Four ways American Idol can alienate its audience

Yes, I'm an American Idol fan. I never thought I'd enjoy it, but four seasons ago I got hooked. Seeing regular people get a shot of a lifetime based on (mostly) real talent has proven quite addictive. a

But Idol is ailing. This season's premiere was the lowest rated in four years, and some of their high-profile winners and contenders have seen disappointing sales and are losing their contracts.

Some people think Idol has run it's course, but I don't think this has to be. After all, this really is nothing but a big, glitzy talent contest, and those are as old as humans having talent to show off.

But, I do think Idol can crash and burn this year if they're not smart--and so far, they aren't being smart. I'd suggest that there are four things the producers of American Idol can and are doing that will gaurantee the seventh season is the last:

• Lie to us: The thing that has kept Idol on top while other "reality" shows have failed is "reality." Idol hasn't been about fake immunity challenges or choking down cockroaches; it's been about regular Joe's singing live. I know Idol is struggling to develop better "story lines" out of their contestants, but manufacturing unrtue stories will only turn off loyal viewers.
  
  Case and point: Kristy Lee Cook was a hottie with an excellent voice who stood out in the Philadelphia tryouts. The story Idol told was of a hometown Oregon girl who raises horses and had to sell one to get to the tryouts. Heartwarming, isn't it?
  
  Except Kristy already was a signed artist with Arista and released an album. I don't mind that she's a former-and-now-unsigned professional (although other Idol fans do), but what the hell is with the misdirection from Idol? This chick once moved to Texas to work with the manager who formerly managed LeAnn Rimes, so the backstory of her as a whole small-town Oregon girl who had to sell her beloved horse to afford the shot on American Idol is pure, unadulterated, manufactured BS.
  
  Lying is precisely the way for American Idol to make viewers feel alientated. And this clumsy attempt at positioning an early contestant as something she's not--as anyone who can do a Google search can confirm--makes Idol look amateurish and clueless.
  
  
• Bloat the shows: Fans of American Idol, after seven seasons, have seen it all. And that is something the producers must consider. I know there's pressure to sell lots of ad time--particularly with the writer's strike--but do we really need 90 minutes of the same old same old twice a week? There is nothing they can show us that we haven't seen before!
  
  Crazy people--check. Bitter people--check. Angry people--check. Singers with little experience and plenty of raw talent--check. Semi-pros who sound like they're already ready for their record contract--check. Backup singers who want their time in the limelight--check. Check, check, check, check, check.
  
  Maybe something that worked in season one cannot work in season seven. Since they can't really change the format of the auditions, they may need to simply shorten the shows. I know I could limit myself by watching just 30 or 60 minutes of a 90-minute show, but even for a fan like me, it is getting easy to think that I have something better to do with three hours a week. And if Idol loses fans like me in week one, there are a lot of us who won't come back once the show moves to Hollywood.
  
  
• Think the show is more about freaks than talent: While some fans might disagree with me, I'd suggest the early shows concentrate more on talent and less on freaks.
  
  Week after week, seeing deluded, mentally unstable people over and over again isn't fun; it's demoralizing. I feel dirty, in fact. Watching the three judges laugh at people who need help (and feeling as if the producers think we should be laughing) is getting tough to stomach. Especially because after years of watching, you know these people are being prepped and having their hopes raised simply so that they'll be a form of 21st Century freak show in front of the three judges. Tens of thousands of people show up to try out, and Simon, Paula, and Randy can't possibly see but a small fraction of them, so clearly someone is screening the hopefuls. Why would disturbed and awful singers be allowed through to the high-profile judges except to turn their very real problems into amusement for the judges and viewers?
  
  So, I'd love to see the real reason for the show--talent--take a front seat. Let's see ALL of the people who are selected for Hollywood and not just a couple. Eliminating the redundant parade of psychologically-damaged people would make plenty of time for viewers to enjoy all the talent Idol is finding.
  
  
• Do more of the same: Any show that is going to be on for a decade or longer needs to reinvent itself from time to time. Idol is feeling stale, stale, stale.
  
  They set up the "human interest" stories the same way as always. Contestants seem to fall into two categories: People who overcame adversity (we've already seen a survivor of a horrible accident, a mother with a disabled child, and a daughter with a morbidly obese and ill mother) or people who seem to have sprung from some agrarian Normal Rockwell painting. Who knew in the 21st Century that a majority of Americans lived in small towns and rode horses! (At least that's the conclusion some future anthropologist would get if they viewed American Idol a century from now.)
  
  Mix it up! Every person who gets the "golden ticket" has a story. Let's hear a little more of them and see a little less of the insane people who swear and rant about the judges (with a camerman tailing them out of the room, down a hall, down an escalator, out the front door, and a mile down the street.)

I'm fan and was waiting for this year's American Idol premiere. But after Tuesday night's ad-stuffed 90 minutes, I actually lost interest in seeing Wednesday night's episode. That doesn't bode well, but why should I spend that much of my life seeing the same generic stories and setups with barely interchangeable faces and voices?