An 'American Idol' Revival Is So Close

Things are moving fast and it appears that the rumored American Idol revival may happen at ABC. The Disney-owned network may acquire the former jewel of Fox's crown, potentially adding it to a litany of hot competition shows currently on their roster. The rumors of American Idol's revival have been swirling around for the better part of 2017. Since the show took its final bow in 2015, it was tough to believe the show was gone for good.

Now, American Idol is poised to dive back on our radar. The Hollywood Reporter's latest updated does not confirm that a deal is firmly in place between American Idol and ABC. That said, the chances of it truly coming back feel a lot stronger than those initial reports made back in February. If American Idol does come back on television and furthermore, it comes back on a network where competition shows like Dancing With The Stars and Shark Tank reign supreme, they're going to have to seriously freshen up their format to regain their footing as a popular show.

One easy change the show could make is to adopt a format similar to NBC's The Voice. Now, that certainly doesn't mean adopting swiveling chairs or formulating rounds like boxing matches. What it could look like is shortening how long it takes for the show to nail its Top 10 contestants (maybe it only takes one round of auditions and two weeks to whittle down?) or even incorporate fun surprises like The Voice's Instant Save round.

When former American Idol host Ryan Seacrest spoke about the revival with THR in 2016, he told the outlet that, "I just don't see a world where Idol doesn't resurface. We look at formats. We try to create shows. It's hard to believe that franchise doesn't resurface in some capacity, in some form, soon."

Let's hope Seacrest was feeling prescient back then because it would be nice to see this reality TV staple come back into the fold.