Since its inception in the summer of 2002, American Idol has served as one of the biggest televised singing competitions in history, garnering billions of dollars in revenue. This morning, however, Fox announced that the show has been renewed for its fifteenth, and most importantly, final season. Expected to air for the last time in January 2016, the roster of judges will reportedly remain the same: Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick, Jr., along with long-running host Ryan Seacrest.

The show, as of late, has gathered a measly 2.7 rating among adults ages 18-49 and 10.7 million viewers on its regular Wednesday night air time. This has been an ongoing trend for the past few years and the slow decline, along with the rise of other countless singing competition series, has resulted in the inevitable end of the “season-long celebratory event,” as Fox describes it.

The show was home to some of the most successful artists we see today like Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Jordin Sparks, Phillip Phillips, and more.

Say goodbye to the “American Idol is still a thing?” annual exchange with your mom.

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Dana Reandelar

If not hunched over her desk writing about music, Dana can be found binge-watching old episodes of Gilmore Girls or condensing long rants to 140 characters. She also writes for Idobi Radio, and is an Off The Record podcast contributor.

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