I get sucked into everything Bravo TV, and the summer's new show "Platinum Hit" was no exception.

I. Loved. This. Show.

I'm worried I might have been in quite the minority on that, though. The show premiered on Monday night, and partway through the season was moved to 8 p.m. Fridays. The Friday night timeslot traditionally isn't the most desired - although, I'm sure in the time of DVR that makes a little less of a difference.

"Platinum Hit" is a songwriting competition, with 12 people vying to write the next platinum hit. Each week the contestants wrote a hook (chorus) in a specific genre or on a specific topic. Judges would select the top hooks, and winners would pick teams schoolyard style to turn the winning hooks into full songs. After sometimes-intense songwriting sessions, the contestants perform their songs for the judges, who then select a winning song and a losing song. And in true contest-show style, one member of the losing team goes home. The show ended Friday night, and I'm thrilled with the winning songwriter, who is so incredibly lyrically talented. 

What made this show different than "American Idol"? (Yes, both feature Kara DioGuardi as a judge.) "Platinum Hit" is all about the writing and much less about the performing - and that's what I found so interesting about it. Watching the whole songwriting process was pretty fascinating, as the contestants would focus on the tiniest details with words and pitch and notes, writing and writing and rewriting. I never really thought much about what makes a song a hit song, but I could usually tell what was good and what was bad. Hearing the feedback from the judges helped me understand why what I was hearing was good or bad. The judges often had suggestions for ways lyrics or melody could be written better. I often watched the judges' comments thinking, "Oooooh, right!" I loved a lot of the music that came out of the show and experiencing hit songs from behind the performance.

I have a feeling this is going to be one of the one season-and-done shows. Most of Bravo's shows focus on a group of people, following them from one season to the next. Will "Platinum Hit" be the next "Top Chef"? Unfortunately, I don't think so. I think people care more about watching food made than watching songs be written. It was a good show to have on the DVR all summer, and I'll be disappointed if it doesn't come back next year.

View a video of a sneak peek of the season here:


If you don't mind the season being spoiled, check out the full performance of the winning hit below:



-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl