AceShowbiz - Clay Aiken, the multi-platinum recording artist who rose to fame on American Idol in 2003, has criticized the "American Idol" ' current judges for being "too soft." In an interview with Us Weekly, Aiken recalled how the judges' feedback during his season helped him and other contestants improve their performances.

"We cared what the judges said because we wanted to avoid their criticism and take it to heart," said Aiken. "They would tell us to sing less ballads or sing something uptempo, and we would make a point to improve ourselves."

Aiken noted that the evolution of contestants in the show's early seasons could be traced to the feedback they received from judges Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell. However, he believes that this is no longer the case.

"Judges today give the contestants a lot of praise, saying 'you did a lovely job' or 'you're a great star,' " said Aiken. "I think some of them could be so much better if they were pushed a little bit more."

Aiken pointed to season 23 winner Iam Tongi as an example of a contestant who did not receive enough constructive criticism. "He's an amazing singer, but he stayed doing the same thing every episode," said Aiken. "That's not helping him grow."

Aiken believes that the judges' lack of criticism could contribute to the show's declining ratings and eventual cancellation. "We could save so much time if we skipped over the fluff and went straight to the substantial feedback," he said.

Despite not being a regular viewer, Aiken keeps up with "American Idol" 's latest news and has recently returned to music with the release of his Christmas album, "Christmas Bells Are Ringing".