I swore I'd not watch another season of American Idol after 2009's debacle.
I guess I wasn't sober. Actually, after watching last season's finale when Adam Lambert was placed as runner-up instead of winner, I wouldn't have been sober! As it has turned out though, it was all for the best - and probably all part of The Fix.
We watched the opening shows, on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. It'll be Simon Cowell's last season, Paula Abdul has already absconded, replaced on Tuesday, temporarily, by Victoria Beckham, late of The Spice Girls, wife of soccer player David Beckham. I posted about her when she first arrived on these shores ("Oh No! Posh Spice is Here!"). Victoria wouldn't really be suitable for a permanent post as Idol Judge, in spite of her musical background. This is AMERICAN Idol, so to have 50% of the judging panel British would be silly and unfair. Wednesday brought in Mary J. Blige as the temporary fourth judge. She is definitely unsuited for the job. She giggled without control at more than one hapless auditioner, without contributing anything useful. I'm beginning to think that singers are simply not going to make good judges. Mentors ? Perhaps. They certainly have their own talents, which are quite different from the skills needed for judging amateurs.
Ellen DeGeneres is reported to be joining the judging panel in February, for the rest of the season, after the rag-tag auditions are over. That fact alone makes it worth our while to watch one more season. Neith at Real Astrologers has a piece on Ellen's astrology "Ellen DeGeneres, Quirky Aquarius".
I shall no doubt be waffling about characters who stand out from the Idol crowd as the weeks go by, and searching for birth dates. I accept that its all A Fix, stage managed, phoney as a $3 note, but there's something addictive about it, and I still love the idea of giving The Great Unwashed a chance to shine and, at the very least, experience a few brief seconds of "fame".
Indeed, indeed, Repentance of before
I swore--but was I sober when I swore?
And then and then came Spring, and Rose-in-hand
My thread-bare Penitence apieces tore.
(Omar Khayyam)
I guess I wasn't sober. Actually, after watching last season's finale when Adam Lambert was placed as runner-up instead of winner, I wouldn't have been sober! As it has turned out though, it was all for the best - and probably all part of The Fix.
We watched the opening shows, on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. It'll be Simon Cowell's last season, Paula Abdul has already absconded, replaced on Tuesday, temporarily, by Victoria Beckham, late of The Spice Girls, wife of soccer player David Beckham. I posted about her when she first arrived on these shores ("Oh No! Posh Spice is Here!"). Victoria wouldn't really be suitable for a permanent post as Idol Judge, in spite of her musical background. This is AMERICAN Idol, so to have 50% of the judging panel British would be silly and unfair. Wednesday brought in Mary J. Blige as the temporary fourth judge. She is definitely unsuited for the job. She giggled without control at more than one hapless auditioner, without contributing anything useful. I'm beginning to think that singers are simply not going to make good judges. Mentors ? Perhaps. They certainly have their own talents, which are quite different from the skills needed for judging amateurs.
Ellen DeGeneres is reported to be joining the judging panel in February, for the rest of the season, after the rag-tag auditions are over. That fact alone makes it worth our while to watch one more season. Neith at Real Astrologers has a piece on Ellen's astrology "Ellen DeGeneres, Quirky Aquarius". I shall no doubt be waffling about characters who stand out from the Idol crowd as the weeks go by, and searching for birth dates. I accept that its all A Fix, stage managed, phoney as a $3 note, but there's something addictive about it, and I still love the idea of giving The Great Unwashed a chance to shine and, at the very least, experience a few brief seconds of "fame".
Ah the Andy Warhol thing, you're in favour of, I see...
ReplyDeleteWell, any port in a storm, T!!!
XO
WWW
In the UK press it has been reported that Simon Cowell has turned down a $100m offer to stay with American Idol. He wants to do the X Factor in the US.
ReplyDeleteHe's in final negotiations with Sony to take back control of the TV formats X Factor and Britain's Got Talent. If he gets that, then he wants to put on an American version of them. So this may be the last series of American Idol in its present format.
Also reports that Paula Abdul has left cos she knows about the above and has been invited to join Simon on the American X Factor together with Cheryl Cole (Girls Aloud) and UK X Factor judge plus one other... watch this space
WWW ~~~ Yes - though 15 minutes is on the generous side for most of us. :-)
ReplyDeleteRossa ~~~ Thanks for the info.I hope he does bring us The X Factor - I saw one season of it in the UK and thought it a much better format than Pop Idol had been. I'm not too keen on Cheryl Cole as a judge here though. He should keep the panel all American apart from himself - if he's coming here to make piles of dosh, which he undoubtedly will, he ought to respect the thought that American taste is a wee bit different from British.
ReplyDelete;-)
I agree T about the judges being American. The 4th judge is reported as being Jay Z. That's Cowell's idea of a balance then....
ReplyDeleteRossa ~~~ Oh...groan! Not a rapper! Oh well, I'll suspend judgement 'til I've seen and heard his contributions. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the added info.