ABSTRACT
On March 11, 2008, American Idol revealed its new look for Season 7. Introducing the episode, Ryan Seacrest addressed the audience, “We promised you the best talent yet, and they delivered. We promised them a whole new look, and we delivered. This is American Idol.” Following Seacrest's opening remarks, a computerized American Idol logo fills the screen, spinning in gyroscopic circles. Cut to computer simulated female and male Idols walking to center stage as they breath in the scent of fame and peer out at thousands of fans who fill a grand stadium; a silhouette of Los Angeles's urban skyline appears in the distance. At center stage the female Idol victoriously raises her microphone, pointing to the sky, and the image rapidly travels upwards. As the image continues to zoom out, the Idol stage becomes more distant and is replaced by the American Idol logo. Like a symbol on a map, the logo becomes planet earth's core. The image continues to pull back, until we are given a space-eye-view of earth with “American Idol” written across the screen, bifurcating the globe (see Figure 13.1). In contrast to American Idol’s original opening sequence, which showed computer generated Idols ascending to the Idol stage, Season 7's new opening sequence, with its subtle yet significant inclusion of global imagery, articulates how American Idol centrally positions itself in relation to Idol’s global media franchise and the transnational entertainment community. 1
