American Idol was one of the most high-profile entertainment shows that was shut down by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, but Apple iPhones have come to the rescue.
ABC and Fremantle have spent the last few weeks working out how to proceed with the format’s live shows… The Disney-owned network and the RTL-backed producer have now figured out a plan – scheduling four more episodes to whittle the final 20 contestants down to find a winner.
The show, hosted by Ryan Seacrest with judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie as well as mentor Bobby Bones, returns with a two-hour episode on Sunday April 26… American Idol showrunner Trish Kinane… and her team of around 45 people started putting together a plan to film the contestants in their own homes, including sending each of them lighting equipment, wardrobe and the latest iPhones so that they can film it themselves.
“These are kids who are really used to iPhone technology, they are really familiar with it and use it every day. In the end, we decided rather than send them some complicated camera that you really need a camera operator to use, we would go with the the technology that they’re familiar with. These top of the range iPhones are amazing. It wouldn’t surprise me if we were using iPhones in the studio in the future,” she said.
Mills added that ABC was working hand-in-hand with Apple.
MacDailyNews Take: American Idol’s performance segments will be shot with iPhone 11 Pro or even iPhone 11 Pro Max units, we assume which is certainly a nice promotion for the best smartphone video camera by far!