Business News Media

No more American Idols thank you very much

By | Published on Tuesday 12 May 2015

American Idol

‘American Idol’ is dead. Dead dead dead. Well, dying. Almost dead. It’ll be dead soon. Well, next year. What I’m saying is, Fox has announced that the show will be cancelled after its fifteenth season in 2016.

The announcement that the show is now a millstone around Fox’s neck, haemorrhaging both money and viewers, and something that the network wants to get shot of, comes just ahead of the final of this year’s series, which will air in the US tomorrow. Because nothing says ‘Congratulations on your win’ like a vote of no confidence in the platform that got you there.

Nigel Lythgoe, who acted as Executive Producer on ten seasons of the show, told Billboard: “It’s the right thing to do. I’m a huge fan of boxing, and it’s like when you’re watching a real heavyweight boxer getting to the end of their career, and all these young whippersnappers are coming up: You’ve got to know when to retire”.

He added that the hiring of Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey as judges in 2012 was probably the death knell for the already flagging show: “Mariah and Nicki was just crazy, and then it really started becoming about the judges and took away from the contestants altogether. I think that was a major failing on the part of casting to have those two together. On their own, either one may have been successful”.

Meanwhile, that Simon Cowell said on Twitter: “Looking back at my time on ‘American Idol’ we had a great time. We found great artists. Had fun. And to America. Thank you. It was a blast”.

Confusing full stop use. See me.



READ MORE ABOUT: