Has American Idol Lost Its Appeal?

Many people are asking has American Idol lost its appeal. I know for me and for many others it undeniably has. I just read an article at the Santa Monica Mirror Online that talks about this. The article states that the show may have become too interested in turning out viable stars. This made for a boring and safe season. I have watched very few episodes of American Idol since season five. There are several reasons but one is that the show in season six and seven has seemed very boring.

But the number one reason why I have given up on American Idol is the way they treat people, even the winners and us the viewing public. American Idol has been biting the hands that feed them. The viewing public is the one who actually keeps the show up and running and to say and do things that turns us away is by far the craziest thing a show could do.

As a supporter of season five winner Taylor Hicks, American Idol, namely Simon Cowell has many times told me and other Taylor Hicks fans that are opinion does not matter to them.

It started in season six when during tryouts Simon Cowell told someone who was chewing gum to stick it on Taylor's face. I was shocked and outraged. Simon Cowell may have thought this was funny but even non Taylor Hicks fans knew that comment was completely uncalled for.

Then to top it off Taylor's picture was not even front and center on the backdrop like all previous seasons winners were. The year Carrie Underwood won Fantasias picture was front and center, then season five Carrie Underwood's was front and center. Season 6 and Season 7, Taylor's picture has been off in the far corner.

Simon has stated numerous times that America got it wrong when we chose Taylor Hicks has OUR American Idol. That really pisses me off to no end. Who is Simon Cowell to say we got it wrong? Did he watch the same show we watched? Season five was filled with loads of talent. The entire top 11 was great. I am a huge Bucky Covington fan and Kellie Pickler but Taylor Hicks out shined every one in season five. Taylor had the voice, stage presence, likeability factor, charisma, you name it and Taylor Hicks had it and still has it. I know what I like, I voted for what I liked. We did not get it wrong.

Now you would think by season seven American Idol would be done with finding ways to dismiss Taylor Hicks and his supporters. Well you would be wrong. I watched a couple episodes and the finale. Taylor was show so quickly during the start of the shows if you blinked you missed it. Then comes the finale. The shows starts and something along the lines of "a show where super stars are made". Pictures of Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson are shown and then what do we see, instead of Taylor Hicks, Fantasia Barrino, Ruben Studdard or Jordan Sparks, we see Chris Daughtry. Now I am not trying to take anything from Chris he has talent and he has sold millions, though I have problems with the reported numbers, but that is something for another article, but come on, he was not voted American Idol.

American Idol seems to want the public to believe Taylor Hicks has not done anything since winning and is a flop. If someone has half a brain and the desire to search online they will see very quickly this is not the case. Taylor Hicks has sold over 800,000 CDS and the CD is certified platinum. Since when is that considered to be not selling well? Another thing American Idol has not told you is this is without radio play and very little promotion. Taylor's tour grossed 1.9 million. Starting June 6^th Taylor will be joining the cast of Grease on Broadway; Taylor will be in the role of Teen Angel and be singing the song Beauty School Dropout. There are so many more facts about Taylor Hicks and his career I could tell you but why take the word of just me, search online and you will see Taylor Hicks has been a very busy and successful singer/songwriter/musician.

So to answer the question has American Idol lost its Appeal? The answer is for me and many, many others yes it has. Can American Idol gain back its appeal? That is going to be tough. But they can start by 1) acknowledging a true talent, whether that talent makes THEM millions of dollars or not, that does not decide the talent factor. 2) Realize if American Idol is about the viewing public choosing the contestant they like then we can not possibly get it wrong. 3) Bring the show back to what it is supposed to be about. An undiscovered talent that has a voice and a story to tell. We supported American Idol because of people like Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken, Fantasia Barrino and Taylor Hicks. We love to hear the stories behind the people and we want to see them improve each week and make us root for them. We do not care if they have what American Idol considers is a successful career, we care about them achieving their dreams and giving us music we want to hear.