Good singers make for a dull season of ‘Idol’

"American Idol" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe isn't buying the criticism. He says the talent this year has been "phenomenal" and he expects the David vs. David finale will be the "humdinger" that judge Cowell colorfully predicted last week.

The audience for "American Idol" has dropped by about 8 percent from the nearly 31 million viewers who watched last year. But there's been a general erosion in TV viewership, partly blamed on the writer's strike, with the big four networks drawing about 9 percent fewer viewers in April and May so far than during the same period last year. "Idol" has withstood the downturn better than many other hit series, such as "Grey's Anatomy," down about 20 percent.

Lythgoe dismissed the contention that viewers weren't allowed to get up close and personal with contestants.

Take runner-up Syesha Mercado: "We know that her father had drug and alcohol issues. We know what she was experiencing. After that, there are personal (boundaries)."

Lythgoe maintains that even before Sanjaya Malakar became a topic of discussion, he and fellow producers realized the show was "losing focus" and needed to give precedence to the contest and follow-ups on past finalists like Barrino and Clay Aiken.

"It's not about the judges, the mentors, anybody with a record coming out," he said.

Wrong song choices
For a show that makes an art of product placement, however, an old artist with a new CD to promote still represents a viable commodity. Neil Diamond was among this year's fusty but famous visitors, graciously offering advice to contestants (some of whom proceeded to mangle his work anyway).

Bruce Flohr, a former record company executive now with Red Light Management, is an "Idol" admirer but said the show has to do a better job of weeding out lesser singers who make it too easy to guess who will make it through to the end.

"Part of the problem is people are starting to use the show as a vehicle to stardom, whether they truly want to sing or not," he said.

Interactive Simon says Sometimes the best part of “American Idol” is the latest sly comment from acerbic judge Simon Cowell. Here are some of our favorites from this season.

Newer artists and music also would help freshen the formula, Flohr suggested.

Absolutely, said Della Terza of votefortheworst, who questions how asking contestants to sing songs from the 1960s or '70s can translate into "a current marketable recording artist."

"This year overdid it with old songs and barely let the contestants sing anything that they would actually put on a record," he said.

Producer Lythgoe responds that finding a young artist with an impressive enough body of work to be covered by a dozen contestants is no easy task. Besides challenging the young singers — which he says makes for compelling TV — the classics remain worthy, he adds.

"You can't beat Stevie Wonder. Look at that catalog," Lythgoe said. "And history teaches us so much."

Ratings slide
But the show can't ignore one particularly ominous ratings sign, although Lythgoe contends it's cyclical and reversible: The median age of an "American Idol" viewer, once in the mid-30s, is now up to 42 as viewership by teenagers and women age 18 to 34 has dropped.

One beneficiary of the "Idol" machine, Hicks, remains upbeat about it. He's headed to Broadway to join the cast of "Grease" next month.

"The idea and the dream is still alive in that show," Hicks said. "American Idol" has the ability to "cultivate a talent to put them on their way to becoming a great entertainer and a great performer, a musician, actor, whatever."

Bob Lefsetz isn't buying it. The music industry analyst says flatly that "the bloom is off the rose" after so many years.

"Even if the new Aretha Franklin came on," he said, "people would say, `Seen it. I'm going to watch something on YouTube.'"

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