Idol Rant

I have been sort of a closet American Idol watcher for years. In days past Wednesday would be filled with emails going back and forth between to a couple of my buddies who were also "closeted". All comedy writers, we would try to find new ways of insulting each others manhood for liking a favorite contestant. One of our trio died. Ref: Tom The two of us tried to keep it going for half the next season, but it was never the same.

This year American Idol has "jumped the shark" for me. Two hours is much to long of a show. There are too many people at once. You lose focus and can't really pick a favorite out of the field. Picking favorites is what drives the show. Once the winner graduates into the record industry they become just another cog in the music marketing business. How we feel about them is shaped by the budget of videos and professional image makers. Some of the past fun was trying to figure out who would get booted off. Remember Sanjaya? He hung on for weeks and weeks, now that was fun.

Having a fourth judge also slows things down. She is fine and what she has to say is relevant, but it becomes repetitious. There just aren't that many different things to say about a performer. You hear a lot of the phrase, "I agree with... whomever." I don't know why they felt the need for a new judge. She is a distraction to the personalities that we have grown to know.

The show has always been about what Simon has to say. In fact I think the subtitle for the show is "Simon Says". Contestants are mostly performing for his admiration. With three judges he always went last. They made us wait for the Times Review. Now they rotate and in some cases his review is first.

Four judges breaks the "rule of three". If you have never heard of the rule of three you haven't spent enough time around comics. In the construction of a routine, you need three concepts to make it work. If you tag a joke, you tag it with three toppers. You need at least three call backs. There are three twists to a good story. Three legs to a stool, three strikes your out. A fourth judge is not efficient and adds nothing to the flow of the show.

The lame Ryan Seacrest announced last night that the show would be altered in a way that would change the destiny of some of the contestants and as he put it... Essentially change the show. Simon will announce the change tonight. I think they have already changed the show essentially and this new approach probably will not help.

I think I have said too much. I now have to imagine the insults my friend Tom Amunsen would hurl at my manhood for such a blog as this. His Wednesday morning wit would have made this all more fun. You were taken too soon, my friend. We miss you, Tom. I end, as always, with your sign off.
AS YOU WERE,
Jay

See you in Rochester