'American Idol' was once the biggest show in America. The singing competition was at the top of the reality show game. Now, it's not even the top show among three singing contests.

There were many factors that contributed to its fall from grace. It started with the departure of Simon Cowell to the decision of hiring self-absorbed diva judges. Critics also noted the lack of successful talent that the show has produced, since it is the show's reason for existence. The last AI winner that would be considered a success was Carrie Underwood, all the way from Season 4.

Another factor that turned off most viewers is the lack of diversity among its winners. From season 5 to season 11, only Jordin Sparks (season 6) did not fall into the stereotype of WGWG (white guy with guitar). It became clear that a certain demographic was taking control of the voting, and the WGWG winners beat out more deserving talent.

This prompted a group of 10 former contestants to charge the show for racism. They argued that the producers of the show had sabotaged their chances to win by painting them as 'the black criminal' stereotype. The actual details from the lawsuit (from Billboard):

"Rather than allow them to compete for the valuable prizes on the basis of their individual merit as artists, the program's top senior executives, British showrunners Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick ran interference on them, sabotaging their promising careers as recording artists and gutting them of the opportunity they rightfully earned to become the next American Idol. Why? Because the Plaintiffs' identities could be used to scandal-monger Nielsen ratings while reinforcing the age-old stereotype of the 'black criminal.'"

In other words, it was not about the elimination through public voting. It's about the disqualifications due to 'other causes.' The plaintiffs present this data to support their claim:

"A staggering thirty-one percent (31%) of every American Idol Semi-Finalist contestant [Top 24, Top 36-40] who happened to be a young Black male was disqualified from the singing competition for reasons wholly unrelated to their singing talent. Even though there were three (3) times as many White (or non-black) contestants featured on American Idol over the course of ten years, there has never been a single White (or non-black) contestant disqualified from American Idol - not ever."

The American Idol producers have files a motion to dismiss the case.

The response of the producers also uses numbers. The Hollywood Reporter shared the defendant's arguments: "By their own allegations, from the show's inception, approximately one-third of the 'Golden Ticket' winners (who advance beyond the open auditions and travel to Hollywood), have been African American. Plaintiffs also allege that approximately one-third of American Idol's semi-finalists have been African American. During the show's twelve seasons, four of the winners have been African-American. African-Americans thus have participated in key stages of the contest at more than double their proportion of the country's population."

As they addressed the issue of racism in the selection process, they also address the disqualification aspect: "Here, there was no misrepresentation," The contracts provide that defendants have discretion not only to disqualify contestants at any time, but to disqualify them for the specific reasons that plaintiffs were disqualified."

The American Idol producers state that the plaintiff's lawsuit takes away their right to make a decision on disqualifications, and also, on how to present the contestant's profile and backstories since it is a work of art, not journalism. "As an expressive work, American Idol is entitled to the First Amendment's full protection." (THR)