Batson's Blog

American Idol producers Nigel Ythgoe and Ken Warwick have been fired after season 12 of the hit TV show. The show has been in major makeover mode ever since it began dipping in the ratings, facing new found competition from NBC's The Voice . So far American Idol got rid of two producers and lost three members of the judging panel: Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey and Randy Jackson. They can give the show a new look, introduce new rules into the competition and get an entirely new staff, but the problem they are facing is one a lot of other reality TV shows face as well: how far do you go in revamping the show?

There were rumblings that Nicki Minaj may not be back for another season of American Idol, but it turns out that AI original, Randy Jackson, won't be returning next season . As American Idol struggles to stay relevant and remain on top of the ratings battle, they've pretty much resorted to musical chairs with their judges. First Paula ABdul was out. Then Kara Dioguardi and Ellen DeGeneres were in. Then Ellen was out. Then Kara was out. Then Simon was out while J'Lo and Steven Tyler were in. After a very boring season with Lopez and Tyler as judges, they switched it up, signing on the level-headed Keith Urban along with the feisty Nicki Minaj and "the Diva" Mariah Carey. That's a lot of switching around. With so many judges swapping spots, leaving and coming on board, it kind of takes the attention away from the aspiring singers. This is supposed to be the search for the next big music superstar -- so why so much focus on the judges? If Minaj en...

Happiness for the heart. That’s what Kelly Clarkson’s collaboration with Vince Gill on "Don’t Rush" is. It’s kind of a jazzy-country little tune. It conjures up images of blue skies and sunshine while driving down a two-lane road, top down, mid-afternoon, without a care in the world. When I saw the track listing for Kelly Clarkson’s greatest hits album, I was skeptical at how a collaboration with Vince Gill would turn out. While other pop stars like Christina Aguilera and P!nk are doing collaborations with Cee Lo Green and Nate Russ , Clarkson continues to keep one foot (or at least a few toes) planted in the country genre. Much like her duet with Jason Aldean last year, this new collaboration was successful. Kelly Clarkson’s voice has become one of the most recognizable on the radio since she won American Idol a decade ago, but her versatility is truly underrated. She can sing any song from any era and make it damn good. Kelly’s performance alongside Vince a...

I’m behind the times on this one, but it was just a couple of weeks ago that I was listening to the radio and I had to do a double take. I heard a song that sounded eerily similar to the song that played on the trailer for Where The Wild Things Are . Logic told me this wasn’t possible. The song used in the trailer wasn’t one that got radio play when the movie was actually out in the theatres, so why would it be on the radio now? The song was called “Home.” Upon listening to it a few more times it doesn’t sound all that much like the Where The Wild Things Are them. It also doesn’t sound like anything else that is on the radio right now, so it was easy to take notice of. It turns out the song was by a guy named Phil Phillips . Thankfully the radio personality clued me in to who he was because I had no idea. He’s the latest winner of American Idol. I caught bits and pieces of the season that Scotty McCreery won, but I didn’t see any of last season. I guess "Ho...