What does Abi's win mean for the future of American Idol?

[m1key]

Abi won this season in a finale against two WGWG's with southern (and in Will's case, Christian) influences. she was a pop/rock belting vocalist type. 

 

over the past few years, we've speculated that in order for a girl to win again, she would need to have extreme country, folk, and/or Christian influences and do everything possible to appeal to Minivan. Abi has completely shattered this theory.

 

of course, she was very pimped (Platinum Ticket, was given the pimp spot on multiple occasions, shout out from Billie Eillish). though that could have easily resulted in overexposure just like it has for many past TCOs.

 

so, what does this mean for the future of American Idol? will it now be easier for more diverse artists to win? as @Carrie_On mentioned last night, with both Iam and Abi winning back to back, it does feel like a new era is potentially upon us. the new judge could also play a factor in who wins next season! 

 

additionally, we haven't seen ABC Idol market a female winner since 2018 (sorry to Sam but they won during the pandemic which resulted in them being dropped pretty much immediately). Abi is also the first female pop winner since... Jordin Sparks in 2007  how do we think this might impact her post-show success? 

[mytake1]

Honestly, aside from a few soundbites, not a whole lot - unless she has a big breakout. And that would have applied to anyone who had won.

 

Since Season 12 in 2013, only Chayce has any kind of commercial success.  But he's not in the league of Kelly, Ruben, Fantasia, Carrie, Jordan, DC, Scotty, Phillip.

 

The notable successes during that period were Jax, Daniel Seavey, Gabby Barrett, Lauren Spencer Smith, Benson Boone.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 20 by mytake1

[CarmenSandiego]

I hope that a new era really is upon us.  While country singers might always do well on the ABC show, and while WGWGs will always do well also, we might have more diversity with Iam (who was a person of color) and Abi (a pop/rock singer who could belt).

[TeamAudra]

Anything can happen, but I think it will be tough sledding, based on her genre and history. It will help going in if she understands this. She should proceed as though she’s starting from scratch, because she is. 90% of her fans won’t stick around for more than a month or two. I make the same comment for all of my favorites too, so this isn’t trolling. I probably said this a dozen times in Grace West’s fan thread. Even if all of her show fans stay, it’s not enough to sustain a career. 

Edited May 20 by TeamAudra

[wildestinvegas]

as far as results goes, I have no idea LOL it’s truly a win that had no business happening when we put into perspective the demographic of the idol audience but I think it shows that country and wgwgs aren’t unbeatable. they def have an advantage and can get away with stuff that other type of contestants def can’t but if someone can outperform them on a frequent basis then that person has a chance to win. i think that’s what happened with her. and to some other extent, maddie as well. 

 

she’s def the most marketable and versatile winner idol has had in years but no one breaks out nowadays without some good investment. i just hope she gets a good team behind her because she has tons of potential. it won’t be easy because it never is. this industry is crazy. but she’s young and this is already a great first step into her career. now it’s all about hustling and finding opportunities for herself.

Edited May 20 by wildestinvegas

[CarmenSandiego]

30 minutes ago, wildestinvegas said:

as far as results goes, I have no idea LOL it’s truly a win that had no business happening when we put into perspective the demographic of the idol audience but I think it shows that country and wgwgs aren’t unbeatable. they def have an advantage and can get away with stuff that other type of contestants def can’t but if someone can outperform them on a frequent basis then that person has a chance to win. i think that’s what happened with her. and to some other extent, maddie as well. 

 

she’s def the most marketable and versatile winner idol has had in years but no one breaks out nowadays without some good investment. i just hope she gets a good team behind her because she has tons of potential. it won’t be easy because it never is. this industry is crazy. but she’s young and this is already a great first step into her career. now it’s all about hustling and finding opportunities for herself.

 

I hope that Abi gets a good team behind her as well!

[QueenKalie]

Her win I don't think means much for the future of idol. They will move onto the next season and a new crop of contestants.

[RTV]

57 minutes ago, wildestinvegas said:

it’s truly a win that had no business happening when we put into perspective the demographic of the idol audience but I think it shows that country and wgwgs aren’t unbeatable

Abi had several advantages over Will and Jack. The grand finale took place in her home state. She was the only girl left at a time when some viewers wanted a female to win. She had a sob story and was a platinum ticket winner. Additionally, she had a lot more help from TPTB than Will did. For example, a celebrity call wasn't aired for him. Will's Jon Bon Jovi clip was less favorable. His homecoming footage didn't show that he also was presented a key to the city.

 

Before the winner announcement, Ryan said "it was a very tight race, I have to tell you that." If Will had gotten the pimping Abi did last night, it's possible the outcome would've been different.

[StarWalker1]

1 hour ago, wildestinvegas said:

as far as results goes, I have no idea LOL it’s truly a win that had no business happening when we put into perspective the demographic of the idol audience but I think it shows that country and wgwgs aren’t unbeatable. they def have an advantage and can get away with stuff that other type of contestants def can’t but if someone can outperform them on a frequent basis then that person has a chance to win. i think that’s what happened with her. and to some other extent, maddie as well. 

 

she’s def the most marketable and versatile winner idol has had in years but no one breaks out nowadays without some good investment. i just hope she gets a good team behind her because she has tons of potential. it won’t be easy because it never is. this industry is crazy. but she’s young and this is already a great first step into her career. now it’s all about hustling and finding opportunities for herself.

This^

[QueenCami]

1 hour ago, wildestinvegas said:

as far as results goes, I have no idea LOL it’s truly a win that had no business happening when we put into perspective the demographic of the idol audience but I think it shows that country and wgwgs aren’t unbeatable. they def have an advantage and can get away with stuff that other type of contestants def can’t but if someone can outperform them on a frequent basis then that person has a chance to win. i think that’s what happened with her. and to some other extent, maddie as well. 

 

she’s def the most marketable and versatile winner idol has had in years but no one breaks out nowadays without some good investment. i just hope she gets a good team behind her because she has tons of potential. it won’t be easy because it never is. this industry is crazy. but she’s young and this is already a great first step into her career. now it’s all about hustling and finding opportunities for herself.

this is kind of off topic but Gabby getting third behind Maddie has always puzzled me. was she labelled a screamer by the core audience during her season?

[RTV]

19 minutes ago, QueenCami said:

this is kind of off topic but Gabby getting third behind Maddie has always puzzled me.

a few observations:

 

Maddie is from Iowa. Caleb is yet another Georgia runner-up. Gabby is from Pennsylvania.
Some country vote splitting might've hindered Caleb and Gabby, and he had the advantage of being Maddie's boyfriend.

 

Gabby didn't have great performance slots after closing the first Top 14 episode with "The Climb."
Top 14 Part 1: Maddie 10/14, Caleb 1/14, Gabby 14/14
Top 14 Part 2: Maddie 1/14, Caleb 9/14, Gabby 6/14 
Top 10: Maddie 1/10, Caleb 8/10, Gabby 6/10
Top 7: Maddie 7/7, Caleb 6/7, Gabby 2/7
Top 5: Maddie 5/10 10/10, Caleb 4/10 9/10, Gabby 2/10 6/10
Top 3: Maddie 3/9 6/9 9/9, Caleb 1/9 4/9 7/9, Gabby 2/9 5/9 8/9 

[AngelaKD]

It means the Platinum tickets are here to stay. They finally got one as winner!

[ptebwwong]

2 hours ago, RTV said:

Abi had several advantages over Will and Jack. The grand finale took place in her home state. She was the only girl left at a time when some viewers wanted a female to win. She had a sob story and was a platinum ticket winner. Additionally, she had a lot more help from TPTB than Will did. For example, a celebrity call wasn't aired for him. Will's Jon Bon Jovi clip was less favorable. His homecoming footage didn't show that he also was presented a key to the city.

 

Before the winner announcement, Ryan said "it was a very tight race, I have to tell you that." If Will had gotten the pimping Abi did last night, it's possible the outcome would've been different.

I doubt a celebrity call from Billie Eilish really helped her. I doubt many voters are going to vote just because a celebrity endorses a contestant. Back in Idol's prime, a lot of celebrities "endorsed" certain contestants. Some won & some lost. Also, I don't think many of Billie's fans are Idol voters or watchers. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the audience don't even know who she is. I think many voters had made up their minds before last night. The voters who hadn't likely voted based on last night's performances.

[KelseyW]

Can't we just be happy for Abi and this group?

 

Sheesh. 

 

So much negative vibes.

[CarmenSandiego]

27 minutes ago, KelseyW said:

Can't we just be happy for Abi and this group?

 

Sheesh. 

 

So much negative vibes.

Yeah, let’s just be happy.  I sure am!

[ptebwwong]

30 minutes ago, KelseyW said:

Can't we just be happy for Abi and this group?

 

Sheesh. 

 

So much negative vibes.

I wanted Abi to win. I've seen people online saying she won because Billie gave her a video call last night which was shown on the show & influenced the vote. Just saying I think she already had the voters & any casual voters probably voted based on last night's performances which I though she did the best at. I feel like people are not giving enough credit for her great performances & saying she won because of the Idol producers & celebrities like Billie pushing for her win.

[CarmenSandiego]

11 minutes ago, ptebwwong said:

I wanted Abi to win. I've seen people online saying she won because Billie gave her a video call last night which was shown on the show & influenced the vote. Just saying I think she already had the voters & any casual voters probably voted based on last night's performances which I though she did the best at. I feel like people are not giving enough credit for her great performances & saying she won because of the Idol producers & celebrities like Billie pushing for her win.

Agreed.  And when I write my “Why Abi Won” article, I’ll reveal all the reasons why she won fair and square (although the Idol producers pushing for her helped, she still needed to prove that they were right to push for her, and she did).

[AmericanIdolFan0310]

Idk what this means for the future. I doubt it changes anything besides maybe the stereotype of women losing to WGWG, or it being nearly impossible for women to win. Anyways, I think America got this right and I’m so happy that she won, as I believe she is so deserving of the title. Let’s just let her enjoy her win, support her, and get excited for next season!

[Carrie_On]

I hate these “what if” situations people come up with about the outcome. Abi won over Will just like Taylor won over Katharine. I don’t always agree with the outcome, but that’s the way it happened. What if Simon had quit the show before Season One even began filming like he originally intended to? Would the show have even been a success? We don’t know how these scenarios would’ve played out. Things happened the way they happened. 

[KelseyW]

Billboard put out a list of Top 50 AI alums. 

 

Happy to report Alejandro, Catie, Maddie, Iam. 

 

Haley, Kris, Archie, David Cook. 

 

And others made their ranks. 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7NamN-MzNe/?igsh=dGgzdjExNDg4M2tn

[kamil24]

It means that the next 3 winners are male.

[RTV]

6 hours ago, ptebwwong said:

I doubt a celebrity call from Billie Eilish really helped her. I doubt many voters are going to vote just because a celebrity endorses a contestant. Back in Idol's prime, a lot of celebrities "endorsed" certain contestants. Some won & some lost. Also, I don't think many of Billie's fans are Idol voters or watchers. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the audience don't even know who she is. I think many voters had made up their minds before last night. The voters who hadn't likely voted based on last night's performances.

Fans likely vote for their favorite contestant regardless of manipulation or performance quality. A contestant's advantages and pimping by TPTB mainly affect the casual viewer's votes. Those people probably noticed that Abi had Billie Eilish and Jack had Mark Cuban support but Will didn't have anybody. I agree that a celebrity endorsement is not enough to ensure victory. But that wasn't the only thing I mentioned that Abi had going for her last night, and I believe all of it together helped her win.

[NGL2008]

15 hours ago, kamil24 said:

It means that the next 3 winners are male.

Yes, I can see the campaigns now. MIMA: "Make Idol Male Again!" 

[Emmyfan]

It was plain to see they wanted Abi all along. Katy came out after the show and said so herself. So what it means is she is a pop female winner and in a few months will be begging for people to see her at mall shows.

[KelseyW]

5 minutes ago, Emmyfan said:

It was plain to see they wanted Abi all along. Katy came out after the show and said so herself. So what it means is she is a pop female winner and in a few months will be begging for people to see her at mall shows.

Oh can it.