Reality Child’s Play Coming Soon

As American Idol continues to prove itself as a ratings draw, we’ve seen numerous copycats spring up along the way. One of these is actually a revamping of an earlier show, Star Search, which parades contestants past so quickly you can barely remember their names, let alone get to know them. However, one good point of Star Search is the children’s portion – singing and, now, dancing. Not one but two new shows coming soon will focus solely on the kids, in a fashion that is more like American Idol.

One of them will be like Idol because, well, it’s effectively American Idol Jr.. Announced by AI host Ryan Seacrest last week on the results show, Fox and the producers of AI are preparing the show for summer, when the first American Idol originally became a mega-hit. (This implies that there will not be another American Idol until the Fall season, since they probably would not want to have the two competing against each other.)

The AI Jr. show, as some are calling it (though an official name has not yet been given), will feature children ages 6 to 12. Whether it will result in a single winner or a group is not clear – some news reports say that producer Simon Fuller may use the show to put together a kiddie band called “The AJs” (American Juniors). Indeed, Fuller told a European magazine that the band might star in its own feature film (like Kelly and Justin) or their own TV show.

Meanwhile, NBC will be launching their own kiddie talent show much sooner – starting Friday, March 21, at 8/7 Central. Search for the Most Talented Kid in America will feature both musicians and dancers, ages 3 to 15, in a four-week competition. According to the show’s description at TV Guide Online, it sounds more like an all-kiddie version of Star Search rather than AI, which means viewers really won’t get to know the contestants very well. Each show will feature 12 acts, Lance Bass will be a permanent judge, joined by two guest celebs each week.

Both of these shows face the question of what to do with the judges. One of the draws of American Idol is seeing what judge Simon Cowell will say to the contestants and how they will react. Obviously, you can’t have a Simon Cowell telling six-year-olds that they are pathetic. (Although Naomi Judd on Star Search has been known to say some rather bizarre things no matter how old the contestants might be.) Indeed, the producer of NBC’s show acknowledges that the kids won’t face that kind of criticism – but they are “creating a ‘kiss-and-cry bench,’ similar to Olympic figure skating.” He said that the contestants and their parents will sit on that bench, receive their scores, and the audience will get to see their reactions and those of their competitors. Oh, goody – I can hardly wait to see the dreams of seven-year-olds crushed. (That was sarcasm – please don’t send in any e-mails about how cruel I am.)

Hopefully, both of these shows will be sensitive to the fact that they are dealing with children while at the same time providing the drama and talent that viewers will expect.

Stay tuned to RealityNewsOnline for more news on these and other shows, and of course for coverage once they begin.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at rno@pobox.com.

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