No One Cares About American Idol Anymore

4.23K

Anonymous

07/18/13 02:57PM

Filed to: American Idol

No one wants to watch American Idol anymore.

No one wants to host American Idol anymore.

No one wants to play new American Idol winners on the radio anymore.

No one wants to see American Idol concerts anymore.

No one wants to nominate American Idol for Emmy Awards anymore.

And now, no one even wants to try out for American Idol anymore.

It's true. The San Jose Mercury News observes that even the sad souls who used to line up by the thousands in the hopes of an audition, won’t even show up these days. According to the paper, Tuesday’s San Francisco tryouts had a poor showing, and “several long rows of metal barricades set up in anticipation of a massive turnout were all for naught.” People would rather busk in the subway or try out for The Voice than be caught dead behind Idol’s empty barricades.

Is it because we’ve grown tired of the Idol format? Is it because Blake Shelton and Adam Levine are nicer to look at than whomever the Idol producers decide to randomly drag in as a judge each season? Or is it because, most likely, that all the fun left Idol when it became clear that a whole generation of singers had been raised on these shows, ultimately being groomed from a young age to win? Gone are the random, awkward, and cringeworthy John Stevenses. It’s just a bunch of baby robots and even the worst of the worst can sort of dance. They're all so polished now, so blah, so over. Without the real possibility that a guy like Kevin Covais could win—something people used to worry about greatly—what's left to hope for?

[Image via Getty]

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2

Kat Lacey Donohue 07/18/13 03:15PM

The format is stale. The judges are often more annoying than helpful or at least entertaining. The contestants, as you said, aren't interesting anymore. Winning the show isn't as prestigious as it used to be. Til this day, you can still argue that only Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood have "made it big". (Note: I know there are other successful Idol contestants and winners, but those two are the household names and have the proven sales, recognition, and longevity.) It's also just a more saturated market with newer and shinier (and with more attractive and contemporary judges) shows.

I've been watching the show faithfully since Season 1 and it's been disappointing to see it fall like this. However, I'm optimistic since they're revamping the entire panel of judges and are replacing the executive producers. Maybe this will finally mean a better show, better contestants, and better success for its winners.

Oh, one more thing. They need to sing songs that are not at least 15 years old.

GrowlrBear Kat 07/19/13 01:46PM

1000% agreed. Last season was just...so...fucking...boring.

Randy mostly repeated YO DAWG and THAT WAS MAD PITCHY, YO! several hundred times per episode. That shit got tired before the second season was over.

Mariah and Nicki tried so hard to make the show all about themselves, and ended up ripping off Paula Abdul's shtick. Mariah would ramble on in a soft, soothing voice and spew a lot of nice but useless comments, while Nicki would go off on batshit crazy tangents fueled by too much medication (or a lack of it).

Keith Urban seemed nice, but he was as boring as his songs. The worst part about having him as a judge were all the contestants that sang his boring-ass songs in a lame attempt to kiss his ass.

As for Miss Seacrest? Every time I see his smarmy grin, I want to bitch-slap the living shit out of him.

Finally, this year's batch of contests were either bland, couldn't sing, or both. At least the newest winner can sing, but the majority of the contestants picked shitty or overused songs (I like Whitney, but pick something not on The Bodyguard soundtrack, for fuck's sake) and sang them with as much enthusiasm as someone waiting to get their uterus scraped by their OB/GYN.

1

CTButterfly Lacey Donohue 07/18/13 05:52PM

The manipulation to get a female winner was so obvious this year it was ridiculous which, I think, would have an effect on at least some of the viewers and their choice to continue watching. Also, as a previous commenter noted, the songs they have the contestants sing are far too old and have been for long enough to throw the voter age demographic way out of whack. It seems that radio has made the choice to spin new artists who come out of the gate singing new songs over ones who came from a karaoke show along with Idols not bringing the 13-16 year old demographic in. Contestants from The Voice, AGT & U.S. X-Factor are not seeing radio play either. I think all the talent contest shows have jumped the shark at this point.

theobserving Lacey Donohue 07/19/13 12:04PM

Hopefully, people are done with screechy vocals for the sake of vocals crap and are interested in hearing decent singing that isn't just about showing off.

superuber Lacey Donohue 07/19/13 10:22AM

I just can't handle the whole episodes devoted to being mean to the people that suck. Sprinkle that in here and there sure but it come off mean-spirited and lame. The Voice does not focus on that.