The Fall of the "Idol" Empire?

Could we be witnessing the fall of the “Idol” empire?

Eight—yes EIGHT—shows on the “American Idols Live” tour have now been cancelled. Eight others have been rescheduled so that the tour will now end in August as opposed to stretching into September.

I guess someone wants to put it out of its misery…

The cancelled shows are in Portland, Oregon; Omaha; Kansas City; Winnipeg; Toronto; Buffalo; Cleveland; and Portland, Maine.

The rescheduled shows include both Lee and Crystal’s hometowns of Chicago and Toledo, as well as Bridgeport, Connecticut; Pittsburgh; Des Moines; Minneapolis; Cincinnati; and Indianapolis. Be sure to check LiveNation.com or AmericanIdol.com for the very latest.

Remember that this comes after tickets were offered at $20 not once, but twice.

I admit I didn’t take them up on that offer. And after seeing the set list from the show, I’m glad I didn’t bother.

If you don’t want to see who’s singing what, stop reading now…

Here is that set list, courtesy of MJ’s Big Blog:

Didi Benami: “Lay It On Me” by The Rescues, “Terrified” by Katharine McPhee

Andrew Garcia: “Straight Up,” by Paula Abdul, “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5

Katie Stevens: “Here We Go Again” by Demi Lovato, “Fighter” by Christina Aguilera

Tim Urban: “Better Days” by Goo Goo Dolls, “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay

Siobhan Magnus: “Paint It Black” by the Rolling Stones, “Spiderwebs” by No Doubt, “Stockholm Syndrome” by Muse

Aaron Kelly: “Somebody Like You” by Keith Urban, “Walking In Memphis” by Marc Cohn, “Fast Cars and Freedom” by Rascal Flatts

Didi, Andrew, Katie, Tim, Siobhan and Aaron: “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus

Intermission

Michael Lynche: “Woman’s Work” by Kate Bush, “Ready For Love” by India.arie, “My Love” by Justin Timberlake

Casey James: “I Got Mine” by The Black Keys, “Don’t” by Shania Twain, “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman” with Michael Lynche, “It’s All Over Now” by The Rolling Stones

Crystal Bowersox: “What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes, “Come to My Window” by Melissa Etheridge, “Up to the Mountain,” by Patty Griffin, “Piece of My Heart” by Janis Joplin

Lee Dewyze: “Beautiful Day” by U2, “Rocket Man” by Elton John, “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen, “Treat Her Like a Lady” by Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose, “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon

Finale: Lee and the guys sing “It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi. The girls and guys do “My Life Would Suck Without You” by Kelly Clarkson

I have to say that list leaves me a little dumbfounded. Tim Urban doing Coldplay? Where’s his gushy ballad to make the girls swoon? “The Climb”? Seriously? What’s up with Big Mike doing three gushy R&B numbers? Wouldn’t you use him to get the crowd back into it with an uptempo number after the break?

But worst of all, how could you not have Crystal and Lee sing a duet? That would almost be worth paying for. Maybe they couldn’t get the performance rights to “Falling Slowly,” but they could’ve figured out something.

It’s almost like they’re trying to fail, isn’t it?

What do you guys think? Is this a sign of the beginning of the end? Or is it just further evidence that this year was really, really bad?