Dim the lights, cue the house band: It’s finally time for “American Idol¹” to sing itself off. That once-monumental music competition show begins its 15th and farewell season on Wednesday with a premiere full of callbacks. Like so many of its ejectees, it’s leaving the stage with one last swan song before the credits, at once lauded² and bum-rushed.

把灯光调暗，让音乐响起：《美国偶像》(American Idol)终于要曲终人散了。周三（1月6日），这个丰碑式的音乐比赛节目将开始它的第15季，也是最后一季。最后一季的第一集将召回以前的很多获胜者。和很多黯然离开这个舞台的选手一样，在得到毁誉参半的评价之前，它也将献上最后一曲。

The end of “Idol” marks the folding-up of TV’s last cultural big tent. The populace still reunites for the Oscars and the Super Bowl; there are still (relatively) big hits like “The Walking Dead” and “Empire.” But none of them are what “Idol” was at its peak: a weekly destination for all ages and many tastes.

美国偶像》的终结标志着电视上的最后一个文化大帐篷也收了起来。观众仍会一起观看奥斯卡和超级碗(Super Bowl)；仍将会出现一些（相对）热门的剧目，比如《行尸走肉》(The Walking Dead)和《嘻哈帝国》(Empire)。但谁也无法与巅峰时期的《美国偶像》相提并论：它是各个年龄层和各种品味的人每周一次的期待。

The series became an island of mainstream⁴ in a sea of niche⁵ by embodying⁶ contradictions. It grabbed a broad audience by bringing together singers from different pop subcultures — country versus⁷ bubble gum, R&B versus rock — and pitting them against one another in a battle of national preferences. It was simultaneously⁸ vicious and sentimental⁹, a uniter and a divider. It changed the rules for making pop stardom. Then social media changed those rules again, giving musicians an even more direct conduit to audiences than reality TV did and contributing to the show’s eventual¹⁰ downfall.

如今有太多针对细分观众群的节目，而《美国偶像》就像汪洋中一座独特的小岛，吸引了非常广泛的观众群。它召集了各种流行亚文化歌手——乡村音乐和泡泡糖歌曲；节奏布鲁斯和摇滚——让它们在全美国都参与投票的赛场上较量。它既刻薄，又柔情；既把大家集合起来，又让大家分裂开来。它改变了制造流行音乐明星的规则。后来，它的规则又被社交媒体改变。社交媒体比电视真人秀更能让音乐人直接接触观众，该节目的最终衰败与此有关。

“American Idol” arrived on American shores, having originated as “Pop Idol” in Britain, in the summer of 2002. This was the brash, early-aughts heyday¹¹ of reality TV. The show’s initial hook was judge/producer/creator Simon Cowell, who styled himself as Satan in a black fitted T-shirt.

美国偶像》以英国的《流行偶像》(Pop Idol)为原型，2002年夏天登陆美国。那时候，电视真人秀方兴未艾，发展迅猛。这个节目最初的吸引力在于评委、制作人兼创作者西蒙·考埃尔(Simon Cowell)，他身穿黑色紧身T恤，把自己塑造成魔鬼形象。

Mr. Cowell, flanked by the co-hosts Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, made the show a musical critique of Americans’ belief in their personal exceptionalism. His lacerating put-downs were a slap against the culture of self-esteem, the can-do spirit, to quote a favorite of “Idol” singers, of “I Believe I Can Fly.”

考埃尔与兰迪·杰克逊(Randy Jackson)和葆拉·阿卜杜勒(Paula Abdul)联合担任评委。他从音乐角度强烈打击美国人认为自己很独特的信仰。他伤人的羞辱是对自尊自信精神（用《美国偶像》的歌手们最喜欢的那首歌讲，就是“我觉得我会飞”的精神）的摧残。

Believing, in Mr. Cowell’s view, was not enough. A mediocre¹² performance was “cabaret,” or “something you’d hear on a cruise ship.” He was frank about the cynical¹³ needs of the pop industry and the cruel distinction between being good and being great — the difference between a singer and a star.

在考埃尔看来，光有自信还不够。在他看来，平庸的表演就像“卡巴莱歌舞表演”或者“你在游轮上看到的那种表演”。他毫不讳言流行音乐产业的刻薄要求以及良好和优秀之间的残酷区别——也就是歌手和明星之间的区别。

But the flip¹⁴ side, what may have helped give “Idol” broad appeal and longevity¹⁵, was that it was also a shamelessly gushy celebration of talent. It built emotional narratives¹⁶ around its contestants¹⁷ and their struggles, and the weekly performances provided the soundtrack.

但是另一方面，《美国偶像》具有广泛吸引力和持久生命力的一个原因可能是它也赤裸裸地煽情地颂扬才华。它讲述选手们感人的奋斗故事，每周的表演都有配乐。

Reality TV thrives on the lure¹⁸ of authenticity¹⁹, and “Idol” married that to the populist cult³ of the fan. It promised to take the keys of the star-maker machinery²⁰ and hand them to you. Yet it was also openly an arm of that machine. It offered contestants a contract with 19 Entertainment, founded by the “Idol” creator Simon Fuller, and it emphasized the importance of branding and packaging as much as the need for vocal²¹ chops.

电视真人秀的兴旺靠的是真实性的吸引力，《美国偶像》把真实性与粉丝们对平民主义的狂热结合起来。它承诺把明星制造机器的钥匙交到观众手中。不过，它当然也是那台机器的一个手臂。它为选手们提供与19 Entertainment娱乐公司的合同，那个公司是《美国偶像》的创始人西蒙·福勒(Simon Fuller)创立的，该公司认为品牌包装和唱功一样重要。

The show made stars of winners (the belter Kelly Clarkson, the country titan Carrie Underwood), losers (the eventual Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, the glam-rocker Adam Lambert) and cast (Ryan Seacrest, who was Dick Clark with a software upgrade). It generated tours and albums and enormous ratings, network cross-promotions and product placements. It was a multiplatform bison, no part of which went to waste.

这个节目让获胜者（比如声音洪亮的凯莉·克拉克森[Kelly Clarkson]和乡村歌曲高手凯莉·安德伍德[Carrie Underwood]）、失败者（比如最终获得奥斯卡奖的詹妮弗·哈得孙[Jennifer Hudson]和华丽摇滚歌手亚当·兰伯特[Adam Lambert]）和星探（瑞安·西克雷斯特[Ryan Seacrest]，他是升级版的迪克·克拉克[Dick Clark]）都成了明星。它创造了无数巡演、专辑和极高的收视率，以及网络交叉营销和广告植入。它是个多平台巨兽，哪一部分都不浪费。

“Idol” pulled in north of 30 million viewers at its peak, and Fox milked it, expanding the excruciating audition²² rounds and padding the episodes. Celebrity²³ guests flocked to pitch their wares²⁴. It was the biggest thing on TV; at times, it practically seemed like the only thing on TV. Network competitors called the show “the Death Star.”

美国偶像》在巅峰时期吸引了3000多万观众，福克斯公司充分利用它，扩大折磨人的试唱环节，填充节目内容。名人嘉宾纷纷加入进来。它曾是电视大事件；有时似乎是唯一的电视大事件。网络竞争者称这个节目为“死亡之星”。

But even Death Stars have their vulnerable exhaust ports. Familiarity was one. Mr. Cowell retired²⁵ his baddie act in 2010, and the judges’ panel went through an identity crisis.

但是就连死亡之星也有自己的弱点。熟悉感就是其中一个弱点。2010年，考埃尔退出，不再担当反派角色，评委小组经历了一次身份危机。

Ellen DeGeneres joined for Mr. Cowell’s final year but was too nice to be comfortable with judging. The show fished for star power and cred with Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. In the 2013 season, the open tension between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj was America’s best telenovela but a distraction²⁶ from the contestants.

在考埃尔任评委的最后一年，艾伦·德杰纳里斯(Ellen DeGeneres)加入进来，但是她太和善，对评判别人感到不适。节目组继续寻找大腕，请来了詹妮弗·洛佩兹(Jennifer Lopez)和史蒂文·泰勒(Steven Tyler)。在2013年那一季中，玛利亚·凯莉(Mariah Carey)和妮基·米纳杰(Nicki Minaj)之间明显的不和成为美国最好的电视肥皂剧，不过转移了观众对选手的注意力。

The ratings declined, gently at first, and the “Idol” pop-star spigot began trickling²⁷ dust. The show stopped producing big new stars around the time that YouTube emerged as a musical force, and that’s probably no coincidence.

后来，收视率开始略微下降，《美国偶像》制造流行音乐明星的龙头开始生锈。在YouTube成为一股音乐势力之后，《美国偶像》造不出新的大明星了——这很可能不是巧合。

The problem for “Idol” was not so much that reality TV went away — it’s still all over cable and the networks — but that “reality,” the cultural force of authenticity and disintermediation, had dispersed²⁸ into social media.

美国偶像》的问题不是电视真人秀过气了——有线电视台和公共电视台还有很多真人秀节目——而是“真人”（真实性和非中介性的文化势力）消散到社交媒体中了。

“Idol,” both as TV show and talent platform, depended on your investment in the contestants as you watched them grow. (“The Voice” was in many ways a better music show, more current and less corny, but the competition among its judges overshadows that among the singers, which may be why it’s never created an “Idol”-scale star.)

作为一个电视节目和才艺展示平台，《美国偶像》靠的是你对选手的情感投入，靠的是你看着他们成长（从很多方面讲，《美国之声》[The Voice]是一个更好的音乐节目，更追随潮流，不那么煽情，但是评委之间的竞争盖过了歌手之间的竞争，这也许是它从未创造出一个“偶像”级明星的原因）。

Now social media creates that investment. It helps new artists break out (see the Vine star Shawn Mendes) and lets established ones like Taylor Swift and Kanye West make their Instagram and Twitter feeds into a kind of do-it-yourself(ie) reality show. Some of the biggest latter-era reality hits, like “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” are those that best integrate TV and social-media fame.

现在，社交媒体创造出了那种情感投入。它帮助新艺术家们取得突破（比如手机应用程序Vine上的明星肖恩·门德斯[Shawn Mendes]），让泰勒·斯威夫特(Taylor Swift)和坎耶·韦斯特(Kanye West)等明星把自己的Instagram和Twitter发文变成一种自助（包括自拍）真人秀。近期最热门的一些真人秀是把电视与社交媒体的名声结合得最好的节目，比如《与卡戴珊姐妹同行》(Keeping Up With the Kardashians)。

“Idol” tried to harness this power, implementing²⁹ Twitter voting and hashtagging itself to distraction. It only seemed sadder for it. “Idol” had become what it was born to be the antithesis³⁰ of: the old music business.

美国偶像》努力利用社交媒体的影响力，采取Twitter投票的方式，疯狂地给自己加标签。不过这只是让它显得更悲哀。《美国偶像》已经成了它诞生时所对抗的东西：旧的音乐商业模式。

Curiously³¹, “Idol” became a pretty good TV show again these last couple of seasons. It’s moved beyond the Cowell-era idea that its singers are mere³² clay for judges to mold, casting more independent-minded performers. The current panel of Ms. Lopez, Harry³³ Connick Jr. and Keith Urban is more craft-focused, offering musically detailed³⁴ and specific critiques. It became a kind of classy, almost niche, music-nerd show (with diminished ratings to match).

奇怪的是，《美国偶像》的最近几季再次变得非常精彩。它已经超越了考埃尔时代的观念——歌手只是粘土，要靠评委塑造——而是挑选了更多具有独立思想的表演者。目前由洛佩兹、小哈里·康尼克(Harry Connick Jr.)和基思·厄本(Keith Urban)组成的评委小组更注重技艺，提供从音乐角度讲详细而具体的批评意见。它变成一种经典的——几乎是小众的——专注音乐的节目（收视率也随之降低）。

But by that point, it had grown too huge (and, like most aging hits, too expensive) to shrink and survive. “American Idol” defined itself by the standard of megastardom, which holds that once you make it big, the only answer is to swell³⁵ bigger and bigger, like a balloon. Until, finally, you go pop.

但是，它现在已经变得非常庞大（和大部分播了很久的热门节目一样，也变得非常昂贵），很难缩小规模并存活下去。《美国偶像》按照巨星的标准定义自己，那就意味着，它一旦变大，只会膨胀得越来越大，就像气球一样——直到最后破裂。