American Idol
It is saying a lot when one man can carry an entire show. It says even morewhen the person is just one of three judges giving their opinion on whoshould advance in a talent competition from one round to the next. But thisis exactly what is happening with the FOX series "American Idol" and recordproducer Simon Cowell. Cowell is the British import who shot to fame bydishing out insults to wannabe stars for the immensely popular Europeanversion, "Pop Idol." He has continued throwing the barbs here in America.Throughout the first episode, featuring open auditions, he spared nofeelings in giving his honest opinion. Telling one contestant he is theworst singer in America and giving legal advice to another woman byadvising her to sue her singing coach are just a few of the true insultslevied at the contestants.
Cowell's comments, however, aren't just offered for a reaction - he speaksthe truth. At least that's how it appears. Never has there been a showwhere one person can tell an egomaniac they have absolutely no talent.Seeing the utter shock in the contestant's eyes was reason enough to tuneinto the program. That was the whole point of the first episode anyway -to give a dose of reality to these star wannabes. It grabbed the audiencefor future episodes and Cowell is the lone reason why "American Idol" is sopopular. Now, there are other components here, as well, to make thisseries a hit. Along with Cowell, there are two other judges, Paula Abduland Randy Jackson. Abdul is the failed singer who can't seem to say a badthing about anyone in the competition and Paula is more comic relief thananything, showing she really has no idea what she is doing or saying.Jackson is a round, sunglass-wearing record producer who seems to get moreand more jealous of Cowell as the weeks roll on. It has been the best partof the show so far.
No doubt believing he, himself, would become a star like Cowell, Jacksonhas only been pushed off into the shadows in the series where his feelingof rejection caused him to make a complete joke of himself by challengingCowell to fight in the middle of a broadcast. While Cowell sat in his seatwith a smile on his face, you could tell Jackson was grasping at straws forsomeone, anyone, to talk about him. Jackson's bone of contention was thisspiel made by Cowell on Tuesday's episode:
"Seriously, we have to get this competition back on track. In the last twoepisodes, two losers have been chosen for one reason and, one reason only -it was the sympathy vote and had nothing to do with talent. I think someof the talent has been sensational and I think other people have beenchosen for the wrong reasons and I'm fed up with it." The use of the word"losers" infuriated Jackson, but his over-the-top reaction, if not staged,was completely unprofessional and laughable.
Only cohosts Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman (along with Abdul) giveJackson any kind of support and that is only because everyone on the showseems to hate Cowell. Speaking of the cohosts, these two green televisionpersonalities are just as bad as Abdul, giving the contestants "props" nomatter how bad their performances are while chastising Cowell for anynegative comments.
Ah, the contestants. . .I didn't forget them. First approved by the judgesand, then, by the American public, the final nine have been chosen fromthousands of auditions. A 10th person will be chosen on next week's episode(Tuesday, 9pm/8c) to set up the final showdown where one person will begiven a multimillion dollar recording contract.
Among the group of finalists chosen by the people, Tamyra Gray, 21, andJustin Guarini, 23, have the best shot of taking home the prize. On theother end of the spectrum, A.J. Gil, 17, and Jim Verraros, 19, were chosenon what Cowell called the "sympathy vote." It didn't take a recordproducer to see that Gil gave the worst performance of his group and didnot deserve to be voted into the top 10, proving the American public mostlikely voted him in for the punishing remarks made by Cowell. In any case,it has set up an interesting competition among the final 10 - not just onlyamong the talent, but the judges as well.
For the regular fan with no interest in pop singers, the whole point oftuning in is to hear what Cowell will say next - and I am among thosepeople. Even if the show gets to the point when there are no more negativecomments to be made, a loyal following will have been established. For ashow given little chance to succeed because of two previous failed versionson other networks, everyone associated with this series should thank Cowellfor making "American Idol" a hit.