UPDATE 3/8/09, 5pm : Ten has just announced that Kyle has been sacked as Idol judge. Here’s what Emma wrote last night…
The decision of Austereo to suspend Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O from the morning show will now put pressure on the producers of Australian Idol and Channel Ten to decide whether he should stay as a judge on the popular TV program.
On Saturday Channel Ten was quoted in The Age as saying Kyle “will obviously be in the audition episodes as they were filmed some time ago.”
“But Idol is a family program, we consider this a very serious incident and our executives will continue discussions over the weekend to come to a decision regarding his future on Idol.”
Considering Australian Idol premiers next Sunday, they will have to announce this week whether they are standing by or punting the controversial personality.
Their problem is they are going into their seventh season and they have already made changes to try and overcome viewer fatigue and arrest a drop in ratings. This season the show have lost two talented personnel, amusing co-host James Mathieson, and music co-ordinater/arranger John Foreman who both resigned this year.
Also there are major format changes as there will now be a two hour Sunday show, with the performances and the elimination occurring on the one night. I would love to know how they are going to make the voting fair particularly if they open the phone lines at the beginning of the show. Anyway that’s another story.
With those major changes are they really going to want to tinker with the judging panel? For someone who always thought he was a talentless tool, in my opinion last season Kyle Sandilands was the most entertaining and ‘most helpfully critical’ of the judges. Dicko, of who I am a huge fan, appeared tired, and Marcia Hines is more a life coach then a judge.
So who should they get to replace him? For a quick fix I think they should consider Paul McDermott, he is already in the Channel Ten stable. He is delightfully snarky and he also has a background in music. Or they could consider rotating a different judge through each week, as they do in the US version of So You Think You Can Dance. This has the advantage of changing the dynamic of the judging panel each week, and if anyone is outstanding they can consider locking them in for the next season.
Whatever TEN decide it is a risk for this crucial season of this long running show. Do you stay with the known but potentially have negative PR for the season? Or should they go for a new approach which could add some much needed energy to the panel - even if it could be one change too many and may alienate the show’s fans?
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