Ignore the part about "most talented singer" and just look at the numbers.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/American-Idol-Jessica-Sanchez-Pay-Cut-1048233.aspx

You can understand why the backers would be getting a little sick of throwing money after slow-selling releases, but to bring Jessica down to that level of paycheck is insulting. After all, given the praise thrown at her during the season, they're offending the single most gifted performer in the history of civilization! Either that or they're getting that worthy on the ultra-cheap. And will lock her up at that rate for ten years or so, then pretend not to understand why she'd want to switch companies when her contract expires.

They're funny that way.

Depending on the wording, Jessica may have a Get Out Of Svck Free card waiting when she turns eighteen.

• RE: Idol gets cheaper.,agman, 11:06 AM, 05-30-12
• RE: Idol gets cheaper.,byoffer, 12:08 PM, 05-30-12
  • RE: Idol gets cheaper.,Estee, 10:54 PM, 05-30-12

It would seem Idol and Facebook may be headed in the same direction!

Interesting. I am curious, do these people get paid for being on the show? (i.e. is this discussion just the contracts for after the show?) If this is total comp then insanely small payout for all they go through and compared to, say, Survivor.

On Survivor we know the winner gets $1M and second place gets $100K (and they grade down from there). TAR winners split $1M, and there are lots of stage win prizes ($3K+ per ep?), but what do the other ranking teams get?

Anyone have data on other shows?

I had always assumed that all these shows paid some sort of minimum amount per episode while someone stays alive in the game.

Some. The main element for contestant income is 'make the tour'. According to the last data we had, they receive about $1k to $1500 per week of on-show performance. (No idea on the Ford commercials, which may collect some form of scale.) But going on the summer tour is generally valued around 300k.

The music contracts -- are music contracts. Read 'oppressive, dignity-stealing, and paying for the honor of your own sabotage'. You're not necessarily lucky not to wind up broke, but it takes a small sales miracle to funnel any real cash into your own pocket.