American Idol has been running on Fox for 11 seasons now, and is scheduled to begin the twelfth season  in Jan. 2013.

The first several seasons of American Idol were a total hit, landing number one on the charts for seven years straight.

“After X Factor and The Voice came out, there were so many singing shows to choose from I just didn’t watch Idol as much anymore,” commented freshman Daphne Schwartz.

After season eight, the show’s ratings began to decline as a result of two of the famous judges leaving (Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul). Other reasons for the lack of ratings include the emergence  two other competitive singing reality shows called The Voice and X Factor.

Since season eight, many judges have been featured on Idol, such as Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler, and Ellen DeGeneres. As far as ratings go, none have boosted the show to where it was when Abdul and Cowell were there.

The new judges for season 12 were announced on Sept. 16 and include Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey, Keith Urban, and Randy Jackson.

“I think the new judges will bring a lot more viewers to the show because they all have such different personalities it will be fun,” said Schwartz.