‘American Idol’ has begun its decline

The top 24 didn’t give America much more to be excited about. In fact, about six million viewers who watched last Wednesday cared so little about which four people went home first that they didn’t bother to tune in Thursday, giving “Idol” its lowest ratings yet for the season. Again, to be fair, 24.2 million people watched and the show easily destroyed its competition. Those are great numbers, but for “American Idol,” they’re weak. Perhaps most tellingly, “Grey’s Anatomy” drew more viewers when it aired later that night.

Last season, Paula Abdul’s unpredictable behavior at the judges’ table gave the country something to tune in for. After she gave a series of televised interviews while slurring her words and swaying at the beginning of this season, she seemed on track to top herself.

Instead, she’s been relatively normal, praising the singers for things that have nothing to do with their singing and hitting Simon Cowell whenever he says something mean. While both she and Randy have been more honest this year, they’re still overshadowed by Simon Cowell’s blisteringly blunt assessments. Most of the time, the judges seem as bored as we are.

Other signs, too, point toward the series’ slipping appeal. A Billboard analyst predicts that Taylor Hicks’ poorly performing album may be the first winner’s album to not sell 1 million copies. Season-five winner Taylor’s first single debuted last summer with respectable numbers, but compared to other “Idol” winners and runners-up, his first-week single sales were easily beaten by Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard, and Kelly Clarkson.

Someone who lost to Taylor, Chris Daughtry, is topping the charts, and has almost sold 2 million copies of his album. While he (and Carrie Underwood, and others) prove that Idols can still sell records, what’s the point of a talent competition where the losers are better than the winners?

Part of the show’s  contract with viewers is that the show is a legitimate “idol”-maker, even if the show’s contract also makes viewers responsible for the outcome. Without winners who succeed, the show’s title will become as irrelevant as that of “America’s Next Top Model,” which produces engaging drama but has yet to produce an actual top model. If “Idol” can’t bring the drama, which it certainly isn’t doing this year, then FOX better start selecting a nice tombstone, or at least looking for a replacement.

“American Idol” is, of course, far from a failure. It produced an Oscar winner, several Grammys, some CMA awards, hundreds of hours of entertainment, and literally billions of dollars. The show and its cast have also offered enough material to flood radio waves, magazine pages, web sites, cable news shows, message boards, and books with news, gossip, and endless discussion year-round, even when the show is off the air.

Every season, FOX network executives — and executives at other networks — wait to see if the viewership will continue to increase. “American Idol” has defied the odds so far, growing from year to year.

Plenty of other shows, reality and otherwise, start on top and then slide to a comfortable position; they’re watched by a solid group of viewers and are occasionally talked about on a national level. But they are no longer phenomenons. That is now “American Idol”’s destiny.

Andy Dehnart is a writer and teacher who publishes reality blurred, a daily summary of reality TV news.

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