Idol Playthings

Since its premiere 21 years ago this summer, American Idol has been a cultural kingmaker. But what did it really do with all that attention? This week, Off Key breaks the format and spends the whole show tracing the winding legacy of a show that promised to find the next big star, and see if they ever got it right. With two decades of hindsight and record sales, we have a better idea of who really won once the cameras stopped rolling. Some past winners sang on a couple of the oddest hit songs ever made. Some were pawns in massive conspiracies. Some reshaped the next 20 years of pop history. It’s no wonder America couldn’t get enough. (I tried to make this as interesting as I could, but this episode is very chart heavy. I still like it.)