Idol Chatter & Voice Views

In spite of a Season 15 finale that featured a reunion of original judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell, plus many past stars, American Idol failed to nab an Emmy nomination. (FOX Photo)

And American Idol won’t even have a chance to win its first-ever Emmy.

Nominations for the 2016 Emmys were announced Thursday and the nominees in the Reality TV Competition Series category include NBC’s The Voice, CBS’s The Amazing Race, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, Bravo’s Top Chef, NBC’s American Ninja Warrior and Lifetime’s Project Runway.

The Voice is the only singing competition ever to win the award, turning the trick in 2013 and again last year. Nearly every other year, the Emmy went to The Amazing Race.

American Idol was nominated every year from 2003 to 2011, but never won.

A few thoughts …

The Voice long ago surpassed American Idol as my favorite singing show. The talent Blake, Adam, Carson and company introduce us to season after season is phenomenal.

But if this Emmy is for Season 9 of The Voice, here’s hoping the show doesn’t win.

Sadly, Season 9 turned into a season-long Jordan Smith coronation show. Producers had clearly picked their winning before the blind auditions ever aired, seemingly forgetting that picking a winner is the viewers’ job.

And I’ll forever wonder how Andi & Alex — the sister duo that topped Jordan on the iTunes charts in the first two rounds of that season’s show — were eliminated so early; then not invited back as one of the comeback acts.

As for Idol, Season 15 was solid, but not nearly as good as it could have been because Harry, Jennifer and Keith were so insistent on including 15-year-olds in the finals — talented youngsters for sure, but youngsters who just weren’t quite ready for Idol’s big stage.

That said, the Season 15 and series finales was one of the best singing show episodes ever. It was deserving of an Emmy all on its own.

The Emmys will air on ABC on Sept. 18.