groups.
“That’s the only show that does that, where you could end up having a career in something at such a young age, and I mean Justin Bieber and Hannah Montana did it,” said sophomore Ashley Rodrigues. “It’s different, but it’s worth a try.”
Despite the new changes to the show, it continues to open opportunities to anyone who has the gift of a great voice.
“What I like about it is how it gives the average person a chance to show their talent and get famous for it, because it’s really hard putting yourself out there like that,” said sophomore Bernadette Hernandez.
Southern Idol also opens some doors of opportunity to anyone wishing to show their talent and meet new people.
“That’s awesome, because we’re creating our own American Idol within our own community and we get to see our own talent,” Rodrigues said.
“You can see them audition and be like, wow, that person is really cool, and become really good friends with them,” said Hernandez. “So, it’s a great conversation starter to get to know more people who like doing the same thing as you.”
Southern Idol is a singing competition held every spring with three grand prizes. All students are welcome to audition or watch students compete to win.
“I never actually watched it, but this year I’m going to,” Hernandez said.
