American Idol

I swore I’d never again do it, but then I went ahead and did it anyway, watch American Idol, that is. They were down to the final ten last night, so we said to hell with it, let’s see what kind of singers they are. I wasn’t very impressed. They were doing the Billy Joel songbook, and only Colton Dixon thought enough of “Piano Man” to do it, and do it pretty well. And Phillip Phillips with “Moving out” was excellent, as was Erika Van Pelt with “New York State of Mind” and a brand new look with her now black, short hairdo that Tommy Hilfiger suggested. My third choice of the evening is Elise Testone and “Vienna.” The rest were only average at best. No one tried Joel’s “And So It Goes,” maybe his very best song. They all may have realized that with that song there’d be no hiding place, no loud background singers to cover up their deficiencies. I realize that Idol is as much about performance as singing, thus their emphasis on wardrobe and hairstyles. But I’m more interested in their singing than anything else. I think that when they get down to the final five, they should make each of them sing the same song, each singing it a cappella. That would give the viewer a perfect comparison of their singing abilities. We could separate the wheat from the chaff. But that will never happen. What did I find still there that drove me away from it after last season? They still had that irritating Ryan Seacrest as host with his irritating smile. And they still insist on using that front row of women who wave their arms like sea anemone during performances. And, of course, they still have that irritating Steven Tyler. Who do I think will be the one to go? The bottom three will be DeAndre Brackensick, Hollie Cavanagh, and Heeun Han, with Han getting the pink slip. I could be very wrong, though. The voters always seem to jump over the best singers to keep the average. In the past four seasons, the best never won, and the Scotty McCreerys prevailed.