Is it just me or has American Idol lost its edge?
Clearly, the number do not indicate a fall from grace for reality television’s biggest program. To be honest, there is a parallel between Idol and Survivor (my personal favorite show). The fact of the matter is that Idol will never lose its base audience. It doesn’t matter what the contestants are like, who the judges are, or what network the show airs on. The people that have followed Idol for this long are not going anywhere. In that respect, it’s almost like wrestling. Save for the Monday Night Wars a couple of weeks ago (which was an extraordinary night), the people watching wrestling now will always continue to watch it, regardless of how bad the program becomes.
Don’t get me wrong. There is still massive buzz about the show. #PantsOnTheGround was the trending topic on twitter for almost the entire evening after last night’s show in reference to some 62-year old delusional man’s performance. People talk about who Simon Cowell’s replacement will be almost as much as what will happen with the Leno/Conan saga (ps. Cowell will be replaced by either Ryan Seacrest, Clive Davis, or Elton John… although my thinking is that he will just come back when he sees the money). The point, however, is that the singing has almost become an afterthought to the spectacle of the program. I mean can you even tell me the name of one of the singers who made it to Hollywood last night? But as soon as I said #PantsOnTheGround you knew exactly what I was talking about right?
What does it say about the show when more people are concerned with what will happen post-Cowell than focusing on the show actually producing mainstream talent?
The weird thing is that I actually enjoy the minimal focus now placed on the singing. I enjoy the drama of Ellen joining the show, or the terrible lack of criticism offered by Posh Spice. I am more interested in the bad auditions than the good ones.
Does that still qualify me as a fan of the show?
