Author: Shirley Halperin

Newcomers to the awards season scene, the Guild of Music Supervisors held its third annual awards on Wednesday night at Los Angeles’ London Hotel, handing out trophies in 12 categories in film, television, games, trailers and advertising.

Of the movie winners, Argo, Django Unchained, Pitch Perfect and Magic Mike each got nods for best music supervision in a trailer, among studio films over $25 million, under $25 million and independent films, respectively. On the TV side, HBO’s Girls and Game Change as well as AMC’s Breaking Bad were recognized. Fox’s American Idol , a perennial nominee at the Emmy Awards, also took home honors.

PHOTOS: Grammys 2013: Inside the Industry’s Biggest Bashes

Said Guild president and co-founder Maureen Crowe: “Along with their other creative peers like art directors and costume designers, these music supervisors design the musical landscape that supports the characters, tone and story.”

On hand to celebrate the achievements were KCRW’s Jason Bentley, veteran music supervisors Alex Pastavas and Gary Calamar and X Factor season one finalist Josh Krajcik. 

See the full list of winners below:

Best Music Supervision – Scripted Comedy/Musical (Television)
Manish Raval and Tom Wolfe – Girls

Best Music Supervision in Games
Alex Hackford – Sound Shapes

Best Music Supervision in Advertising
JT Griffith – “Nike”

Best Music Supervision – Independent Films
Frankie Pine – Magic Mike

Best Music Supervision – Reality (Television)
Robin Kaye – American Idol

Best Music Supervision – Scripted Drama (Television)
Thomas Golubic – Breaking Bad

Best Music Supervision – Studio Films Over $25 Million 
Mary Ramos – Django Unchained

Best Music Supervision – Long Form (Television Movies and Mini-Series)
Evyen Klean and Deva Anderson – Game Change

Best Music Supervision in Trailers
Angel Mendoza – Argo

Best Television Studio Music Department
NBC Universal

Best Music Supervision – Studio Films Under $25 Million
Julianne Jordan and Julia Michels – Pitch Perfect

Best Film Studio Music Department
Universal Pictures

Twitter: @THRMusic

“Authentic” — that’s how Fox brass are referring to the diva standoff that’s transpired on the season 12 premiere of American Idol.

“Clearly the dynamic is authentic,” Fox president of alternative programming Mike Darnell tells The Hollywood Reporter. “That’s the best way I can say it, and it gets even more, er, authentic next week in Charlotte.”

Indeed, the addition of music stars Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj had the web buzzing on premiere night, as loyalists delighted in the much-missed action this new panel — which also includes rookie Keith Urban and veteran Randy Jackson — seems ready to provide. The ratings, however, told a different story. Down 19 percent from the previous season, the showing was in line with recent trends, but that doesn’t make it sting any less.

PHOTOS: ‘American Idol’ Season 12: Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj Search for a Winner

Still, says Darnell, who only slept for an hour on Wednesday night, “we’re relieved. Look, the deficit of these shows right now is that there’s too many of them and they’re hurting each other.” And let’s face it, 17.9 million viewers is nothing to sneeze at.

One thing Idol has in its pocket, however, is word-of-mouth — the kind of water-cooler chatter that advertising and talk-show appearances can’t necessarily buy. “I think I’ve got a very entertaining panel, and a lot of people don’t know what to think until they come in,” says Darnell. “We beat everybody last night, and we’re way ahead of The Voice. It’s by far the biggest reality show, [and] I feel like there’s a real shot at closing that deficit over the next few weeks.”

Perhaps the greatest point of pride for Darnell, the Fox executive who first gave Idol the green light: that the judges are “not mean,” he says. “It’s still funny and still plays. There’s just a sense of sort of honesty and a lack of holding back, and that’s what people want to see. They want passionate judges with a raw way of speaking. Unfortunately, I think a lot of the judges on all these shows are worried about their image too much instead of what they should be worrying about: if people like them as a good judge. I always say that about Gordon [Ramsay] and Simon [Cowell] — these are tough guys, but people love them, and I think people love them because they’re real.”

PHOTOS: The New Season of ‘American Idol’: Will It Work?

In fact, adds Darnell, the buzz of season 12’s opening night harkened back to memories of Idol’s best yesteryear. “There certainly were days when there was talk about the dynamic between Paula [Abdul] and Simon,” he said, making the comparison to the current season. “They really had their moments, I think people forget that. You might remember the season when they kissed — we did that because their dynamic was so divisive of that that it made for a very funny bit. So [season 12] reminds me of when the panel was at its peak and Simon was there and there were disagreements all the time. I think we’ve sort of brought back that magic.”

As for where the show goes from here, Darnell promises “huge characters with huge stories. … It’s going to feel very new to people once you get to Hollywood Week. The split between boys and girls makes it a little more intense and much easier, if you will, to focus on the big stars.”

Of course, we had to ask: Is the network worried about the judges once the show gets into live episodes — say, one of the panelists deciding to storm off set? Says Darnell: “Too much passion does not worry me. That’s never going to be one of my problems.”

Twitter: @shirleyhalperin

“Authentic” — that’s how Fox brass are referring to the diva standoff that’s transpired on the season 12 premiere of American Idol.

“Clearly the dynamic is authentic,” Fox president of alternative programming Mike Darnell tells The Hollywood Reporter. “That’s the best way I can say it, and it gets even more, er, authentic next week in Charlotte.”

Indeed, the addition of music stars Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj had the web buzzing on premiere night, as loyalists delighted in the much-missed action this new panel — which also includes rookie Keith Urban and veteran Randy Jackson — seems ready to provide. The ratings, however, told a different story. Down 19 percent from the previous season, the showing was in line with recent trends, but that doesn’t make it sting any less.

PHOTOS: ‘American Idol’ Season 12: Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj Search for a Winner

Still, says Darnell, who only slept for an hour on Wednesday night, “we’re relieved. Look, the deficit of these shows right now is that there’s too many of them and they’re hurting each other.” And let’s face it, 17.9 million viewers is nothing to sneeze at.

One thing Idol has in its pocket, however, is word-of-mouth — the kind of water-cooler chatter that advertising and talk-show appearances can’t necessarily buy. “I think I’ve got a very entertaining panel, and a lot of people don’t know what to think until they come in,” says Darnell. “We beat everybody last night, and we’re way ahead of The Voice. It’s by far the biggest reality show, [and] I feel like there’s a real shot at closing that deficit over the next few weeks.”

Perhaps the greatest point of pride for Darnell, the Fox executive who first gave Idol the green light: that the judges are “not mean,” he says. “It’s still funny and still plays. There’s just a sense of sort of honesty and a lack of holding back, and that’s what people want to see. They want passionate judges with a raw way of speaking. Unfortunately, I think a lot of the judges on all these shows are worried about their image too much instead of what they should be worrying about: if people like them as a good judge. I always say that about Gordon [Ramsay] and Simon [Cowell] — these are tough guys, but people love them, and I think people love them because they’re real.”

PHOTOS: The New Season of ‘American Idol’: Will It Work?

In fact, adds Darnell, the buzz of season 12’s opening night harkened back to memories of Idol’s best yesteryear. “There certainly were days when there was talk about the dynamic between Paula [Abdul] and Simon,” he said, making the comparison to the current season. “They really had their moments, I think people forget that. You might remember the season when they kissed — we did that because their dynamic was so divisive of that that it made for a very funny bit. So [season 12] reminds me of when the panel was at its peak and Simon was there and there were disagreements all the time. I think we’ve sort of brought back that magic.”

As for where the show goes from here, Darnell promises “huge characters with huge stories. … It’s going to feel very new to people once you get to Hollywood Week. The split between boys and girls makes it a little more intense and much easier, if you will, to focus on the big stars.”

Of course, we had to ask: Is the network worried about the judges once the show gets into live episodes — say, one of the panelists deciding to storm off set? Says Darnell: “Too much passion does not worry me. That’s never going to be one of my problems.”

Twitter: @shirleyhalperin