American Idol: What to expect from its final season

The show promises its 15th and final season will be a celebration of its illustrious history, with the original judges and singing stars of yesteryear dropping by to make sure the TV singing contest goes out in a blaze of glory.

Current judges, from left, Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick Jr, and host Ryan Seacrest. Courtesy OSN
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“Absolutely rotten audition. Do not attempt a career in music.”

It was this sort of spot-on, if harsh, honesty from British judge Simon Cowell that helped to blast American Idol into the ratings orbit when the television talent show debuted as a ­summer-replacement series for the Fox network on June 11, 2002.

Taken aback initially by such cruel candour, North American audiences soon fell for Cowell. His blunt persona was honed on the original British version of the show, Pop Idol, which began a year earlier but ran for only two seasons.

The crowd-pleasing barbed comments were backed by a music-industry savvy, and he refused to mollycoddle the hordes of hopeful – and often hopeless – contestants who, with dreams of superstardom, stepped in front of the judges to audition.

In addition, his seismic arguments with his co-judges – sympathetic softie Paula Abdul and "Welcome to Hollywood, baby!" cheerleader Randy "Dawg" Jackson – ensured American Idol was a top water-cooler conversation topic for much of its first decade.

Millions watched – the show topped US TV ratings for eight years, with a record 36 million viewers tuning in to the 2006 finale – as the dreams of ­wannabes grew wings or crashed in flames, based on the judges’ comments and viewers’ votes. The series made interactive ­history by letting audience members vicariously run the brutal gauntlet with their favourite contestants.

But nothing lasts forever. Ratings have slipped, and American Idol returns on January 7 for its 15th and final season.

The producers promise a celebration of the past 14 years, tinged with nostalgia, while perennial host Ryan Seacrest and the current line-up of judges – Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr – vow to deliver a wild ride to the finishing line.

“We’re going to have a lot of contestants coming back, the stars that were made from the show,” says Seacrest, who has never missed an episode. “We’re also going to have the judges from the original series come back. We haven’t figured out exactly what we’re going to do, but you’ll see their faces ... I think that they realise that this is a special thing that’s been a part of their lives forever.”

Idol's last hurrah, how­ever, has been shortened by a month – the finale will be in April – a response to last year's dwindling ratings of 11.5 million viewers.

Former contestants we expect to return include Daughtry, Fantasia, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Ruben Studdard, Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken, Adam Lambert and Jordin Sparks, to name but a few of the singers who, according to Billboard magazine, helped to spawn 345 chart-toppers during the show's first decade alone.

Let's not forget the beautiful disasters, too, such as William Hung, the tone-deaf Asian-­American who in 2004 murdered the Ricky Martin hit She Bangs – yet won the hearts of ­millions with his sheer enthusiasm. He even got an album deal – Inspiration sold 200,000 copies and reached Number One on Billboard's Top Independent ­Album Chart.

Also watch for cameos from the other celebrities who had stints as judges over the years: Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler, rapper Nicki Minaj, talk-show host Ellen ­DeGeneres, singer Mariah ­Carey and singer-songwriter Kara ­DioGuardi.

Simon Fuller, the creator and executive producer of the show, says he based it on his British hit, Pop Idol, in which "the audience felt like they were finding and discovering these amazing kids and ultimately making them ­famous. [At the time] the ­formula of a judges' table with three judges critiquing something, or somebody, in a live format, was basically unknown."

"Out of nowhere comes this new show that we just had to cover," said Shirley Halperin, the news director of Billboard. "It was summer 2002. Pre-­social media. Pre-Facebook. It was a way that really united the ­country."

Lopez, who is in her fifth season as a judge, says she is thrilled to be back in 2016 for Idol's swansong.

“It’s having a front-row seat to the show everybody wants to be at,” she says. “I have the best seat in the house, ­because I am in the ­middle, too [between ­Urban and Connick].”

“To have a small part in presenting talent to the American public for the first time is really an honour,” said Connick Jr. “I take it very seriously and it’s a thrill to be up here.”

"It was a very important show watched by hundreds of millions of people," says Halperin. "It sold tens of millions of digital songs and albums, and it changed the music industry. That's undeniable. So give American Idol a moment, that respect, that fond final farewell – because it deserves it."

Seacrest gives the impression that, despite his other lucrative show-business interests, Idol will be his legacy – and he's already saving a few souvenirs.

"I've been taking Idol stuff, the last couple of months: signs and photos from the original season," he said. "I'm starting to really think: 'Do I want those awful-looking grey stools the kids sit on for the eliminations?' I may go after those next. So many dreams have happened on those stools.

“I’ve no idea what the last few seconds of this show will be like, and when I say ‘goodnight’, what will we say, what will I say – I have no idea how that will be, but I’m sure that will be ­emotional.”

• The final season of American Idol begins with a two-night premiere at 8pm on January 7 and January 8 on OSN First HD

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