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For Sale Apr 3, 2026 at 5:14 AM

Does anyone here still watch "American Idol" in 2026?

Posted by Giff95

Genuinely wondering how many members of r/Music watches American Idol in 2026. The show used to feel like a cultural phenomenon, but now I never see it talked about. You'd think standout moments or auditions would go viral on social media, but wildly enough, I never see anything make the rounds. It must still pull decent numbers since it is airing, but how many of you actually keep up with it weekly or is the show living off its legacy at this point?
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one-punch-knockout Apr 3, 2026 +57
The auditions are really great television and I can’t get enough. But once the show moves on from there it continually goes downhill. Last week Ryan Seacrest’s new buccal fat removed face and overall cheesiness made the show difficult to watch.
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seasamgo Apr 3, 2026 +46
Hot damn. My parents put the first few seasons on when I was a kid and it was fun to watch. TIL that this show didn't end two decades ago. And Ryan now looks like a veneer plastered over the face of one of the aliens from They Live.
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NatureTrailToHell3D Apr 3, 2026 +15
I was watching wheel of fortune and trying to figure out why Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White looked the same age. That explains it!
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entenduintransit Apr 3, 2026 +8
the insistence of celebs to purposefully make themselves look like famine victims with the buccal fat removal is so confounding to me people always say that folks looked great/fine before procedures and I tend to agree, but Seacrest *especially* looked very, very excellent before doing that to his face. it's so bizarre.
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gmorkenstein Apr 3, 2026 +19
American Idol is still on?
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musicallover33 Apr 3, 2026 +4
Was off for a few years and came back
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CamLwalk Apr 3, 2026 +13
Never watched it. I used to watch the Gong Show when I was a kid tho.
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SojuSeed Apr 3, 2026 +2
How’s your back and knees doing these days?
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CamLwalk Apr 3, 2026 +2
hah, thanks some sciatica but I'm working out 5x a week. Really helps. Take care of yourselves kids!! You can still go to shows in your 60s like I do (seeing Donna The Buffalo tonight!)
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SojuSeed Apr 3, 2026
Swing kettlebells.
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ThatOneDorkThatDraws Apr 3, 2026 +7
I wish they showcased other genres than just country. It just feels like Country Idol more than anything else. I get it's a popular genre right now but tuning in it's either folk or country and it's just not my jam. The Voice holds my attention more but even then.
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ExcellentCup6793 Apr 3, 2026 +5
Prob because that’s the only genre that the contestants could maybe still have a career in after the show
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ThatOneDorkThatDraws Apr 3, 2026 +2
Unless they're a Morgan Wallen, I don't really see it. There really hasn't been any Idol winners that stay in the mainstream. It's usually the "losers" that make it far (Benson Boone, Adam Lambert, Jennifer Hudson, etc.) (ps, it feels SO weird putting Jennifer Hudson's name near Benson Boone lol)
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VictoriousssBIG23 Apr 3, 2026 +3
Ironically, Morgan Wallen wasn't even a country singer when he appeared on The Voice. It seemed like he wanted to go for more of the Southern rock route and his voice was a lot raspier back then. Comparing his audition to his music now, it doesn't even sound like the same person. Your reasoning is kind of why I stopped watching The Voice after season 14, though. I got annoyed seeing mediocre country singers make it all the way to the end, while my favorites always seemed to get eliminated early on. I think Chloe from season 13 was the first time where I actually liked the w*****. Much like Idol, the winners of The Voice never seemed to reach superstar status. Morgan Wallen was an early out who was smart enough to network and use his connections from the show to establish a real career. Same with Melanie Martinez. From what I understand, the record deal that they give the winners isn't great. They have very little creative control and the show/record company does f*** all to promote them, so many contestants think that it's actually better to "lose" and then use whatever connections/exposure that you get from being on the show to shop around for a better record deal.
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ThatOneDorkThatDraws Apr 3, 2026 +1
It's honestly better for some exposure but not really since clips don't go viral like they did back then (I remember the Melanie v. Xtina ones going crazy). Also I had NO idea Morgan Wallen was on The Voice. I thought he just spawned in or something.
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boneydog22 Apr 3, 2026 +1
Benson Boone was on a signing show?? Ohhhhhhh
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lhp220 Apr 3, 2026 +1
This just is not true. The two most successful are Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Somehow “you don’t have to win American Idol to be successful” has morphed into this take.
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Dro1972 Apr 3, 2026 +7
Even the people ON American Idol have stopped watching American Idol.
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trebb1 Apr 3, 2026 +13
I’m strange in that I primarily like weirder music but also love a really well performed high note. I grew up watching Idol with my parents and now my YouTube algorithm occasionally feeds me performances from American Idol and The Voice. The show has always perplexed me, both in terms of its ability to keep going and its inability to translate any artists. This season of Idol is pretty bad. Kellyoke is the move for when I’m feeling the urge for insanely well performed covers.
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[deleted] Apr 3, 2026 -2
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trebb1 Apr 3, 2026 +4
Notes sang in the upper register of someone’s voice. Think big diva moments with vocal theatrics.
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[deleted] Apr 3, 2026 -1
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Matonus Apr 3, 2026 +6
Belting is a vocal technique, we know what a high note is in Australia Jesus Christ lmao
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mmmarkm Apr 3, 2026 +4
“High note” is a fairly universal music term for the English-speaking world. I know a fair amount of Australians and while y’all have some unique slang, hard to believe that you couldn’t figure out what a “high note” was
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lavenderewe Apr 3, 2026 +5
American Idol really was such a cultural phenomenon. The audience interaction, I remember calling to cast votes with my mom. Seems it simmered off with the advent of streaming services too, there’s no 8PM Friday night s*** that people are tuning into - not really an organic place for the show to catch eyes the way it used to in being on just past dinner time right when the family is on the couch watching tv. Makes me really nostalgic!
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Historical_Stuff1643 Apr 3, 2026 +26
No. I boycotted since Carrie Underwood became a judge since she sang at orange guy's inauguration. I heard it's turned into a Christian music shit show.
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WreckaStow7779311 Apr 3, 2026 +4
I haven't seen it since high school, last one I remember seeing was the season Adam Lambert didn't win Do they still put in some bad singers who think they can sing, in the audition portion of it? That was always my favorite lol
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nzoasisfan Apr 3, 2026 +4
F****** hell does it still exist?? Awful awful awful show.
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Goblue5891x2 Apr 3, 2026 +3
Pretty sure I stopped watching at least 15 years ago.
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pourthebubbly Apr 3, 2026 +3
I don’t think I’ve watched a full episode since season one tbh. But even then, it was something my stepmom watched and since we only had one tv in the house, it wasn’t up to me what we watched.
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bmsa131 Apr 3, 2026 +1
William Hung.
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Primus_sucks_9056 Apr 3, 2026 +2
my mom does.
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thesongsinmyhead Apr 3, 2026 +2
I haven’t watched since S2. Team Clay all the way.
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lizardgal10 Apr 3, 2026 +2
I’ve watched a bit. I went to a taping for the current season (I live in Nashville, it was free, I had nothing better to do) and it was pretty dull. Only a few contestants that really caught my attention. I haven’t even gotten around to watching the episode I went to.
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Peachsprite72 Apr 3, 2026 +2
The elderly at the nursing home I work at do
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ben-jammin333 Apr 3, 2026 +2
I'm shocked they revived it in the first place, because by 2016 America's Got Talent and the Voice had usurped Idol as the "top" talent competition shows, and they were flashier and more dramatic than Idol ever was. Sure, some of the singers were really good, but the main reason Idol was so popular in the early years was because of the hosts, especially Simon. And also, slighty unrelated, FOX made Such a big deal about Idol's "final" season when it was airing, and then it was just brought back the next year like nothing happened. I always thought that was ridiculous.
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fountainpopjunkie Apr 3, 2026 +1
The only time I've ever seen it was because a guy I work with put it on the tv in the breakroom when he was on lunch. So I would be forced to suffer through a few minutes of it while cleaning. I'd turn the channel as soon as possible. I had hoped it was off the air.
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ashbyashbyashby Apr 3, 2026 +1
I used to watch it before YouTube and having broadband internet. Its crazy to think about the garbage I used to watch on TV twenty years ago because there were only four or five options on free TV.
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mikeumm Apr 3, 2026 +1
I had no idea it was still a thing.
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eric_b0x Apr 3, 2026 +1
It’s not.
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Mr_Lumbergh Apr 3, 2026 +1
I haven't paid attention since S1.
1
Radmode7 Apr 3, 2026 +1
IS IT STILL ON?!
1
apatisda Apr 3, 2026 +1
In recent years the only season I watched was when I saw a highlight of Alejandro Aranda online which blew me away. He got robbed.
1
ExcellentCup6793 Apr 3, 2026 +1
Stopped watching after Adam Lambert lost
1
816bossmikel Apr 3, 2026 +1
That show is still on?
1
ScienceAndy Apr 3, 2026 +1
No, but I'll check it out again. My old drummer and his band made it all the way there once. He said they were about to play on American Idol back in like 2014. They handed them a BIG stack of papers to sign, essentially to give up their rights to their original music. They said no and went home. Now I think of that story every time I try to watch the show and just can't watch it.
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pink_faerie_kitten Apr 3, 2026 +1
Not since maga Carrie Underwood joined. I was already getting sick of the religious talk from Lionel, Luke, and Katy but I put up with it since I still like the show. But I'm boycotting now. I'd be watching otherwise. I also boycott The Voice when Snoop is on because he's maga too.
1
MaestroLogical Apr 3, 2026 +1
American Idol still comes on? I thought it was cancelled over a decade ago.
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Chingaso-Deluxe Apr 3, 2026 +1
Always been trash
1
bmsa131 Apr 3, 2026 +1
Watched first ten seasons and that’s it. It was such a cultural phenomenon- Sanjaya! I also remember hating Kelly pickler for some reason. I think the last season I watched was when Philip Philips won.
1
hhhisthegame Apr 3, 2026 +1
Ive been watching every season since I was a little kid and still enjoy it today, though I miss the old judges. The format of the old seasons was the best, but I still think the new seasons are entertaining and good. The worst run was from Seasons 12-15. The new seasons aren't as bad as those, to me.
1
shortdude80 Apr 3, 2026 +1
Have not watched in years
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Legitimate_Love7485 Apr 3, 2026
Haven’t seen one episode and don’t plan on it. I don’t watch any reality tv or talent shows
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