Did you watch the season premiere of ‘American Idol‘ last night? I did. But, I was apparently among the decreasing few who did as ratings for the Fox show were down by almost 20%!

Entertainment Weekly reports ‘American Idol’ drew 17.9 million viewers and a 6.0 among adults in the 18-49 demo. That’s a 19% decrease from last year’s opening, which by the way already had set a low opening for the show.

What’s to blame for the decline in watchers? Is it reality-competition fatigue with stiff competition from The X Factor and The Voice? Or is it that people just did not buy into a hyped-up feud between Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey?

“People wonder if the fight was faked to get people talking about the new season,” one insider at Fox tells E! News. “It was not fake. And when the video came out, there was a lot of concern among Fox execs that there could be impact on the ratings. The judges need to be likable.”

Despite some stiff auditions and lackluster judging, there was some decent talent on the first night. Here are some notables from New York who made it through to Hollywood: Tenna Torres who once attended Fresh Air Fund’s Camp Mariah, formerly overweight Berklee College of Music student Christina “Isabella”, Israeli beauty Shira Gavrielov, who had a No. 1 hit in her home country, and Frankie Ford from Flatbush (Brooklyn), who left school to pursue music.

So, will you be tuning in tonight?