Saving 'American Idol'

This season's judges and Ryan Seacrest | Photo: JustJared

I was reading an article in the latest Entertainment Weekly by Dalton Ross entitled "How to Save 'American Idol' (Someone Has To!)" and was led to write a response - of sorts - to it.

In the article, Ross addresses the obvious problem of declining ratings for the show. I definitely agree with him that the rest of the judging panel - Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey - should all be cut and a fresh panel be brought in (any votes for MEEEEE?!?) 

This year's panel had the most interesting dynamics of any judging panel on the show. I mean, you had Nicki and Mariah rolling their eyes and clawing at each other, Keith Urban's hair swaying back and forth (wonder how many chairs he broke from leaning back in them too much) and Randy Jackson overusing "Yo" and the infamous "In it to win it."

That being said, Fox shouldn't just cancel Idol altogether as Ross suggests. The show is a huge cash cow for Fox. In fact, Idol still ranks at or near the top in ad revenue. Lynn Elber of the Associated Press points out that Idol raked in an industry-leading $836 million in ad revenue during its 2011-12 season - which was still a down year in viewer ratings for the show. In other words, Idol is still a valuable show to Fox despite its ho-hum ratings performance.

One suggestion Ross makes is for Fox to cancel Simon Cowell's The X-Factor instead on the grounds that there's basically singing competition overload and the network should give all of its attention to just one show - in this case Idol. 

Although it's nice to watch The X-Factor when I have Idol withdrawals, I do see this as a more viable option for the network. It could, perhaps, allow for The X-Factor to move to another network and for Fox to pour more of its heart and soul into Idol as it once did.

Ross also calls for Idol to follow in the footsteps of So You Think You Can Dance and, most recently, Dancing With The Stars and drop its results shows. Yes sometimes the group numbers and Ford product placement packages on Idol can get cheesy and boring but I like the suspense factor you get with the shows. 

I know I wouldn't like the idea of Idol announcing its latest eliminated finalist on the following week's show, right before the performances. In my opinion, that's really stupid. I guess I'm a stickler for the performances and then the classic results shows the night after. Maybe Idol results shows can be cut to just a half-hour? That would lend itself to less (if any) cheesy group performances, etc.

Ross makes one final - and very intriguing I might add - suggestion for the show: a "Fans vs. Favorites" concept. The format, according to Ross, would be to still hold auditions but only seek out the best six or so "new contestants" to be matched up against past Idol alums who were voted off (Ross suggests Tamyra Gray, Melinda Doolittle and David Archuleta for example). 

This would be an interesting concept. However, would any of the "favorites" agree to do it? Would the selected "favorites" be popular enough for viewers to tune in? It's a great idea but leaves room for a lot of questions.

I'll always be an Idol fan. It's the show that started it all. Sorry but The Voice and others (yes even The X-Factor) don't come close the what Idol is. Not to mention, winners on The Voice and The X-Factor - the U.S. version - have gone on to do little to nothing after leaving, as opposed to Idol (although The X-Factor's Tate Stevens looks promising). 

For now, it's all just a waiting game.