The votes were tallied, the envelope was opened, and after a series of dramatic pauses, Ryan Seacrest finally read the winner's name aloud and crowned a new "American Idol."
Quick, without looking it up: Who was last year's winner? Or the winner before that? Let's make it even easier: can you name a single "Idol" winner in the past 10 years?
The American institution known as "American Idol" kicked off its 20th season on Sunday night, but it's been a long time since the show has had any kind of stranglehold on the country's attention.
There are several reasons why. One, there are too many shows looking for too many undiscovered talents, and there are only so many diamonds waiting in the rough. Two, the formula has gotten stale.
But the main factor that took down "Idol" is once it got nice, it lost its edge.
In summer 2002, "Idol" landed on these shores without any expectations. The show, an Americanized version of the UK hit "Pop Idol," quietly debuted in June on Fox.
"Survivor" had arrived two summers previous and took the television world by storm, creating a new hunger for reality TV programming. But few knew the next big thing was an old-school talent competition.
Simon Cowell was the new-school twist on that old-school throwback. The acerbic Brit was one of three judges on the show, alongside pop singer Paula Abdul, a decade removed from her last hit single, and Randy Jackson, a background player in the music industry who was unknown to the viewing audience at large.
Cowell was unknown, too, but he quickly made a name for himself with his cutting, honest assessments of the young singers' performances. If something wasn't good, he would say so, which made his praise, if and when it arrived, mean that much more.
That was the secret sauce. Well, that and a dynamo young waitress from Texas named Kelly Clarkson, who belted out Aretha Franklin songs as if they were handed down by the Queen of Soul herself.
Between Clarkson and the dynamic at the judges' table — Cowell played the bad cop, Paula the good cop and Jackson somewhere in between — a hit was born, and 22.7 million people tuned in to see Clarkson crowned "American Idol" over runner-up Justin Guarini. (The pair would go on to star in the beach-themed big screen comedy "From Justin to Kelly," which nearly tanked both their careers, but Clarkson rose above with a string of multi-platinum smash hits and Guarini is now the weird miniature guy on the Diet Dr. Pepper commercials, so it's safe to say things worked out OK.)
The second season of "Idol" premiered the following January and people were primed for a hit, with 26.5 million viewers tuning into the first audition episode. It was there that Cowell's outright dismissal of the unwashed masses became its own kind of blood sport, as he'd flame wannabe singers and send them back to their bedrooms, dreams dashed. The bad auditions were their own sideshow, but there was still the business of "Idol"-making at hand, and a show-record 38.1 million viewers watched Ruben Studdard win over Clay Aiken in the Season 2 finale.
"Idol" remained a ratings juggernaut in its next few seasons and minted the careers of several powerhouse singers, including Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood and William Hung. Wait, William Hung? Yes, the Hong Kong-born contestant became something of a sensation after he was roasted by Cowell and crew for his sweetly earnest but tuneless take on "She Bangs" in the audition rounds.
But did it cross a line? It certainly wouldn't fly today, as the segment was the equivalent of a televised schoolyard bullying session, with Cowell and co. making fun of Hung and his dreams of pop stardom to his face. "Everything about it was grotesque," Cowell told Hung, after his wide-eyed take on the Ricky Martin hit.
But Hung owned the moment, and he returned later in the year to perform "She Bangs" on the season finale. He turned the joke around, and years later he'd give a Ted Talk titled "How Being on 'American Idol' Made Me Resilient."
The Hung moment came pre-social media — MySpace was in its infancy at the time, and even YouTube wouldn't arrive for another year — but the country's tides were starting to turn, and there was plenty of talk of whether the show was too cruel. "Idol" would still include gag auditions, such as General Larry Platt with his "Pants on the Ground" in 2010, but by then "Idol" had become kinder and gentler, replacing its mean streak with heartstring-tugging sob stories and positive reinforcement from the judges.
After igniting a genre of shows where people with accents yell at Americans (see also the careers of Gordon Ramsay and Robert Irvine, for starters), Cowell left the show after Season 9, by which time his sometimes-stinging honesty had lost its punch. He was replaced by a rotating group of judges (Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler, Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj!), but nothing could match the buzz and excitement of those early years, and both the talent and interest in the show trickled off. (Adam Lambert, in Season 8, was the show's last truly legitimate find.)
Season 20 kicked off on Sunday with the judging trio of Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, who have been together since the show's 16th season. They're not much in the way of brutal honesty; most of their post-performance comments center on how overwhelmingly unbelievable the performers are, and how big their careers are going to be as a result. Which is all very nice, but it doesn't make for very compelling television, especially when the results don't bare fruit. 2021's season finale drew about 9.4 million viewers.
And how big have those careers been? Last year's winner was Chayce Beckham, and before that the previous four "Idols" were Just Sam, Laine Hardy, Maddie Poppe and Trent Harmon, none of whom have exactly burned up the pop charts. In a few months, another winner will join their ranks. Kelly Clarkson is still the goal, but they'll be lucky if their career is as big as William Hung's.
