Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Uh Oh: American Idol Special Drops 16%, Loses 1 Million Viewers with Chris Martin Coldplay Special Appearance

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What???

Last night’s “American Idol” dropped by 16.3% from last week, down over 1 million viewers.

Chris Martin was featured a mentor to the singers and Coldplay introduced their new single.

The numbers were supposed to go UP not down. What happened?

I feel bad for Chris Martin, he’s a nice guy. He was a charismatic mentor, definitely. Ryan Seacrest swooned over the way he wore t shirts. Their single, “Higher Power,” stayed at number 5 on iTunes, also. I thought it would spike up some.

But a million people who watched last week just tuned out. This was the lowest rated Sunday so far this season for “Idol.” Gobsmacking.

Were the show’s fans mad after last week’s dismissal of the only contestant who should win this year? That was Alyssa, a possible new Jennifer Hudson.

Instead, the finalists were a random bunch. But Hunter Metts, a blonde kinda Ryan Phillippe looking singer songwriter seemed to have an edge on everyone else. And guess what? He was dismissed at the end of the show! That was a surprise!

I have low expectations for the finale of this season now.

 

 

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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