THE “American Idol” Live! Tour 2010 is getting short changed.
Concert promoter Live Nation officially canceled eight of the shows — Omaha, Kansas City, Toronto, Buffalo, Cleveland, Winnipeg and Portland, Ore. and Portland, Maine — yesterday.
With other scheduled tour dates shuffled around to accommodate the new road itinerary, the 38-city tour now ends Aug. 31, instead of Sept. 16 as planned.
Industry experts suggest that waning interest in this past season, not just the economy, might be to blame for poor ticket sales in select markets.
“They’ve cut shows that weren’t selling anywhere near what they were expecting,” says Gary Bongiovanni of concert trade magazine Pollstar.
“It may be symptomatic of the fact that the series seemed to have less excitement around it this year than in years past, which I think translates into the public’s interest in seeing them live.”
While still blowing the competition out of the water, “Idol’s” Season 9 showed a significant drop in viewership over the course of the season. Lee DeWyze’s crowning ceremony was down 30 percent in viewership from when Kris Allen won in 2009.
The ratings downturn has been attributed to a lack of interest in the contestants, as well as in new judge Ellen DeGeneres, who replaced Paula Abdul.