American Juniors: No News Is Surprising News

American Juniors, the younger sibling of American Idol, is set to debut Tuesday, June 3. What do we know about American Juniors? Well, kids, aged 6-13 will have the opportunity to compete in two qualifying groups to reach the finals. Then, the top ten 6-9s and top ten 10-13s will comprise a Top 20. The audience will vote for the deserving to create a Top 10. Then each week, the highest vote-getter gets a spot of the five in a singing group.

That is just about all we know.

The show’s premiere has already been pushed back a week. The American Juniors website sheds no light on the subject, either. Not even the host. However, just as we posted this article, Hollywood Reporter wrote that Ryan Seacrest, host of American Idol, will also be hosting Juniors. There were some reports circulating that Paula Abdul, maternal judge on American Idol, had been in the running for the job, these were never verified and are, at this time, moot.

Judges. Will Abdul instead be a judge? Indeed, will there be judges? Reports conflict, one source has quoted an American Juniors producer as saying there will be no judges at all. "At this point, we have nothing confirmed in terms of a host or judges," is the official word from Fox.

But, there have been inquiries. Considering the huge attention heaped upon Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell for their Idol roles, there have been no shortage of celebrities and industry types offering their services. Gladys Knight and Lionel Richie are among the most vocal for a full-time judging assignment, versus their guest roles on Idol.

David Goffin, supervising producer, says it’s more about the kids than the judges this time around, “We're not out to squash kids' dreams and desires on this show, or have a Simon Cowell telling kids they're pathetic,"

"While there's a nastiness about Simon that people love to watch, I think we can make up for that with the inspirational nature of our show and its dream element.”

That sounds like Touched By An Angel! It definitely doesn’t sound much like Fox, does it? Fear not. "By and large, the parents will fill in the competitive dialogue on the show," Goffin told ExtraTV. "The judges will act more like coaches."

Juniors is set follow a similar format to American Idol, in that the premiere will focus on the auditions and naming the finalists. Then, back to the Tuesday (performance) / Wednesday (results) format that has worked so well for its older sibling.

Sting7 can be reached at stingseven@yahoo.com.

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