"The Next Great American Band" will premiere on FOX this October. The show will be similar to "American Idol," except with bands instead of solo singers. One other difference is that the bands will be allowed to play original material if they so choose.
The show will debut on Friday, October 19th at 8:00 PM, and air every Friday at that same time. Judges have not yet been announced.
There's a big problem with the show, besides the fact that it's at 8:00 PM on a Friday and no one between the ages of 18 and 35 will watch. Bands will be able to play any type of music. The bands that have already auditioned range from rap to country. How do you judge between a band playing rap and a band playing country? It just comes down to personal preference. With "American Idol," all of the contestants are somewhat similar, and you can judge on things like pitch, tone, etc. Maybe they'll eventually make every band play a different genre each week, but still, each band will have their skills and flaws. Plus, with bands, there are a lot of intangibles that can't be judged. And what about the bands playing original material? What's going to make the people who vote for this show happier, an amazing original song or half-assed Journey cover? Yeah. If you're hoping for a special band to emerge from this contest, you probably shouldn't hold your breath. They should make a successful band play under a pseudonym, just to see if the American public chooses them. It would be an interesting sociological experiment to watch a fake-bearded Interpol lose by 100,000 votes to some Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band from Mobile.
