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American Idol 2.0
Jan. 20th, 2011 03:43 pmConfession time, I'm a fan of Simon Cowell. I think that he goes too far sometimes and can be rude to no good purpose, but I generally thought his criticisms were accurate. He was able to tell people with limited talent the limitations they were exhibiting. That's a good trait for a reality show judge to have. Nobody on the new show seems to have this same sort of razor tongued insight.
That said, however, I like what the new people bring to this very tired concept. American Idol has been dull as ditch water for the last five years, if you ask me. I stopped actually watching it and generally just let it play. Though for the last three years that was only to see one or two people and I had to turn the sound down for the rest of them. The year Adam Lambert was on, I recorded the show so I could skip most of the performances. I kept asking if America was this devoid of talent or if the producers of the show were just completely tone deaf or if there was a limit on talented exhibitionists.
Anyway, I understand the show's ratings dropped by 13 points from last year's premiere. And I can believe it when you factor in a show that has lost the main attraction and also has a worn to the bone concept. The premiere didn't do any favors for itself by having a self-congratulatory 30 minute intro all about how great the NEW judging panel was going to be, complete with the RIGHT STUFF slo-mo side-by-side striding toward camera. PUH-LEEZ! And then we had a series of softball contestants with lovely stories and voices. And when they, for some unknown reason, put the spotlight on a girl who seriously needs to be medicated, the bonehead judges put her through to Hollywood. Okay, I might have weakened when she fell to her knees and started crying, too. I felt really sorry for her. But SIMON would have told her to get back on the meds and try again next year. And that would be the correct thing to tell her. She was able to sing, but nobody is doing her a favor by encouraging her to freak out like she did in a professional audition.
That said, I am looking forward to tonight, because as the second day wore on I noticed that Steve Tyler got bitchier and J-Lo got bolder and I think by the end of this audition marathon, we will see people who aren't afraid to tell it like it is. I think most of what we saw last night was the AI editorial team trying to make everyone love the new judges. The strategy backfired, but hopefully, they can recut so we have some more hard truths. I do think Steve Tyler might warm up to the idea of cutting people off at the knees.
That said, however, I like what the new people bring to this very tired concept. American Idol has been dull as ditch water for the last five years, if you ask me. I stopped actually watching it and generally just let it play. Though for the last three years that was only to see one or two people and I had to turn the sound down for the rest of them. The year Adam Lambert was on, I recorded the show so I could skip most of the performances. I kept asking if America was this devoid of talent or if the producers of the show were just completely tone deaf or if there was a limit on talented exhibitionists.
Anyway, I understand the show's ratings dropped by 13 points from last year's premiere. And I can believe it when you factor in a show that has lost the main attraction and also has a worn to the bone concept. The premiere didn't do any favors for itself by having a self-congratulatory 30 minute intro all about how great the NEW judging panel was going to be, complete with the RIGHT STUFF slo-mo side-by-side striding toward camera. PUH-LEEZ! And then we had a series of softball contestants with lovely stories and voices. And when they, for some unknown reason, put the spotlight on a girl who seriously needs to be medicated, the bonehead judges put her through to Hollywood. Okay, I might have weakened when she fell to her knees and started crying, too. I felt really sorry for her. But SIMON would have told her to get back on the meds and try again next year. And that would be the correct thing to tell her. She was able to sing, but nobody is doing her a favor by encouraging her to freak out like she did in a professional audition.
That said, I am looking forward to tonight, because as the second day wore on I noticed that Steve Tyler got bitchier and J-Lo got bolder and I think by the end of this audition marathon, we will see people who aren't afraid to tell it like it is. I think most of what we saw last night was the AI editorial team trying to make everyone love the new judges. The strategy backfired, but hopefully, they can recut so we have some more hard truths. I do think Steve Tyler might warm up to the idea of cutting people off at the knees.