Sedona Excentric

Todrick Hall and Lily Scott - two names only family and friends remember. They were contestants on 2010 American Idol. What a waste of talent. Didn't they know they were entering a popularity contest, whre someone with talent might possibly win, but no necessarily.
American Idol remains the only reality TV show my wife and I watch. Our love for music is the only draw, and we actually talk about the show, before, during and after. Todrick and Lily have musical talent, more than most of the remaining seven and quite possibly the only legitimate competition to Crystal Bowersox besides Lee DeWyze and Sioban Mangus. Following close behind was Lacey Brown. If this group were competing next week I believe the audience would be actually juding a vocal talent competition.
Instead, we are forced to watch a teenage boy gyrate his hips the same to an Elvis song as he does to an inspiration tune about Flying. But, because of his age and the age of the average text voter, he remains alongside the other talent-challended, Tim, who should have auditioned for Glee or an UltraBright commercial. Casey, the Bob Seger of the group is a rock star, just not an Idol. The super-sized brother, Mike, has the gentlest voice among them, but that's his limit - Luther Vandross tunes, romantic balads.
I usually blog, though it's been a while, about social, economical or political issues, but after a show revives memories of performing music and currently being of the age when you want to see everyone to succeed, I felt compelled to vent the frustration viewers create with their selections, which, by the way are often guided by the "judges" especially the musical Machiavelli, Simon Cowell, whose interests seem to be inspired purely by the marketability of each contestant and how much more money he can make off of them.
Let's review, nay, judge, the judges. Randy Jackson - finally learning not to call everyone Dawg and everything he doesn't like, pitchy. His weight loss seems to have given him a new vocabulary - "I just didn't get it." He also seems to favor, "I don't know." Well, Randy a judge has to know. Either the performance was worthy of them returning or it wasn't. Last night he gave us interesting choice and okay karaoke praise to Tim Urban, who butchered an inspriational tune from the Goo Goo Dolls followed by the big pipes appraisal of Aaron Kelly on a song that was way too big for this youngster. It's as if Randy now sets the tone for, okay we need to keep our young viewers tuning in, so let's not bash these guys who shouldn't be here in the first place.
Kara DioGaurdi -  a woman who has never met a camera she didn't think loved her. A cardboard cutout with a massive overdressed wardrobe could replace her easily with a recording of "You are in the zone" and "I just don't know who you are." Give me a break. You're not there to know who someone really is or not - you're there to evaluate their vocal ability on that song on that given night. Either it was good or it was bad.
Simon Cowell - the man who single-handedly revived the stock values of Hanes and Fruit of the Loom. How dare he judge someone on their attire? Especially Siobhan, whose wardrobe must be provided by some futurist designer. For vocal purity, nobody comes close to Siobhan, who could benefit from some coaching with her arrangements, but is the only "big pipes" singer on that stage this season. Back to Cowell - it's as though he has resigned as the insensitive pit bull he was when Paula Abdul was there to offer emotional balance. Now, he seems to be calculating what songs he would record with each singer while mildly paying any attention to their performance. Perhaps he is ready to move on.
Ellen DeGeneres - no doubt, the best thing that happened to this show since its debut. Her wit not only entertains and disarms the viewer as well as the contestant, but her ability to hear talent and appreciate diversity places her in a judge's robe of her own. I hope she'll stay.
Each year, my wife and I attempt to guess who the texters will remove from their list of favorites. Let's face it, these are the people who are going to be buying their favorites' tunes, so they should be the ones to decide who it will be. By definition, they crown their American Idol.
People do make careers from reality contests - remember Star Search? How about Britney Spears, Beyonce Knolls, Alanis Morrisette, Justin Timberlake, Norm McDonald, Tiffany, Aaliyah, Brad Garrett, Leann Rimes, Christina Aguilera even Drew Carey and Rosie O'Donnell? All appeared, but didn't necessarily win on Star Search.
If the music gods are watching this year's Idol contest, they are surely amused and amazed by Crystal Bowersox, possibly the purest raw talent to ever step on that stage. Too bad she won't be competing with Lily Scott, who hopefully can forge a successful career like the losers from Star Search.
Wouldn't it be fun to see which judge American viewers voted off?

That's all for now . . .