‘American Idol’: Everyone Goes To Hollywood!
Yesterday we found out the kind of judging we’re in for this season of American Idol – basically, none – and tonight’s audition round in New Orleans showed us another change the show is taking in its tenth year on the air: the focus on good contestants over bad ones. Plus, Steven donned an itty bitty top hat! Jennifer had a cry-off with a sob-story-aided contestant! And Randy, well, Randy’s Randy.
If you were a contestant hoping to score a Golden Ticket to Hollywood, well, you should have auditioned in New Orleans, because pretty much EVERYONE WENT TO HOLLYWOOD. (At least everyone us TV viewers were allowed to see.) It took forty minutes into the duration of last night’s episode to have a contestant worthy of mockery and a swift, unanimous no. We’re pretty sure we can say taking this long to give a terrible singer airtime has never happened before on any audition round in the history of Idol.
The reason for this change from laughing at the clueless freaks to celebrating promising talent is easy: there’s no one creative (or honest) enough on the judges’ panel anymore to deliver insults sharp enough to be entertaining. (The closest we got was Randy telling one tone deaf contestant auditioning with “Bad Romance” that he was “terrible.”) Nigel Lythgoe must have realized this, and decided to give these rounds a more positive spin instead trying to do what Simon does best.
This poses the question: does America want to root for people, or laugh at them? We think both, which might be trouble when the show loses out on the demographic who just watch the show to pick people apart. We’ll have to see how well AI does focusing on the emotional side rather than the campy, sideshow aspect.
If there’s one thing we do love, and that Idol will never tire of, it’s makeovers! Geek to chic! Frumpy to fabulous! Nerdy Clay Aiken to a slightly more stylish nerdy Clay Aiken! And if 16-year old Brett Loewenstern, an “It Gets Better” message in the form of a curly-haired outcast expertly singing “Bohemian Rhapsody”, gets fairly far into the competition, there’s no doubt producers will put him in a three-piece suit and crop that Rihanna-esque mop of red hair within an inch of its life:
What did you guys think of the New Orleans auditions? Anyone promising? Or were you just too captivated by Steven Tyler’s 65-year old abs of steel?
