The 12th season of American Idol wrapped last week, and though the most recent season had new judges and new twists, sources say next season will bring more surprises.
The singing competition has been less and less popular the past few seasons, with ratings at an all-time low for season 12. Idol producers have decided to start with a fresh panel of judges for season 13, confirming that Randy Jackson will not be returning.
Over 14 million viewers tuned in for last Thursday’s finale episode, a dramatically lower number of at-home audience members from last year’s 21 million viewers. This past season averaged 13 million viewers, a significant drop from the average of 17 million viewers for season 11. Viewership for the show peaked during its fifth seasons with an average of 30 million tuning in for the weekly performances and eliminations.
Lyndsey Parker, Yahoo! Music Managing Editor, attempted to explain low ratings for season 12, blaming “bad chemistry” between the cast members as Idol ’s downfall. “They didn’t seem to like each other. All the feuding set the season off on a bad note and alienated the show’s core fan base,” Parker reasoned, according to Fox News .
Runner-up this season Kree Harrison told MTV News that the competition between season 12 judges Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey to be top diva on the reality show was distracting on set. “First of all, there's so much going on, the drama of whatever happens on or off camera, there's literally, it's chaos during the live show," Harrison said, “We would get a kick out of [the fact that] they would talk to each other at all. So whether it was good or bad, we liked it.”
The only survivor of the drastic changes in the wake of season 12’s ratings failure is Ryan Seacrest, who will remain the show’s host.
Image courtesy of Fox