Idol Insider

Five lessons from American Idol Season 11: Talent-rich competition promisesanother male winner

Phillip Phillips is the likely winner.
FOX
Jessica Sanchez's talent outsizes almost any contestant we’ve seen on this showin 11 seasons
Photo by Michael Becker/Fox
Joshua Ledet’s “To Love Somebody" was a season highlight.
FOX

After a roller coaster of a season, American Idol’s final two will duel for the crown tonight on part one of the Season 11 finale. Whether you were captivated, frustrated or inspired over the past four months (I was all of the above), there’s no doubt this talent-rich season has proven to be one of the most memorable in Idol history. Before the confetti falls on Phillip Phillips ~~or Jessica Sanchez~~ Wednesday night, let’s take a look at what Season 11 taught us:

Steven Tyler digs melody, Randy Jackson played with Journey and Jennifer Lopez has abs

Oh wait…

Even in its double digits, there’s no shortage of talent on Idol

In all seriousness, while I’m partial to the characters in Season Five and still enamored by the sparkle of Season Eight, I think Season 11 may go down as the best season in Idol history, based on the sheer amount of talent.

Looking back, no season was without a moment that transcended the competition, a la Adam Lambert’s “Mad World” or Fantasia’s “Summertime.” But by simple math, none had as many as Season 11. Between Skylar Laine’s “The Show Must Go On,” Joshua Ledet’s “To Love Somebody,” Jessica Sanchez’s “I Will Always Love You” and Elise Testone’s “Vienna,” just to name a few, this season raised the bar for the kind of performances judges and viewers alike expect.

It wasn’t just about promising contestants displaying their potential; it was about promising contestants realizing their potential.

It wasn’t just about promising contestants displaying their potential; it was about promising contestants realizing their potential. Remember when we were left wanting more when Ledet only sort of slayed “A Change is Gonna Come”? Or how rewarding it was to see Hollie Cavanagh finally display guttural emotion on “Bleeding Love”? Season 11 ushered in a new set of standards.

That’s quite a feat, considering Idol’s machine has been churning for 10 years this spring, seven seasons past what’s generally regarded as Idol’s peak season. Singing competitions may be a dime a dozen these days, but make no mistake: the undiscovered talent is still out there, and Idol –be it via the producers, judges or luck—tapped into it this season.

Idol is boring television

And amen for that. While similar shows have recently made splashy headlines thanks to judges’ feuds and celebrity announcements, Idol’s remained the drama-free adult in the room – traditional, predictable and focused. Its biggest stories came from Jermaine Jones’ mid-season ouster, Sanchez’s “save” and Phillips’ health battles, none of which made much of an impression.

What’s slowly become apparent over the past few years – following the rotating exits of Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Ellen DeGeneres—is that Idol is a show that relies almost solely on its format and contestants. Even when you remove its most infamous judge and replace him with a gentle, incoherent rock star, the talent, for the most part, prevails.

That’s not to say I’m opposed to a shake-up next year –-I’m looking at you, Randy Jackson — that could give the show a sharper critical eye. It’s just that I’m frankly unfazed that the ratings are down slightly this season. Until they pull Idol from my TV, I’ll continue to judge the success of the show based on the strength of the contestants and the quality of their post-show endeavors (I don’t care if Allison Iraheta only sold 100,000 albums; those are killer tunes).

And in this regard, Idol is still kicking the cool kids’ asses.

There’s a special place in music heaven for Idol’s third place finishers

My Idol heart broke a little last week when 20-year-old Ledet joined the ranks of superb third place finishers Elliot Yamin, Melinda Doolittle and Haley Reinhart. Over the past several weeks, Ledet proved he not only has that voice, but also the instinct, artistic maturity and emotional depth to match some of the best recording artists in the music industry.

Every once and awhile, Idol is luckier to find a contestant than the contestant is to find Idol. Ledet is one of those contestants. (#whatcouldhavebeen)

A girl may never win Idol again

Here’s the thing: five years ago, I would’ve found this season’s finale exciting – the coolly confident singer-songwriter versus the teenager with diva-sized chops. Optically, it has the yin-yang effect of Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice’s Season Four finale.

But I already know how this story ends. Because for all the faith I have in the Idol franchise, there’s one thing for which I’ve lost hope, and that’s a female Idol winner.

Maybe tomorrow night’s finale will prove me wrong, but the voters' gender bias is undeniable. I remember the first time I read about the WGWG (“White Guy With Guitar”) theory, thinking it was the spawn of melodramatic fans with a chip on their shoulder. But years later, it’s not only played itself out three times over on the show, it now makes a lot of sense to me. As a country music writer, it’s a topic I come across often, albeit in a different sense.

With that said, blindly applying theories is ignorant and discrediting, especially when you have a contestant as good as 21-year-old Phillips. I don’t believe he floated to the top simply on his gender and genre, even if the odds may have been ever in his favor. He’s genuine, creative and has a firm grasp on his identity. He delivered a small but impactful share of rousing performances this season, and he clearly connects with viewers in a way others didn’t.

Personally, though, the singer’s singers are usually the ones to strike a chord with me, and 16-year-old Sanchez is no different. Her talent outsizes almost any contestant we’ve seen on this show in 11 seasons, and while Phillips has the deeper sense of self right now, I think her potential exceeds his. I keep coming back to what producer Jimmy Iovine said about her yesterday in an interview: “Jessica is born with one of those gifts that you see very, very rarely… there are so few people who can sing like that in the industry today.”

Sanchez lacks the experience to fully tap into the reservoir of her emotions, but when she gets there, I have an inkling that her explosive voice is going to make a mark on the industry.

Tune in tonight and Wednesday for the two-part season finale, and chime in with your thoughts on Season 11 below.

Get more of Tara Seetharam's pop culture musings on her website www.taraseetharam.com and follow her on Twitter @TaraAshley

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HOWDY, DOCTORS

Grey's Anatomy spins off new medical drama led by Houston-born showrunner

Photo via Meg Marinis/Instagram

Showrunner Meg Marinis poses with actor Kevin McKidd, who recently exited Grey's Anatomy after more than a decade playing Dr. Owen Hunt.

ABC is bringing the Grey's Anatomy universe to Texas with a new one-hour rural medical drama co-created by longtime showrunner Meg Marinis. Marinis was born in Houston and is an alum of both the Kinkaid School and the University of Texas at Austin.

According to an exclusive report from Deadline, which production company Shondaland shared on social media, the untitled series has received a straight-to-series order from ABC and will follow a team at a rural West Texas medical center described as “the last chance for care before miles of nowhere.”

The series marks the first Grey’s Anatomy franchise show set outside the West Coast, and it's the first that's not centered around an existing main character from the original series.

The new drama will be co-created by Shonda Rhimes and Marinis, who has spent nearly two decades working on Grey’s Anatomy. She joined the series during its third season as a production assistant before rising through the ranks to become a researcher, writer, executive producer, and now showrunner.

"This opportunity will bring new characters and stories to life that will embody the same heart, emotion, and connection audiences have loved from Grey’s for more than two decades, all set in my home state of Texas,” Marinis said in a statement announcing the series. "I am so grateful to Shonda Rhimes for creating this dynamic world and feel so fortunate that I get to be a part of it.”

Marinis’ path to running one of television’s biggest franchises started in Austin. In an interview with Shondaland last year, she recounted moving to Los Angeles during her final semester at UT through the university’s UTLA entertainment program, which allows students to complete coursework while interning in the industry. While finishing school, she interned at Universal before landing a production assistant role on Grey’s Anatomy in 2006.

Marinis has also woven Texas experiences into the flagship series itself in recent years. According to Deadline, she personally knew families affected by the Camp Mystic tragedy and rewrote part of a recent Grey’s Anatomy episode after becoming emotional while working on the script.

The West Texas setting is particularly timely, as rural healthcare access remains a growing issue across the state. According to the Texas Hospital Association, more than 20 rural Texas hospitals have closed since 2010, while roughly a quarter of the state’s remaining rural hospitals are considered at risk of closure.

By centering the new series on what ABC describes as “the last chance for care before miles of nowhere,” the franchise could bring national attention to healthcare access challenges facing communities across West Texas and other rural parts of the state.

The new series joins a long lineage of Texas-set television dramas, though not all were actually filmed in the state. Grey’s Anatomy itself is famously set in Seattle while primarily filmed in the Los Angeles area. Friday Night Lights became closely associated with Austin through extensive local filming, while series like Dallas often recreated Texas from California sound stages, with exteriors of Southfork Ranch serving as the Ewings' fictitious home. Walker, Texas Ranger, meanwhile, became one of the best-known examples of a network drama heavily filmed across Texas itself.

Even after more than 20 years on the air, Grey’s Anatomy remains one of television’s most durable franchises. According to ABC, the drama is now the longest-running primetime medical drama in television history and continues to rank among the network’s strongest scripted performers.

Ellen Pompeo, who stars as Dr. Meredith Grey in the original series, is attached as an executive producer, and the new drama is expected to premiere in 2027.

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