witfromwhitt

The 12th season of FOX’s reality singing competition, American Idol came to an end last night after crowning 23 year old, Candice Glover as the show’s newest winner.  While Idol’s glory days ended several years ago, ratings for season twelve hit an all time low.  Once the number one show in the country, AI couldn’t even stay in the circle of top ten highest rated shows this year.  So how exactly did this happen?  As a loyal viewer since season five, here are my thoughts…  Do you remember when American Idol was a hot topic at school or work or in general?  Back when just about everyone tuned in?  Back when the contestants were on covers of magazines?  Back when DVRs weren’t around and you just didn’t miss the show?  Well, I do.  And that’s where part of the problem comes from, DVRs.  Nowadays, most people record the shows they enjoy watching and watch them later on their own time and commercial free.  And others simply watch their favorite shows at any time online.  Watching TV “LIVE” is becoming a thing of the past, and when it comes to shows like American Idol, “LIVE” viewing is the only way to go.  But aside from that, was the show even worth watching at all this year?  Well, there were about four very talented contestants who were worth tuning in to see perform, but overall the answer to that question is a negative one.  I’m not sure season twelve was as bad as the show’s horrific season nine, but at least people still watched back when season nine was on.  So what was the problem?  The judges?  Somewhat.  When adding Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler to the panel turned out to be a decent decision, I would say a lot of viewers were pleasantly surprised.  However, not many people were comfortable with this season’s panel from the get go.  Keith Urban wasn’t a bad choice, and though he probably won’t be back, he wasn’t half bad as a judge.  Everyone thought Nikki Minaj was the worst choice Idol producers could have made, but in the end, she turned out to be the most entertaining judge with the most anticipated critiques.  Mariah Carey was seen as the equivalent replacement for Jennifer Lopez, but she barely came up with anything more to say than Britney Spears did on The X Factor.  And then there’s Randy Jackson, who’s been around since the beginning but has now finally decided to leave.  Smart move, Dawg.  So no, the judges did not work this year, but that’s not what the show should be about.  And there’s another problem.  This is supposed to be a show where we watch to see undiscovered talent become superstars.  We watch to see our favorite competitors perform then vote for them to win.  The judges are just there to help us figure out how we felt/should feel about a performance.  Of course they also help us figure out how much we’re going to need to vote for contestants to keep them on the show.  Though it won’t happen, it wouldn’t hurt next season if just fairly well known record producers.  BUT NOT JIMMY IOVINE!  Still, if artists HAVE to be judges on the show, hopefully they will be artists who know what they’re talking about and are not only there for a big pay check.  The show desperately needs to be about the contestants again, and the contestants desperately need to be talented if they make it to the final rounds.  Another aspect of the show that has faded away is music themes.  Remember when there was a different theme each week and different artists relating to that theme came to mentor the contestants?  Good times.  One reason the theme weeks seem to have been eliminated is so the contestants can sing the type of songs they want to record and release when they don’t become famous.  NO!  Having themes makes it challenging, and it SHOULD be challenging.  As for another reason why the show failing overall?  The unnecessary two hour format.  Back in the day, the show would get shorter as time went by, which made the two hour finale somewhat special.  Nowadays, almost every performance show is two hours and filled with Ryan Seacrest trying to fill up time.  Two hours is a long time to sit and watch something unless it it absolutely worth watching.  On a similar note, this post is getting too long to be worth reading.  So I’ll wrap up by saying that American Idol better step it up next season.  Otherwise, I’ll only be watching The Voice.