American Idol: The End of an Era

There is a famous saying “old is gold”. It refers to things that are past their prime time of glory and still are the best compared to anything that is new until the time that they completely disappear into oblivion. More often than not, people will agree that the new things are far far better than the old ones. In fact, except for things like antiques and grandparents, this saying cannot be applied to a lot of things without misleading being involved. American Idol is no different. There was time barely 3 or 4 years ago that American Idol was the most watched and loved music show in the world. That however was simply because it had no solid competitors. Now, with new shows that offer a more exciting and promising outcome and performance, American Idol’s viewers have dropped by 6%. Another reason for the drop in the viewing could be the innovativeness of the new shows such as the Voice which has blind auditions that doesn’t allow appearance to be part of the judgement made by the four celebrity judges, a judging method that is entirely appropriate for a show that chooses it participants based on their voices. The exit of Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul didn’t do much to the show except ruin it a little more. With Simon’s blunt and often controversial criticisms, insults and wisecracks about the contestants MIA; along with Paula’s sympathy and compassion, the audience missed hearing about their differences which had often resulted in extremely heated on-air exchanges and confrontations. The new shows such as X Factor offered the return of these two highly acclaimed judges on the same panel and thus resulted in the viewing of the show to increase by 4%. This however was not the only thing Idol lacked in comparison to the new music shows today. The episodes of Idol were monotonous and the way things were done were predictable, even if not inter-episode but definitely inter-season. For the impatient audience that we are, this repeat is not wholly welcome. Like a bunch of little girls the ‘glitz and glamour’ offered by shows like the Voice and the new shows on MTV and VH1 are also things that attract us towards them. Admittedly there are times when you miss the old school stuff and that’s something that can’t be offered by anything new, hence the term ‘old’. Then, it’s American Idol all the way. In the end of the day however, the conclusion can’t be termed surprising. People enter, have their time in the spotlight and then exit; making way for new people to replace them. And just like it is with the participants in them, it is with the shows themselves.