‘American Idol,’ despite lower ratings, will have a season 14

For those worried about whether or not “American Idol” could go the way of “The X Factor” this year with its lower ratings, we have a simple answer for you: Have no fear.

Speaking to Vulture, Fox head Kevin Reilly confirms that there is no reason to worry about the singing institution going anywhere for 2015. It will be back, and will have another shot to actually right the ship that has been slowly sinking. We’re going to make a controversial statement this time and suggest that the judges are not necessarily the problem anymore. While Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez, and Harry Connick Jr. have at times been annoying, that’s really not that big of an issue. The real concern to us is more along the lines of the editing, the desperate twists, and even this time some of the contestants being relative letdowns. Are there good singers in the top 4? Sure, but are any of them genuine stars? Maybe Jena Irene has a chance and Alex Preston and Jessica Meuse could become nice indie artists, but none of them are going to leave this show with the buzz that even non-winners like Chris Daughtry or Katharine McPhee had.

What will probably help “American Idol” more than anything will be other singing shows going away. You need to miss something to enjoy having it back again, and there has been no time missing the singing-competition genre lately. Having no “X Factor” will help, but you still have “The Voice,” “America’s Got Talent,” and “Rising Star” at some point this summer. “American Idol” could also benefit from going away for a few years, and then coming back when there is a larger talent pool of young singers.

We’ll have a full review of tonight’s “American Idol” episode a little bit later, and you should be able to check that out over at the link here now. Also, sign up for some more good stuff worth singing about via our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: Fox