Celebrity Idol, et al.

A couple of spin-offs are in the works for American Idol. First up is idolunderground.com which is the first website that has licensed the American Idol brand. Musicians of different genres (and caliber) will need to fork up $50 to upload a song which will be voted upon by Internet listeners. According to E-online:

American Idol Underground guarantees at least 200 spins per song and listeners will be given the opportunity to vote on each track on a 1 to 10 scale. The better the song, the more it will be played. At the end of every six months, the top-rated tunes from each month in each genre will go before a panel of celebrity experts who will decide the winner in each category.

The other big news is Celebrity Idol which has not been signed on yet, but Fox is already sending press releases for. It will pit 10 celebrities who can sing, but not necessarily known for singing. Simon, Paula, Randy and Ryan are planned to be on board, and it will run for about three weeks. The celebs will compete for charity. The best news for me is that it could start as early as Fall, so I'm hoping it happens.