Sunday should have been a good news headline for “American Idol.” They had the highest ratings of the season so far — 5.3 million viewers.
But they are down 12% overall from last year. Even worse, the Monday shows really fall off from Sunday. This past Monday, the show fell by 700,000 viewers. The Monday shows are also down from last year.
“Idol” cannot seem to build a cliffhanger from Sunday to Monday. And the entire temperament this season is askew. One reason might be that Katy Perry is leaving to resume her music career. She’s either jumping from a burning boat or she’s caused the fire.
Who will replace Katy? Jennifer Lopez wants to come back, but ABC has to be smarter than to go backwards. Lopez’s recent album and longform video were huge failures. She looked drawn, almost gaunt, at last night’s Met Ball. Maybe she didn’t care for husband Ben Affleck’s performance at the Tom Brady roast. But JLo is a no go for “Idol.”
Last night Blake Shelton was on Jimmy Kimmel in a network cross-promotion. ABC has been doing a lot of this as the season finale nears, plus stunt casting, anything to get viewers’ attention. They have Jon Bon Jovi coming in as a mentor. Presumably, Katy will perform on the final episode of the season. (If she doesn’t, wow.)
So stay tuned…
