Ken Tucker at Entertainment Weekly thinks with the recent departure of Ellen, the firing of Kara Dioguardi and Simon Cowell retiring, American Idol should throw in the towel. I actually think the show should just become the next American Bandstand.

Eliminate the judges all together and just have the contestants compete week to week with just America voting. This way you don’t have to worry about the judges and every week you get see what people want, the performances. Then American Idol can be solely hosted by Ryan Seacrest and he can introduce and interview each contestant which virtually becomes the next American Bandstand.

Could American Idol survive without judges?

http://watching-tv.ew.com/2010/07/30/american-idol-cancel-it/