Why Nigel Lythgoe is a giant, flaming bag of douche
American Idol pretty firmly has set the judges’ formula for every performance reality show ever. Sure, the Randy Jackson role of a wise-yet-incomprehensible black dude is sometimes rotated and a bit of a wild card, but you’ve got two roles that remain steady. First, you have the potentially psychotic yes-woman Paula Abdul type with her weird way of talking, fame from a bygone era, and rampant pills/plastic surgery/botox. And then, of course, there is the Simon Cowell — the British guy who is a giant douchebag.
Since So You Think You Can Dance is made by the same people as American Idol, they naturally follow the sacred formula, only, as if to make up for a lack of a Randy Jackson replacement, they have made their Paula Abdul, Mary Murphy, extra crazy and botoxed, and they’ve made their Simon, Nigel Lythgoe, way, way more douchey.
See Jane Clack – So You Think You Can Dance vs. American Idol
We — as in, my household of two adults and two kids — love watching American Idol during the winter months. It comes on in January, just about the time we’re going stir-crazy here in the North Woods, and carries us into the spring months. I know Idol has gotten a bad rap lately, but it keeps us from killing each other during those long, cold, cabin-fever nights.
And just about the time Idol ends, we have another talent show to keep us interested into the summer: So You Think You Can Dance. I wouldn’t say it’s the life-and-death situation of American Idol, but it’s definitely a fun diversion from the hectic rush of our lives. And it’s hard not to compare the two shows, which is what I’m going to do right now.
American Idol: Giving good show
Glambert vs. Kute Kris. The Showdown. The second to last American Idol episode everyone would be watching … waiting to hear what they would sing … how they would interpret the songs … who would get the kudos.
Out of the gate came a shakey Adam, very vampiric and oh, so black and gloomy. “All around me are familiar faces … worn out spaces … worn out places …” swooned Adam in his opening song, a redux of his earlier “Mad World.” “I went to school and I was very nervous … no one knew me, no one knew me …” We all know you, Adam. You’re ingrained into our memories. And trust us: it’s a mad world indeed.
American Idol – something for everyone
Today’s Guest-clacker is Michael Noble, a married native Southern California family man. He is alive and well, and spouts off more often than he should and is currently embroiled in a Project 365 photo blog.
Ain’t it a kick how everyone has their own little quirks and kinks about this show?
“He’s darling.”
“She can’t sing to save her life.”
“He’s icky.”
“She has to win … and it’s a crime if she doesn’t!”
“Why does Simon flatten his hair and part it down the middle like that anyway? I love his “way,” but he looks like such a goober!”
You see: That’s the draw of American Idol. There’s something in it for everyone. If you like singing, well … there it is. If you can’t stand the singing, there’s the drama. What? No drama? How ’bout the comedy — intentional and otherwise? Whazat? Comedy not your thing? Well, there’s always the gaffs and boners that inevitably get tossed out with unassuming glee by Seacrest and Company.
But it comes down to the fact it is a singing competition (though … there are nights we wonder about that) …. and with Most Popular Downloads being the theme of the week, let’s get an oh-so-dismal episode under our belts:
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American Idol stream-of-consciousness
Oh, how I wish I had live-blogged this week’s American Idol performances. It was ripe — ripe, I tell you! — with fodder for discussion. Part comedy, part tragedy, it was akin to Shakespeare … well, no. But let’s try to relive it through my stream-of-consciousness post; I hope it doesn’t make you miss the live-blog too much.
Please Simon, pick the songs. In real life, these people would have producers, managers, someone with some common sense to help them not torture the audience … I mean, to help them entertain the audience to the best of their ability.
Idol’s Top 36 — really? – Open Letters
Dear Simon, Paula, Randy and Kara,
Apparently your producers value weirdness more than talent. I say producers because I can’t possibly believe that you are responsible for three people making the top 36 that just plain shouldn’t be there.
First, Norman Gentle, or whatever his real name is. I swear, they had to have put your laughter in after the fact, because you couldn’t have really been laughing at his performances. Perhaps at him, but not his shtick. He’s not funny, and his voice isn’t good enough to make it to the top 36. I can only believe that he is there for the personality factor, or should I say spectacle factor. There are lots of unique personalities behind the actual singers, if you actually give them the spotlight once in a while.
OMG, Idol was great last night!
I wrote recently about my love/hate relationship with American Idol. There have been some pretty horrendous audition episodes so far this season, and I didn’t expect much different from last night’s combined “New York”/Puerto Rico auditions. In case you didn’t know, the “New York” is because the auditions were actually held in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which is as much New York as Portugal is Spain. But, I digress.
I was seriously, utterly, completely entertained by last night’s installment of American Idol! In fact, I don’t think I was annoyed in the least little bit by this episode. It was free of bad-audition sing-alongs, which irk me to no end, and in fact, even a lot of the bad auditions they showed weren’t that bad. They were just normal people who didn’t make the cut, for the most part. Simon even talked to the boss of a girl who didn’t make it through, to help her get her job back because she had quit to be part of the show.
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