FOX Chairman Blames 'American Idol' Decline on Lackluster Contestants
American Idol is heading into its fourteenth season in January, but looking ahead to the future doesn't mean FOX isn't throwing the past under the bus.
During the Television Critics Association's press tour in Beverly Hills on Sunday, Fox Networks Group chairman Peter Rice told reporters that while American Idol is “aging gracefully,” it has faced a steep decline in popularity not only due to competition from shows like NBC's Emmy-nominated juggernaut The Voice, but due to an overall decline in the caliber of contestants over the past two seasons.
“It’s been a very competitive year for singing shows,” said Rice. “Idol has a very committed fan base. If I had a criticism of the show, it’s that we haven’t found a group kids the last two years who really captured the imagination of the public. We talked about it this year—how do we focus on that and not get wrapped up in this constant conversation about the judges and how good they are?”
When one critic asked Rice if he thinks that perhaps there aren't any great young singers left, due to the glut of reality singing competitions having discovered them all already, Rice responded, “They’re always making more.”
Well, you heard him: get to making more talented babies, you talented couples of the world. Rice needs you to keep this Idol thing alive! He can only rehire Jennifer Lopez so many times, after all.
That said, it seems kind of weird to blame the contestants when this sort of decline happens to a show, since it was bound to happen anyway, even if every contestant was making it on the cover of Rolling Stone before the competition was even over. Hell, I'd argue that boneheaded judging, embarrassingly overt manipulation, and stale and limited song selection lists, and overall exhaustion with singing competitions in general are more culpable in the show's downfall than the contestants themselves. That's not to say that Season 9 was anything other than a debacle in the contestant department, but it's silly to blame it on the contestants themselves, since you're essentially blaming America for their choices. And this show really doesn't need to be criticizing its viewers when it's trying to stem the hemorrhaging of what few viewers it still has.
What do you think?
Via: Entertainment Weekly
Credit: FOX