Austin Escorts: ‘American Idol’ lowers age limit to 15
Lowering the eligibility age to 15 may not make much of a difference in the upper half of the final round, either. After all, the Season 9 teens had pretty much been winnowed out by the Top Four, and the last teens to finish in the Top Two were Season 7 runner-up David Archuleta and Season 6 champ Jordin Sparks.
It does, however, open up greater possibilities for a true teen heartthrob to emerge from the show, for Idol to find the equivalent of a Justin Bieber (who’s now 16) or a slightly older Greyson Chance (still just 12). Factor in the announcement that Idol will accept online auditions via MySpace, and it’s pretty clear the producers hope to create a viral sensation along the lines of Chance or General Larry Platt, just eligible to compete. (But if you think the show pimps its favorite contestants now, wait till you see what happens when one of them gets 10 million YouTube hits under his or her belt.)
See the full article from “USA Today”