James Durbin goes acoustic for Portland radio station
Clarkson, McCreery sales set standard for new 'Idol' season

It's 'American Idol' time!

By Brian Mansfield, USA TODAY
Updated

American Idol Season 11 premieres tonight and, in today's USA TODAY, television reporter Bill Keveney looks at five reasons the show might go on forever. (By, say, the middle of April, many people will feel like it's been going on forever.)

Bill's arguments basically boil down to these:

  1. It's America's choice.
  2. It's the leader of the pack.
  3. Young blood freshened an aging show.
  4. Its simple, successful formula focuses on the contestants.
  5. It's a proven star-making machine.

However, those five reasons also contain the seeds of the show's eventual demise, according to Bill.

  1. Despite last year's uptick, Idol's ratings have been in gradual decline, down 18% in viewers and 32% in young adults since their Season 5 peak.
  2. The genre is rapidly getting crowded, and the newcomers are sticking around longer.
  3. Some felt that the critiques by the judges, especially (Steven) Tyler, became bland and repetitive, especially as the series progressed into the live performances.
  4. Viewers often are drawn to shiny new things, whether it's The Voice's chair-spinning, blind auditions or X Factor's smoke-filled, laser-lit, heavily choreographed productions.
  5. The bulk of Idol's big names come from the earlier years of the competition.

Which do you think it will be? Is American Idol entering its second golden era, following its revitalization last year? Or will its predictability, combined with the fresh features of shows like The Voice and The X Factor eventually bring the show to its knees?

Also, take a look at these promos for this season.

If regular Idol Chatter readers think the first face looks familiar, that's because it's Kentucky's Brandy Neelly, who spoke with us following her Season 10 Nashville audition in 2010. Brandy, who'll turn 17 on Saturday, made the Hollywood round last season but didn't last long.

Also, I'm hearing that another person we talked to after the 2010 Nashville auditions, North Carolina's Chelsea Sorrell, made it at least as far as the Top 40 this year. We'll see.

Remember, I'll be blogging live right here tonight and throughout the season. I look forward to hearing what you think as Idol enters its 11th year!

PREVIOUS
James Durbin goes acoustic for Portland radio station
NEXT
Clarkson, McCreery sales set standard for new 'Idol' season
To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.
USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines