The end of American Idol
The end of an era!!!
The star-making reality show ends its 15-season run and Fox has promised that plenty of celebrity appearances and performances including La’Porsha Renae and Trent Harmon as the final two contestants of the show.
Ryan Seacrest is serious about the resignation as he shockingly signs off American Idol tonight with his signature “Seacrest out!” The show is ending after 15 seasons, juggernaut ratings which fell off in recent years as thousands of aspiring superstars and way too many covers of Whitney Houston songs.
La’Porsha Renae and Trent Harmon were named as the final contestants for the title of American Idol last Wednesday night as the show chooses its final two contestant and the send-off of today is without a doubt a historic moment for television.
The show itself was a shining star popular than any other regular scheduled American TV series since the turn of the century, and it smothered the competition as it changed the Fox network’s fortunes and spawned countless competitors and rip offs around the world. That is actually magic in TV itself!
The American Idol is a force to be reckoned with even today and the part one of the finales last Wednesday averaged 10 million viewers and this is something impressive this 2016 standards, but this is still a reminder of how far it is fallen. Idol drew 20 million to 30 million and even 40 million viewers a decade ago.
Fox will try to recapture some of the magic tonight by bringing back the two biggest stars in the show’s history such as Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood along with several dozen other contestants.
The broadcast will take place at the same Hollywood theater where Clarkson was crowned the winner at the end of amazing season 1 in the summer of 2002.
It was originally hosted by Brian Dunkleman and Seacrest and Idol went on to become a part of the pop culture zeitgeist. It was a celeb-making machine for many of those connected to it including Seacrest who was made the solo host after the first season.
The show’s lighting director since the very beginning is Kieran Healy and he said he’s been dreading the finale. He said that: ‘When Ryan says ‘Dim the lights’ for the last time, I’ll probably be quite choked up’ and I am certain he won’t be alone on that.
Fans around the world took to social media to mourn the end of the “Idol” era and many are asking why it is ending now. There are rumors saying that it is because it kept getting more and more expensive to produce while reaching fewer and fewer people and Fox has wagered that retiring the brand makes more sense than trying to keep it going.
People associated with the show admit that the time feels right for a series finale and yet some of them are confident this is just a break. Simon Fuller who is the creator of the show is already plotting a comeback telling The Hollywood Reporter that the next iteration will feel more interactive and have a youthful glow.