American Idols Live! tour cancels seven concerts, reschedules others

A season of lackluster ratings for reality television’s “American Idol” may be translating into lackluster ticket sales for its offshoot concert series.

The annual American Idols Live! outing, which features the top 10 contestants from the show’s most recent season, lately cancelled seven concert dates and rearranged others on the summer 2010 tour schedule.

Axed from the calendar are concerts booked for August 26 at Qwest Center in Omaha, NE; August 27 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO; September 10 at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY; September 11 at Quicken Loans arena in Cleveland, OH; and September 16 at Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, ME.

The tour’s only two remaining Canadian events — September 7 at MTS Centre in Winnipeg, MB, and September 9 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, ON — have also been stricken from the books.

In addition to the seven-show cancellation spree, the “Idol” itinerary also includes nine rescheduled concerts. Most dates were changed by just a few days to fill holes in the schedule. The biggest switch uprooted the original September 13 show in Bridgeport, CT, and replanted it at the end of this week — July 9 at the Arena at Harbor Yard.

As it stands now, there is an almost two-week break between the tour’s September 3 stop in Cincinnati and the final performance on September 14 in Pittsburgh. A report from USA Today‘s “Idol Chatter” blog suggested that the tour-closer could also be moved to close that gap.

The present itinerary for American Idols Live! is listed below.

Updates were made on Ticketmaster.com throughout the day on July 6, with the following notice posted alongside the cancelled shows: “Any tickets purchased by Ticketmaster Charge-By-Phone or Ticketmaster.com will be automatically credited back to the card used to order them. All tickets purchased at the box office or a Ticketmaster Ticket Center must be returned to the point of purchase to receive a refund.”

The American Idols Live! Tour launched July 1 at The Palace in Auburn Hills, MI. The tour resumes tonight, July 7, at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY.

Tonight’s metro New York show is currently part of a $10 ticket promotion on LiveNation.com, where fans can select up to eight tickets at the reduced price (plus a $6.25-per-ticket convenience fee). Full-price tickets for the show are set at $50.50 and $70.50.

Other dates of the tour also feature reduced prices and package offers. Live Nation is offering four-packs at $19.75 per ticket to the tour’s July 18 show in Mansfield, MA, where full prices range from $26 to $70.50. Ticketmaster also offers four-packs for select shows on its system.

Relatively speaking, 2010 was a difficult year for the “American Idol” franchise, even off the road. Though the show remains a ratings leader, television viewership declined drastically for the program compared to previous years.

When Season Nine wrapped in late May, crowning Lee DeWyze the winner and saying a final farewell to original judge Simon Cowell, an estimated 24.2 million viewers tuned in. Though an enviable number by regular Nielsen standards, it was the lowest for an “Idol” finale since the show’s first season, according to The New York Times.

Last year’s live tour ranked highly among concert-goers, thanks in large part to the participation of popular runner-up Adam Lambert. Ticket sales for the 2009 American Idols Live placed it at the top of TicketNews’ exclusive event rankings during the reporting weeks ending May 10, 2009 and May 24, 2009.

But the 2010 “Idol” season lacked a similar stand-out contestant to drive viewers and concert audiences. As a result, this year’s tour debuted and peaked in sixth place on the TicketNews rankings, but dropped off the rankings entirely after just three weeks.

American Idol itinerary:
(Dates are subject to change.)