Is American Idol Dead?

I just finished watching the finale of American Idol. I hadn't watched the rest of the season but I was curious about what everyone was talking about so I watched the finale. In the middle of the finale it occurred to me that this show has lost all of it's credibility. This is not news for some because blogs have been saying this forever but if you look at all of the past winners I hardly ever hear of them. If you forgot them here is the list of the previous winners:

1. Kelly Clarkson (Heard Of)
2. Ruban Studdard (Who?)
3. Fantasia Borrino (Ummm... maybe)
4. Carrie Underwood (Heard Of)
5. Taylor Hicks (Say WHAT??)
6. Jordin Sparks (Heard of)

So their you have it I only know 3 out of 6 of the American Idol winners. So the question is where did it go downhill? Some may say it was Ruban Studdard but he was talented and I thought had a possible future. Fantasia Borinno still makes music and did have talent. For me it all went downhill when Talylor Hicks won. Thats when it became a popularity contest. Like example how did Taylor Hicks beat out Katherine McPhee, Chris Daugtry, Elliot Yamin and Kellie Pickler? And by the way all of them have a bigger career than the actual winner. So just like everything else in reality TV instead of becoming a talent competition it has become a popularity contest.