And So It Begins… Again: American Idol
That’s right! American Idol is on tonight for its new season starting with the typical 2-hour sections of the show which usually showcase the good, the bad, and the Really BAD. Idol time is actually a pretty fun run. Maria and I have found ourselves over the last year or two really enjoying watching the potential train wreck that is American Idol. The last, however many, seasons were not of any particular interest to me though I’ll admit that I would at least tune in occasionally to stay up on the series. I have Howard Stern and his American Idol commentary to thank for any interest in the show. I really felt (and still do to some degree) that American Idol is everything that is wrong with music today. In my opinion a musician is more than just a singer and an American Idol should be MUCH more than just a singer. You can see the trend as you go down through former winners of the show. Kelly Clarkson did well for the first winner and seemed to at least have a career. Ruben Studdard (forgive me for the spelling) just disappeared. I remember seeing a poster of him in AC the year after he won and then nothing. Fantasia Barrino apparently couldn’t even read but somehow she won and for what reason? No clue! Carrie Underwood was the country gal who made a good name for herself in the country music scene… which honestly I think I could make a name for myself in the country music scene… so I’m sure you can figure out my opinion on that. Who was the old guy? The New Orleans insurgent and blues man? Ah, Taylor Hicks, yeah, he went the way of the Dodo as well… maybe he’s still rockin’ that blue show down south. Then there was Jordin Sparks. Big gal, big singer, but then what? I think she did some appearances and maybe sung the national anthem a few times but not too much else. Last year’s winner, David Cook, has seemingly had the best career so far of any of the Idols. I attribute this to Idols rules changing last year to include instruments. Once again, it takes more than a voice to be an American Idol. In my opinion to have any success you should be able to play an instrument. It’s true that a persons voice could be an instrument, but it seems that the market for acapella singers is lacking and I would much rather listen to instrumental music than acapella singing.
In theory, if the current cycle of Idols continues to go as it has, it looks like we wont have another successful American Idol for another 2 years. Of course if American Idol keeps it’s musical instrument rule in tact there could be a well-received break from the not-so-hot history of Idol winners. Take a look below. I feel this is a pretty good representation of the winners so far:
• Season 1 – Kelly Clarkson :: Success
• Season 2 – Ruben Studdard :: Epic Fail
• Season 3 – Fantasia Barrino :: EPIC FAIL!
• Season 4 – Carrie Underwood :: Success
• Season 5 – Taylor Hicks :: Fail
• Season 6 – Jordin Sparks :: Fail
• Season 7 – David Cook :: Success
The other reason(s) Maria and I love Idol is watching Paula Abdul further self-destruct in her vapid, egocentric and fairly drunk or drugged commentary. I don’t think we watched an episode last year where we didn’t think, “What the heck is in that Coke cup?” Remember when the Idols did two songs and Paula critiqued BOTH of David Cook’s songs before the second one was even sung? Yeah, you can play off stupid as long as you want, Paula, but we know what’s really going on! We are looking forward to Paula’s sidekick Randy picking another term to abuse… “You’re a little pitchy, dawg”… and then for the two of them to always agree and gang up on Simon. Simon, which could be ascertained by some as the only reason to watch the show, will hopefully pull out even more this year while criticizing Paula. It’s become more apparent, to us at least, that Simon is on board with the rest of sane American in thinking Paula is a whack-job. This year we’ll also have a new judge. I’m not sure who she is but I had heard that she was a friend of Paula’s… I also heard that she is the potential replacement for Paula next year… will sparks fly? I hope so! What I really want from American Idol is a REAL person judge… like myself… (just throwing that out there). I’m far enough detached from being a super-fan and I’m more than familiar with good music to make a very good judgment on whether or not a person can entertain and be an American Idol. I’m sure we will keep everyone updated on the Idol progress and our GREAT opinions on the whole deal. Im sure I’ll have more tomorrow after we actually watch!
Lancaster, PA
