So, are you watching?

I have to admit that American Idol lost it’s appeal for me several seasons ago – and it looks like I’m not the only one! It doesn’t help that it comes on the same time as other shows that I love ever so much more then Idol. Like The Biggest Loser.

Anyway, like I said, it seems like I’m not the only one who’s grown tired of the same ole same ole. On Tuesday night, Idol premiered with it’s lowest numbers to date, even though it still took it’s timeslot. Maybe people have just gotten lives, or something. Or maybe, just maybe, they still spend too much time on all of the William Hungs, and leave us hanging, wanting more of the Jordan Sparks.

Or we’re just bored of the whole concept. After all – none of the American Idol Winners have really done ANYTHING fantastic. They put out an album, it gets mediocre reviews and sales, and then they start to drop like flies, ala Ruben Studdard, Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee who were all recently dropped from their labels due to low sales. Often the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place winners do better, but even then they tend to fall by the wayside soon enough. For singers chosen by America’s Popular Vote, it would seem that we don’t know what we want, and we the people just don’t like to face that kinda pressure.

There are exceptions to the rule, of course, and a couple of stars have done remarkably well – namely Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry, and now Daughtry has come out to talk against the show that gave him his start. As he recently told Rolling Stone, American Idol is starting to lose it’s luster.

“It’s in a state of decline and if they don’t do something about it, it’s probably not gonna last too much longer. I’m sure that’ll be used against me, but that’s the truth, you know?”
[…]
Daughtry blames the show’s woes partially on its emphasis on untalented singers. “People get tired of seeing people that suck,” he says. “It’s funny at first, but come on. They spend three weeks on people that can’t sing, and that’s what they’re banking it on. [They should] find some people that you can really invest in.”

Though the show is slated to make some minor adjustments this year – allowing contestants to play instruments in early rounds, and de-emphasizing the celebrity judges to give more indepth contestant views – I’m not sure at all it’ll be enough to save the franchise. What do you think? Are you watching? Do tell!