American Idol needs to die. This thought came to me last week as I was driving to school, flipping between NPR and the BBC like the hyper-informed bourgeoisie I am. One of those reputable news organizations was doing a story on American Idol being in its umpteenth season. (Shame on you, BBC/NPR! I thought you were above that!)

I am not a regular American Idol viewer. Once, when I was in fourth or fifth grade, I followed the season with Carrie Underwood. This was at the peak of its popularity and I figured I should find out what everyone was talking about. It was not unpleasant. Some of the people were good! It was fun to sit around and snark on people and criticize their singing. But I couldn’t bring myself to watch subsequent seasons. I’ve just been ambivalent about it.

That was, until last year when crazy Paula Abdul was sent away. Who did they get to replace her? Ellen DeGeneres. Really, Ellen? I thought you were better than that. Ellen is an actor and a TV show host, not a music industry pro. There was no logical reason to put her in that spot. Somehow, this just irked me.

Then there was that one woman whose name no one could remember. I think she was added on before Paula left. I remember seeing some clip  on The Soup of her and…Posh Spice, I think, arguing about something. They both seemed bland and kind of…dead behind the eyes. Whatever.

Over the summer, the boring woman left and Ellen left. Simon Cowell, the person who basically created the show, left. I think the fact that the guy whose idea it was has jumped ship really says a lot. Then they got Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. How do I, a non viewer, know this? Gossip blogs, mainly What Would Tyler Durden Do. And he only commented on this whole mess to say that Jennifer Lopez is an unreasonable jerk.  Poor Randy is just sitting there like “What?”

Honestly, I don’t know a single person who watches this show anymore. I’m not just talking about my group of friends either. I’m talking about class mates, co-workers, people on the street. Nobody watches this outdated rubbish! And it really is outdated. It seems the only people who make pop culture references to American Idol are awkward adults who want to look “with-it.”

I wish the media would just let it die. Why does CNN put this on their news ticker? Why does the yahoo.com have this on its front page? This is not a story. I think Fox should just end it now, while it still has some dignity and before the show destroys viewers fond nostalgia for the early 2000’s pop culture phenom. We should just let it die.