• Is 'American Idol' past its peak?

* This mentioned some Kelly Clarkson in it, so I decided to post it for you all.

The fevered response to the latest loopy Paula Abdul episode, where she judged a phantom performance, just goes to show how "American Idol" continues to dominate television in its seventh season.

Yet while "Idol" is still a hit, it's no longer necessarily hip.

You can hear it in the lack of enthusiasm in 14-year-old Katharine Bohrs' voice.

"Last year I was really into it, and the year before that," said the high school freshman from Brookline, Massachusetts. "This year in the beginning I was, but then track started up and I have a lot of homework. It's two hours long and I don't have the time."

She used to watch regularly with a friend. Now her friend records it and watches only occasionally, Bohrs said.

Statistics back up the anecdote. Audience declines for "American Idol" are steepest among youthful viewers, the people who set the pop culture agenda and are most likely to buy music made by the show's winners. These are not the people you want to turn off. Interactive: What happened to previous "Idols"? »

Make no mistake, "American Idol" is still the biggest thing on television. It is the reason why Fox will end the TV season later this month as the nation's most-watched network for the first time in history.

The show is averaging 28.7 million viewers this year, according to Nielsen Media Research. That's down 7 percent from the nearly 31 million viewers who watched last year. It's also typical -- maybe better than typical: in this writers strike-marred season, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" has shed 19 percent of its viewers, "Grey's Anatomy" is down 20 percent and "Survivor" is off 9 percent from last spring's edition.

"We're not in denial that the ratings are down," said Preston Beckman, Fox's chief scheduling executive. "There are things that we can control and there are things that we can't control. I defy anyone to show you a hit show that has been on for seven seasons that is at the level this one is on relative to where it started."

Among women aged 18 to 34, the "American Idol" audience has slipped 18 percent this year. Isolate teenagers 12-to-17, and the drop is 12 percent.

The median age of an "American Idol" viewer, once in the mid-30s, is now up to 42, Nielsen said.

And -- horror of horrors -- viewership is actually up this season among people aged 50 and over. Those are the folks many television tastemakers pretend don't exist.

At the beginning of "American Idol," contestants like winner Kelly Clarkson seemed more sincere and devoted to their singing, said Chrissy Will, 16, a resident of California's suburban Orange County. Now they seem more focused on publicity and fame, she said.

"It's completely repetitive," Will said. "It's the same thing as the year before."

Her friend, Tina Oram, 17, said "Idol" now seems boring and over-promoted. She's more interested in watching dance contests (ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" is up in the ratings this season).

"You can't not put your heart into dancing," she said.

Shows focused on the music of Neil Diamond and Andrew Lloyd Webber may also not have been the most youth-friendly choices. But no level of targeted mentoring can trump up the talent.

"The talent this year I don't think is as great as it has been," said Steve Rifkin, rap impresario and founder of Loud Records. "You're not going to hit a home run every year. I still think it's the most powerful show on TV."

Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Clay Aiken and Chris Daughtry set standards for "American Idol" contestants that are hard to top; last year's winner Jordin Sparks has had two radio hits, but so-so record sales. This year has lacked a breakout personality, even in a negative sense. Fans won't soon forget Sanjaya Malakar.

As for this year's contestants, Bohrs, from Massachusetts, just seems uninterested.

"I've only watched half the season so far so I don't know the contestants as well as I did last year," she said. "Last year I felt like I knew them personally and not this season."

Comments like that will likely drive Mike Darnell nuts. The chief of Fox's alternative programming said one of the biggest efforts in the show this year was to try to make the contestants people that the audience felt they knew.

Fox has several theories about the ratings slip this year, foremost that it would have been unusual for it not to slip. The writers strike, even though it didn't affect "American Idol" specifically, siphoned interest from TV in general, Darnell said. Young people are most likely to try new technologies, taking away from time spent in front of the TV, he said.

"You can always do things to get younger viewers back," Beckman said. "I don't think you have lost them forever."

Darnell pointed to MTV for the example it set in making itself over several times to appeal to generations of viewers who never heard of Martha Quinn.

"American Idol" needs no such overhaul. But the slippage has been noted and will be responded to, said the Fox executives.

"We've never been apathetic about the show, nor have the producers," Darnell said. "Every year there have been changes."

Source: CNN

• Sorry!

Hey guys, just wanted to stop by and apologize for the lack of updates! I actually was moving this past weekend and didn't fully get finished until Wednesday and since then I've just been trying to get settled in and everything. Also, the site I believe moved servers while I was away so some updates are now gone. I'll be sure to re-add any photos or anything that are gone very soon so please just give me a couple more days and everything will be back to normal. =)

• Kelly Clarkson Adds Her Voice to Youth Rally

"Kelly Clarkson, of American Idol fame, performed the “Ave Maria” as the concluding hymn for the Holy Father’s visit with youth at Saint Joseph’s Seminary in New York on Saturday evening.

She belted out the traditional version of the “Ave Maria” in multiple languages as a cross sectional representation of the crowd present. The Holy Father took a moment to greet her after her performance.

The crowd was charged by Kelly Clarkson’s rendition of the Marian hymn.

After the song, the Holy Father proceeded to greet youth at the ends of the platform. The crowds wildly waved yellow and white handkerchiefs as a greeting to the Holy Father.

The seminarians and religious novices of the Archdiocese of New York were all visibly thrilled at the presence of the Pope. They loudly sang the litany of the saints and the Lord’s Prayer in song with Pope Benedict XVI, led by an accomplished youth cantor from the movement “Communion and Liberation”." [Source]

• Photo Update

First, just wanted to apologize for not updating for the past couple of days. I've had a couple things going on that kept me from being able to.

Second, I've uploaded 108 photos to the gallery. Most are 2005 performances photos but there are a few 2005 appearance photos as well. Enjoy everyone! =)

017 x KIIS-FM's Wango Tango
052 x KIIS-FM's Wango Tango (performance)
039 x Today Show Summer Concert Series

• Idol Stars Get Stamped

"American Idol's biggest names are to appear on a series of limited-edition collectable stamps.

Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and the other winners of the U.S. TV talent show will grace the front of a new set of American stamps, which are being sold for charity.

The net proceeds from the sales of the stamps, which will be issued weekly for the next seven weeks, will go to the Idol Gives Back foundation, which supports charities around the world.

Clarkson graces the cover of the first stamp, which is currently available. The last stamp will feature the winner of the ongoing seventh season of the show.

Only 104,000 stamps will be made available." [Source]

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