Ending on a High Note

It says something about this season of American Idol that the most genuine and surprising moment was its most important one. I won't get into the meaning of David Cook's upset of presumptive Idol David Archuleta, but rather how this made the rest of the season look by comparison.

For all the talk of this being the most talented group of finalists ever (which, of course, is said every year), it was certainly the least interesting group of finalists ever. I never felt like there was a specific performance that stood out. While people on the show still talk about Fantasia's rendition of "Summertime" or, on the flip side, Sanjaya's attempt at "You Really Got Me," there's nothing in this season that we'll talk about in the same way.

I think too that having a group that was so professional didn't help, either. The emergence of new talent is one of the few genuinely interesting aspects of the show, especially when it takes a bit of a sideways turn (Soul Patrol!). This season, contestants were fully formed, and rarely grew (or shrank) before us.

And with the ratings taking a dip from past seasons, it's an open question whether viewers were disinterested in this group or in the show as a whole. Either way, it's probably time for a change. Which leads us to:

MAKING IT BETTER: American Idol

Herewith are five suggestions for pumping some life into the franchise:

1. Fewer wacky auditions, more Hollywood - I've never enjoyed the Bataan death march of wacky auditions. There's a thick dark line between the truly entertaining awfulness and the poor saps the show sets up for a fall, and the more Fox jumps over it the more obvious it is that they're milking things.

I'd take a couple hours of audition coverage and move it to Hollywood. There's more drama there, and there'd be a greater opportunity to even out coverage time among contestants.

2. Shake up the judging panel - the predictability of this group was more evident than ever this season. From Randy's continued focus on pitch problems to Simon's negativity to Paula taking up residence on Neptune, the judges added even less to the show this season than usual.

Rather than give them some input on voting, a la Dancing With the Stars, I'd suggest rotating judges out for certain weeks, or even rotating Randy or Paula out for a full season (or more). One of the few fresh things about America's Next Top Model's judges has been the transition from Janice Dickinson to Twiggy to Paulina Porizkova, each of whom has brought something different to panel. My suggestion: replace Paula with Toni Braxton, who is somewhat less crazy than Paula and could use the work.

3. Introduce a number to vote against a contestant - set up a toll number where viewers would call and select from a menu the contestant they want to vote against. These votes would be subtracted from each contestant's vote total. Donate money from these calls to Idol Gives Back to give the negative a positive spin.

4. Restrict the use of instruments - rather than have half of the contestants rooted behind an instrument, give them four chances to play along over the course of the finals. And to make things more interesting, they can only use the same instrument in three of the four performances.

5. Take a season off - it may be time to give America a breather and let the talent pool refresh a bit. So rather than get all new contestants next season, go back and open things up to any contestant who made it to Hollywood but was not a finalist. Bring back Frenchie Davis, the Brittenum twins, and that kid this year who always wore a tie. Fans always have a couple of favorites who didn't make the finals, so this may reinvigorate the fan base a bit.