American Idol musings...

I am sad when Cowell left American Idol. Watching the show without Simon Cowell is worrying me because without a devil's advocate, the show, I fear, will become errr....mushy. Cowell's bluntness and Britishness and unpredictability (well sometimes he is) adds flavor to the show. Also his criticisms, though they hit hard and painfully, is mostly justified and correct. Well he is gone, not dead I mean, but the show is doing well without him.

Steven Tyler (I have always known him as Steve) and Jennifer Lopez, the new judges, is proving to be very good and entertaining judges. I have reservations about Steven Tyler because he is a hard rocker. I fear that he would be too hard to the contestants. Steve (before becoming Steven) belongs to the old school rockers. These rockers, the pioneer of hard rock and heavy metal, have bad reputations. They are famous for their notoriety, drugs, sex, violence etc. during their heyday in the late 60's to the early 80's that they are called anti-christs, devils , demons, etc, especially Ozzie Osborne of Black Sabbath because his theatrical concerts includes eating bats and mocked beheading. They are the parent's enemy no. 1 because of their hold over their children. Well things are different now. They are now senior citizens. My friend once showed me a video of a Black Sabbath concert where Ozzie Osborne suffered a broken hip when he tried to do what he thought he could, he jumped on the stage. Funny. But the accident showed that rockers are becoming brittle (or soft) as they age.

Anyway, after a few episodes, my reservations is proving to be wrong. Steven, though he uses the "F" word a lot, is a sensitive and a politically correct judge. (The "F" word is slowly losing its power, and according to linguists words lose their meanings when they are misused. Maybe in a few decades the "F" word will have a very different meaning from what it is now.) Truth to tell, I am a little disappointed because I am expecting a very rowdy Steve and not a very proper...err... a relatively proper Steven. Though sometimes I disagree with his choices for the obvious reasons, but as a veteran musician, maybe he is seeing something else from the contestants that I can not. I thought he would the bad lubot in the panel but, I'm glad I am wrong. I am seeing his good and soft side (as far TV could tell).

J Lo, as expected, is not unlike Paula Abdul. She talks a lot about authenticity, being real to yourself, about being honest to the art. She's emotional. The problem is that she says the most positive thing that I can't tell if she is just being nice! But her positive comments meant a lot to the contestants. I can see how the contestants' eyes shine with hope every time she gives encouraging remarks.

Alas, Randy Jackson is taking the place of Simon Cowell. He is now the primary source of negativity in the show.

The judges' chemistry is very good. Abangan ang susunod mga susunod na kabanata...