Sure, it's consistently rating number one in its time slot on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but the truth of the matter is that "American Idol" has dropped as a whole in its ratings, versus those from last year. From NBC5 .com:

Last year, according to Nielsen, the finale performance show drew 36.3 million viewers, while the 35.1 million watched the show crown Taylor Hicks over Katharine McPhee. It was a monster leap over 2005, when 31.7 million watched the finale performance show, and 31.1 million saw Carrie Underwood win over Bo Bice.

This season started strong, with the number of viewers consistently tapering off as the season progressed. There are those who speculate that the inexplicable advancement of Sanjaya Malakar as far as into the top seven might have something to do with the decline in ratings, if only because with his wacky hairdos and less-than-impressive performances, he is a clear and easy target. Truth be told, I don't actually watch the show once the really horrible people have been weeded out, but then again, that's just me. Maybe what's happening is that the rest of America is starting to think like me, and all I can say to that is it's about damn time we agreed on something.

(Splash/WENN)

Many more photos (Jordin Sparks, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell, Jeri Ryan, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood, Janice Dickinson, David Hasselhoff, Anthony Federov, Sanjaya Malakar, Chris Richardson, Teri Hatcher, Diana Degarmo, Zac Efron) from the "American Idol" red carpet after the jump.

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