American Idol, Season 12: Not What it Used to Be

It’s no secret American Idol has seen better days. Ratings have slipped to an all-time low, with viewership numbers seeming to decrease each week. The question remains though: Who’s to blame?

Many critics have cited the ongoing battle between judges Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey as one of the reasons. With anti-Nicki Facebook pages inspired by fuming Idol fans and ongoing Twitter battles underway, it’s clear that she’s a matter of discontent for many viewers.

Ever since the American Idol Season 12 premiere January 16th, Minaj has refused to give up the act.  During the audition rounds, the feud between Carey and Minaj took over entertainment news.  The media had a field day with the bickering divas, and viewers were turning in to watch the drama unfold between the two.

Getting back to what’s most important – the actual contestants – after the elimination of Devin Velez, Minaj turned to social media to continue her tirade against any possible victim she could get her hands on.  After Velez used the media to defend himself against Minaj’s over-dramatic critique of his recent performance, Minaj used Twitter to express her opinion yet again.

In my opinion, Ms. Minaj has been anything but professional.  After storming off the set like an attention-seeking child, inexcusably showing up late to a live taping and then later threatening to quit the show, it’s no wonder why ratings have dropped dramatically.  It’s questionable if FOX is feeding the outlandish behavior of Nicki Minaj simply in order to gain viewers.  The whole point of American Idol is to tune in twice a week to support and vote for your favorite contestant.  Using violence and immature outbursts as means to boost ratings on a television show designed to inspire and unify American pop culture fans during the process of determining the next winner is counterproductive.

American Idol is clearly going through some major growing pains and Minaj may just be the show’s “teenage antics.”  For a reality show that once pulled in 37.44-million viewers, Idol has a lot of making up to do before Season 12 closes.

In other Idol news, the results show on March 28, 2013, marked the show’s 450th episode.  The singing competition inspired many other reality shows with the same idea, including  NBC’s “The Voice”, currently in its 4th season, and FOX’s “X-Factor”, moving into its 3rd. While no other singing competition show has seen American Idol-level ratings, if viewership continues in the same downward direction, I wouldn’t be surprised if Idol was surpassed as the #1 singing competition show.

What do you think about American Idol Season 12? Do you think show is measuring up to past seasons? Leave a comment below!