So now that we know that American Idol's next season will be its last, a couple of thoughts occurred to me.

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In case you haven't heard, yes, American Idol's 15th season, which kicks off next January, will be its last. Fox made the not-all-that-surprising announcement earlier today. Like just about everyone else, I remember the very first season of Idol, when Kelly Clarkson beat Justin Guarini to win the title. The show, of course, went on to launch several now-big names into stardom along with Kelly Clarkson, like Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry, and Scottie McCreery, just to name a few.

According to a story in CNNmoney, "The show was once a ratings juggernaut and huge profit driver for Fox. It averaged more than 20 million viewers every season from 2003, it's second year on the air, through 2011, according to ratings tracker Nielsen, making it the top rated non-sports program on television through most of that period. It reached a high point with an average of nearly 31 million viewers in 2006. "Idol" was the top rated show on television for eight consecutive seasons."

Remembering how big the show was back in those days, it's almost hard to fathom that it's now pretty much just a shell of what it once was. I was doing a morning show back in Wisconsin during that time, and, seeing that social media wasn't around yet, it was pretty much ALL everyone talked about the next morning. Did you hear what Simon Cowell said? Did you see how goofy Paula Abdul acted? Did you hear how many times Randy Jackson said, "pitchy" or "dawg"?

But it seems to me that once Simon Cowell left, Idol really didn't know what it was anymore. Simon's 'mean' persona-- and his pointed comments-- seemed to really drive the show. Everybody loved -- or loved to hate -- what Simon had to say. And even though the producers cast several other judges along the way, Simon really was the star.

Adding to Idol's demise, though, I believe, was the advent of The Voice.  Here was a reality singing competition that was the anti-Idol. Instead of mean, pointed comments from 'judges,' it debuted with some pretty big-name, helpful 'coaches.' They didn't demean the contestants; instead they wanted to help them become stars.

At the same time, with Simon gone, it seemed like Idol attempted to do the same thing and turned much less 'mean'-- but yet, the show wasn't really built for it. Even though Idol brought in various celebrity 'mentors' and other stars to help the contestants out, in the end, Idol's star panel of judges are just that-- judges. They're not coaches or mentors. And even though the final panel of Harry Connick, Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban are much 'nicer' than the Simon Cowell-era Idol, it just isn't the same.

I watched Idol from its debut through about the 2009 season, and then picked up again last season. Seeing as I think both Harry and Keith are not only solid musicians, but are also pretty entertaining and funny characters, I'm sure I'll be watching during its final season, too. But even then, American Idol won't be what it was during its hey day a decade ago. It's probably time it moved on. What do you think?

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