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American Idol Continues Its Slow Backwards Slide

After losing Simon Cowell and suffering both the worst-reviewed and least-watched season in its history, American Idol figured out exactly what was wrong.

They needed more inexperienced singers!

So, they went ahead and lowered the age limit from 16 to 15 in what I can only imagine is a desperate ploy to gain back their teen viewers.

Don't they realize that teens like it when you play hard to get? The more you chase them, the faster they DVR "Glee" then watch something else for an hour while Idol is on.

Apparently, the producers have also failed to notice that when it comes to talent, being older is now where it's at. Between Susan Boyle, Betty White, and the multitude of other older women jumping onto the A-list, I'm surprise Idol didn't extend the age up--like way up, like to eighty.

Even Simon Cowell agreed that was something Idol should have done years ago, and he plans on it having no age limits at all for his new show "The X Factor."

If American Idol wants to stay current, it's going to have to worry more about ratings and less about demographics. CSI and NCIS never win with the under-twenty-one crowd and you don't hear CBS complaining. Idol is nearing a decade of being on the air--it's time they embraced the viewers who have aged with them rather than ignore them while they try to win over kids who don't even know that Kelly Clarkson was on Idol.

Idol has always been about being on the cutting edge, and nowadays...

Catering to the young just isn't all that edgy.

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