Friday, May 22, 2026

“American Idol” Fell by 10% Last Week: Are Carrie Underwood’s Politics Dragging Season 23 Underwater?

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Last Sunday’s “American Idol” sent to an all time low in the ratings.

The third episode of Season 23 dropped to 4.063 million, or 9.91% from the previous week.

That’s a loss of 500,000 viewers in one week.

What’s happening? Is Carrie Underwood the cause?

Many fans voiced unhappiness with Underwood after she sang at Trump’s inauguration. They swore not to watch the show again.

Others say on social media they find her dull.

Underwood’s politics are far from dull, however. Not only did she sing for Trump, but a decade ago she mocked Obamacare on the CMA Awards with Brad Paisley. Although this incident was long ago, the video of it has recently resurfaced. See below.

This week’s “American Idol” ratings will be scrutinized, I’m sure, to figure out the trouble.

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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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