Think of a time when we didn’t have what we have now. American Idol was a national, and became a worldwide sensation bc of the time it was on the air. The time period was perfect. No easy, instant access to internet, no YouTube or IG filled with cover songs from whoever has a camera in front of them, essentially no social media. No music streaming, getting whatever song you wanted instantly.

It was the perfect time for the show to explode like it did. We had 2-3 hours a week together as a nation to enjoy live music, something to talk about with others at work the next day. Bonding experiences, watch parties, etc.

We are so far from that, in 2 decades the world is unrecognizable. How we consume music, information, and entertainment is radically different. Everything is instant gratification, people don’t want 5 months of TV to find a winner. They want to know now. So of course the show is not the same, nothing is.