On January 1, 2007, I made five not-so-bold predictions about “Idol.” Let’s see how I did.

1 - After five consecutive seasons in which the show’s popularity increased, this will be the season folks will start complaining that it has jumped the shark and ratings fall a modest 5 percent. That’s not enough for Fox to panic but other networks gleefully chuckle to themselves that Fox’s savior may have seen its best days in the rear-view mirror.

Wow. I hit the mark perfectly on this one. Although the results show was up slightly, the performance show dropped about 5 percent while 18-49 numbers dropped even further.

2 - Simon gets nastier. Is it possible? Of course! He’s now insanely rich and working on so many other shows that his occasional irascible boredom escalates.

Hmmm… I can’t say if this one worked out. I didn’t sense Simon was any meaner than usual.

3 - The mid-season “surprise” one of the exec producers recently promised will be separating the remaining contestants by race. Oh, wait. “Survivor” did that already, didn’t they? Hmm… how could they possibly surprise us? Make us vote off two contestants in one week? Nahh… Fox isn’t going to waste a week like that. Have us vote for who we want OFF the show for one week, just to see what happens? Nope. I don’t see that one. An all-opera episode? Not a chance. Beautiful women enter the stage with numbered suitcases. Contestants pick a number and must sing the song that shows up in the case. That’d be a fine, desperate move. Bringing back already eliminated contestants to heckle the existing ones while they sing? Funny but not gonna happen. Actually, maybe they’ll give folks who were voted off a chance to get back on the show? That’s one “Survivor” did, too. Feel free to throw in your own suggestions.

This one was me kind of BSing off the top of my head, mostly facetiously. Actually, “Idol” did eliminate two in one week because of “Idol Gives Back,” the closest thing to a “surprise.”

4 - Corey Clark was booted in season two and Mario Vazquez quit before season four’s final 12 started. This year, somebody voluntarily quits mid-way through for some salacious reason.

Nope. Wrong. We only prayed that Sanjaya would voluntarily leave but nothing salacious happened here. And somehow, Antonella Barba almost made it to the final 12 despite modest vocal talent and those fun wet T-shirt photos will always be available on the Web!

5 - For the first time, the winner won’t be from the South or Oklahoma. The West Coast finally gets some love after Kat almost made it in 2006.

Okay. I should get partial credit for this one since Jordin is from Glendale, Ariz. That’s not quite the West Coast, but it’s the West.

On Tuesday, I will post five more predictions for 2008.

Oh, and only about 2 million people watched the finale of “Next Great American Band” last Friday. Not a shocker there and pretty much means a zero percent chance you’ll ever see that show again.