Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Idol is back!

A few quick thoughts on American Idol last night:

A good solid beginning to the show, although I could have done without the patting on the back about how great AI is at the beginning of the show (we know, that's why we're watching). I also was kind of disappointed that in that opening few minutes, they felt the need to show us the clips of so many of the good singers we'll be seeing over the next few weeks. I guess that's a response to the very legitimate complaints of past years that they focus too much on the freaks and bad singers--but I like a little surprise, not knowing if the next person is going to be great or awful. Then again, it's been 12 hours since I watched the show, and I can't remember what any of those singers looked like except the few we've seen on the TV commercials, so this is probably a dumb complaint. And I did appreciate that there didn't seem to be as many mentally disturbed auditioners this year (or at least they didn't show them to us) as in past years.

Anyway, funniest guy last night was certainly the sherrif singing "I Shot the Sherrif" over and over. None of the good singers last night really were that memorable, except for the various sets of twins and sisters--all of whom were pretty good.

Did Simon seem a little different last night? He was even shorter than usual with some people--I guess he got rid of the guy dressed as the Statue of Liberty because he felt that when he started singing "New York, New York," he was just a gimmick/novelty act, but still, let him at least finish a LINE of the song. Simon also seemed a little less interested in insults and weird remarks--he didn't tell anyone they should be singing on a boat or a Brazilian nightclub or anything like that. Of course, he did tell that kid he looked like a wasp, and that other guy he sounded like an "auntie," so he hasn't completely gotten rid of the odd remarks.

And finally, did something about that "Lady Marmalade" bit at the end of the show seem not right to you? I thought when they showed these montages that it was a compilation of all the people who butchered that song in the audition. But not only do I highly doubt that many people would have sung "Lady Marmalade" (yeah, it gained renewed popularity with the cover by Pink, Aguilera, etc, but that was still a few years ago now), but a few of the people singing it we had seen audition with different songs earlier? Wasn't that the girl with the tan butchering "Lady Marmalade" near the end of the montage? Or was that another really tan, odd-looking girl? Not that I'm going to be staying up tonight worrying about it, but if they actually asked those auditioning to sing "Lady Marmalade" in addition to their prepared song, then of course they're going to butcher the words. Come on, Idol producers, we have enough bad singers. Do you have to create even more?

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Excellent write-up. And I think Simon may have been more curt than in the past, I think he had plenty of weird comments and behavior. I mean, how many times did he imitate a tortured cat after that one girl?

My problem is a) I can't tell the good from the bad anymore and b) I couldn't belive that Paula and Randy had that hyper goof go forward to Hollywood.

1/18/06, 5:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's a universal truth agreed upon: if I ever check this blog without advanced prompting, it will not have been updated.

1/20/06, 11:10 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Eric.

I enjoyed your Idol stuff. Are you going to be writing any more on the other episodes?

1/26/06, 9:33 AM  
Blogger Eric Fingerhut said...

Joe,

Yes, I will be posting regular Idol commentaries once we get to the elimination rounds, and periodic commentaires during the audition rounds. Look for one about this week's shows as soon as I can get my act together.

1/26/06, 12:08 PM  

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