American Idol Makes Changes to the Entry Rules

American Idol has announced that now you only have to be 15 years old to participate on the show. As executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz stated "A lot of young, talented people are now seeking careers and representation before they turn 16." While this helps open up the field of prospects, it appears that the show is needing to open up its fan base as well to make sure the show survives after the departure of Cowell.

With the inclusion of 15 year olds, this may influence the decision of who the new judge will be. Adam Lambert may not be the new choice. There may be a call for another option. Someone who the preteens and teens drool over right now. So maybe Justin Beiber will take the reins, or maybe Zac Effron, if he's still the subject of teenage worship when the new season starts.

While the show is trying to attract the younger audience, will this move go ahead and alienate the older crowd? While the people who make it to the finals are made up of the over twenty crowd, they may start looking for other options with this move for the younger crowd. We are already made to watch bad cruise ship talent compete to become the front person for a new cover band (at least while they perform on the show), can you imagine a 15 year old trying to capture the essence of a Sinatra song? Or someone who hasn't even had their first kiss yet trying to belt out a torch song? Or even someone that young singing a Queen song, after they are educated on who Freddie Mercury was? If there were people who had any sense of musical culture, they should be smart enough to find something of better caliber to watch at this point.

While American Idol, like any other show, needs to do the best to make sure that they have viewers, this move may be the traditional 'jumping the shark' that all shows eventually take. By this, I mean that this move may be seen as a way to save the show, but may actually spell its doom. Now, if they were able to raise the age limit to let Pants On the Ground guy perform, then I may just actually watch.

Source: usatoday.com