Idol Chatter & Voice Views

As American Idol faces declining ratings and the departure of Simon Cowell, I’ve compiled a list of 10 tips for saving the show. We’re up to …

Tip 3: Dump Frank Sinatra and other dud themes

One of the great ironies of season nine was how teen contestants like Katie Stevens and Aaron Kelly kept being told they didn’t seem young or relevant enough.

At the same time, consider the theme weeks Idol threw at those teens?

Rolling Stones Week. Elvis Week.

Frank Sinatra Week, for crying out loud.

One of the songs performed that week dated to 1926. The contestants’ parents weren’t born yet. Heck, some of the contestants’ grandparents probably weren’t born yet.

The reception: That performance show was watched by 17.5 million viewers, according to the Neilsen Co. That’s about half the audience Idol had in its heydey. It was the least-watched episode of Idol since 2003.

The next night, Lady Gaga performed on the Idol results show. Viewership jumped by about 2.1 million. That’s despite the fact that viewership of results shows had been lagging behind the performance shows all season.

The message to Idol: The themes you choose matter. Don’t take viewers for granted. And freshen up those themes.

Look, that doesn’t mean every song the Idols sing has to be from 2000 or later. Jordin Sparks just incorporated 1983’s “Let the Music Play” into a song on her new CD and had a dance hit with it.

But Frank Sinatra? Elvis Presley? Do you care about young viewers? Do you think any of your Idols are really going to leave the show and cover a song by those artists on their first CD?

In general, I’m not a big fan of theme nights centered around one artist, unless it’s someone of Michael Jackson’s ilk, with a huge, diverse catalogue from which to chose.

In the past, we’ve had Mariah Carey night (a season seven stumble).

This year, we had Shania Twain night (why not just a country music night?)

So keep the themes broad, diverse and relevant to the 21st century.

And dump Frank and the Rat Pack into the theme night garbage bin, once and for all.

(P.S.: I’d still love to see a week when Idols sing original songs they’ve written. Just a hint.)