What does it say when the best part of the show featuring ‘the top three of the most talented season ever’ is a rocker doing a take on a 35-year old version of an even older ballad? What does it say when the biggest surprise of that same show is that Paula actually said something blunt and negative to a contestant? It says that American Idol has degraded into a parody of whatever positive qualities it once had.

My kids chose to get ready for bed early and read rather than watching the performances on Tuesday – things have gotten that bad. They knew the foregone conclusion – Syesha was leaving after overstaying her welcome for several weeks and making room for the pre-ordained ‘Battle of the Davids’.

The big story of the week was that David Archuletta’s father Jeff was banned from backstage because he is an obnoxious and overbearing stage parent. Apparently he has always been this way – and any parent with kids in sports or other competitive events knows the type! I still remember the guy who had two daughters on the same T-ball team as my younger son, and would coach and yell from the sidelines and try to get them to steal bases, take extra bases on hits (all hits are singles in T-ball), and take leads off base. Eventually the coach had to issue a gag order on him because the kids weren’t listening to the coaches anymore, just to the loudmouth jerk running things from the sidelines. That is one thing when you’re 5 … and another when you’re 17.

A few thoughts on the results show: those Ford ads keep getting worse; the group numbers are showcases of the lack of versatility and personality of the contestants; and whatever Fantasia was doing reminded me of my feeling that the producers are just trotting out old contestants in a desperate move to show relevence and to push record sales. Oh, and those ‘home visits’? They sure looked nice, but it all makes me wonder – how genuine is all of that? I remember a couple of years ago they had one where they couldn’t begin to cover up that it was a lame reception. Is that why they wait until the final three? How orchestrated are these things – how much is the producers working with the towns to earn positive TV time? I have no doubt that the kids felt overwhelmed, but I don’t believe the rest of it for a second.

As for the actual performances, I stand by my title. Three songs each … and all they told me was that the judges don’t know what they want, the singers need some serious help figuring out ‘who they are’ and the producers haven’t a clue what it looks like to be a contemporary artist.

Tags: Misc