American Idol has announced more changes, as its finale will shift back to the Dolby Theatre—home of the first seven final episodes—from the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.
There wasn't much of an explanation given, as Billboard quoted executive producer Per Blankens as simply saying "it's iconic and we've been there before." Scott Borchetta led all of the remaining contestants into the empty theater during Wednesday night's airing "to get the feeling," he explained.
Cynics might be able to interpret a different meaning from the move: The Dolby Theatre—formerly known as the Kodak Theatre during American Idol's last appearance at the venue—has less than half the capacity of the Nokia Theatre...3,332 compared to 7,100. It's unlikely that the move truly has anything to do with the dwindling number of Idol viewers, however it serves as a nice metaphor.
Despite the drop in audience—average viewing size has dropped consistently since 2011, from an average of 25.97 million viewers to 11.94 million in 2014—Fox would have no problem selling-out the live finale, whether it's held at the Dolby or the Nokia. It's also unlikely that the move was the result of relatively high prices for the larger venue...if anything, producers are just getting desperate in attempts to draw viewers.
The Dolby certainly has history on its side: Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks...all of the show's most successful names performed on that stage upon winning. Hopefully there's some good juju, or at least enough intrigue to draw in the viewers. American Idol has been hit with a number of changes and announcements of changes, reflecting the drop in viewership...from the cancellation of the Thursday night results episode next season—compacting everything into Wednesday night's episode—and Coke dropping its sponsorship.
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