My friends over at A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago pointed out that the official “American Idol” website has a link to a survey about what people might like to see next season – and about what they are and are not enjoying about this one.
I doubt it will actually have much impact – I vaguely recall them doing something similar 2-3 years ago, and the only changes we got were for the worse (the hiring of Kara and all the headaches that came from having four judges instead of three) – but the fact that all these questions are being asked, and that viewers are being invited to pretty openly bash Randy, Kara, Ellen, Seacrest, etc., suggests that someone associated with the show is aware of all the creative problems with this season.
As I’ve said before, most of the problems with the show come more from arrogance than incompetence. I’m sure they could easily end the show on time each week if they wanted, but they don’t care: the attitude being, Why would anyone ever want to watch anything other than “American Idol“? But with the ratings slipping notably this year, sooner or later even these people are going to realize they need to make more than cosmetic changes if they want to survive post-Simon Cowell.
Anyway, if this season has been annoying you as much as it has me, go take the survey. Whether or not it accomplishes anything, it’s quite cathartic. And if by some providence, everyone winds up bashing the number of judges (and the uselessness of most of them), the mentors, the lame themes, etc.? Well… do you believe in miracles?