Idol ratings drop -- Did they shoot themselves in the foot in shooting down Haley?

[buzzenator]

I stand by the assertion that I made in the first post of this thread back in January:

A lot of things likely contributed to the decline, but I can't help but think back to how the Idol audience for the performance finale dropped by three million people when Haley was eliminated. By that point, the machinations of the show had been laid bare and it was clear to even casual observers that the judging in the later rounds was biased against Haley. No doubt many people -- new viewers and longtime viewers alike -- were left with such a bad taste in their mouth they swore off watching the show again.

This guy articulated what we all knew about last year's finale...without Haley it was only a country music teen showdown...lost a lot of viewers as a result.

"American Idol" Loser Memorial: When A Fan Loves an Idol
Posted by
Louis Virtel on May 18, 2012

"No matter who dropped out during Thursday's telecast, we'd be better off than last season when the righteous, riled-up Haley Reinhart tried everything to crack the top 2, failed, and left us with the most uninteresting final duo in the show's history."

http://www.afterelton.com/tv/2012/05/ame...-3-results

You were right on Miguel with your earlier post. Something happened on Tuesday night's final performances that reinforced this view.

I did watch the final performances last night. I looked at my wife and said, why do they make them perform these newly written songs that are always so bad. So, here is Randy & Jlo trashing the song for Jessica which she didn't pick and Idol provided...shooting Idol and themselves in the foot.

It didn't end there...Phillip performs his final song written for him and Idol. My wife and I both said after the performance that it was a terrible song, and she is a huge P2 fan. Low and behold the judges give P2 a standing ovation...raving about the song and Phillip's performance. It was another total disconnect from what the viewer is seeing and hearing. We were both laughing at the judges comments and it just reinforced how Idol can be perceived as irrelevant or lame in the music world.