The contestants entering this season's competition would be faced with a number of challenges that would reveal whether they are true artists or not.
- Nov 19, 2010
AceShowbiz - "American Idol" may be more lenient in the age admittance but it is not taking it lightly the actual competition. Returning executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said there would be no more Top 24 stage. Instead, the contestants would be instantly whittled down to Top 12.
"I didn't think [the top 24] were very good," Lythgoe told TV Guide of previous seasons. "I was bored with them by the time they got there." Details are still sketchy as to whether these Top 12 would be selected by the judges or by voting. Lythgoe and FOX also did not explain what would fill in the voting episodes which are now altered.
The eleventh season would also prepare the contestants in the transition to become real artists. Apart from singing, they would be challenged to make the best music video to promote themselves and design their own performance by working with the band and the dancers.
Lythgoe previously said that they are taking the singing talent show more seriously and it's shown in their selection of new judges, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. "They both listen intently and don't make glib remarks. They give honest critiques," he said of Lopez and Tyler. With these new changes, it is obvious that next year's "American Idol" would like to find a true artist instead of just a winner.
