‘Idol’ minds should ponder tweaks for next year

For a show that still dominates the ratings, "American Idol" has attracted a lot of speculation that it's already on the road to ruin.

2007 was definitely a down year for "Idol," lacking the star power of previous campaigns. But don't read too much into that. "Idol" is very good at spotting weaknesses and modifying its format accordingly to avoid any significant dropoff the following year.

The last time the naysayers were this vocal came after the third season, where the talent pool was widely seen as being at an all-time low. Winner Fantasia Barrino used the competition as a springboard to a strong career in entertainment, and Jennifer Hudson eventually parlayed her "Idol" appearance into an Oscar for "Dreamgirls," but it lacked the overall talent and interest level of other seasons.

"Idol" responded to that challenge with several changes to the format, one of which increased the age limit for contestants to 28. That alone helped raise the talent pool, and it showed that those associated with the show aren't afraid to shake things up.

More tweaking is likely to take place before the next season begins in January.

Younger is better
Season six didn't boast the most dynamic group of finalists ever, nor did it have a wide variety of musical styles. However, this is one season where America can't be blamed for voting for the wrong people. The judges simply did a poor job of selecting the 24 semifinalists.

It was obvious during the selection process that the show had a certain set of criteria in mind. Contestants were older which resulted in hopefuls who were more technically proficient than previous seasons, but less compelling to voters.

Slide show   ‘Idol’ crowns a champ “American Idol” Jordin Sparks and some of the singers she bested along the way in season six.

No 16-year-olds made it out of Hollywood, and the only teens to make the semis were Jordin Sparks, Sanjaya Malakar and Stephanie Edwards.

Jordin won the whole thing, while Sanjaya served as the season's most memorable contestant. Other younger contestants might have had similar impact, but never got the chance.

When there are too many young performers, the show takes on the look and feel of a high-school talent show. But the pendulum swung too far in the direction of the veterans this season.

Go country
Much like the third season, most memorable for the "three divas" (Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson and LaToya London), season six was focused on one genre. Jordin, Melinda Doolittle and LaKisha Jones were all most comfortable singing R&B tunes.

That's fine as far as it goes, but the lack of a true country singer among the 24 semifinalists was a curious omission. Carrie Underwood was the season four champion, while Kellie Pickler was among the most memorable of last year's group of finalists.

It's understandable if the judges and producers feared that picking another blonde small-town girl would make the show seem too predictable. But sometimes demographics have to be taken into account. When picking the best 24 singers from a group of 100,000 auditioners, the shades of difference between the top contenders can be minuscule. Why not make an effort to get a wider cross-section of styles, to give the voters more options?

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