I don’t watch “American Idol” anymore. To be honest, I don’t know anyone who still watches “American Idol,” aside from my parents, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate the show and think it deserves all of the praise before it ends forever this week.

Last April, “The Voice” premiered on NBC and became an instant hit thanks to those big red chairs. Audiences were dazzled by the strange audition process, which featured four superstar judges (Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine) turning around when they heard a voice they could just not resist.

“The Voice,” NBC’s newest singing show that premiers Tuesday night at 8 p.m. CST, has an interesting twist that may prove to be just as gimmicky as it is unique—the blind audition.

It’s been television’s number one show since we were in middle school. It has a classic formula. It has launched the careers of dozens of singers—some much more successful than others, of course.

Thank you for ruining my favorite show. OK. Maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit. “American Idol” isn’t my favorite show, but it comes pretty close. Unfortunately, that’s not true anymore. “Idol” stole my heart during my senior year of high school, two years ago, when the writers’ strike destroyed the television landscape and took all my precious scripted shows away from me.

The life of a Wash. U. student is fairly stressful, and we all need a release at the end of the day. The easiest way for us to escape from tests, papers and studying galore is to fall into the wonderful world of television.