American Idle Review

   Well, I've been watching Idle this season and have kept silent until now. Not sure who picked the duet songs this night, but, obviously, Kree and Amber got the raw end of the deal. The four women left to compete are not being given a level playing field. Clearly, the favorite of the judges is Angie, with Amber close behind. I mean, come on, they announce again tonight that she is from Boston, tugging on the sympathy strings and then bring her grandmother on stage to embrace her starlet. Don't get me wrong, Angie can sing - she can sing for Glee with or without the piano. Candice can simply sing her tail off and will have a hard time topping performances she has already given - but they were good enough to win it all. Amber will do fine in Vegas in the casinos and Kree will light up the cross-over country world when she finally gets the chance.
   Amber just got a standing ovation for going flat in many places singing MacArthur Park, while Candice lulled me to sleep with a Bee Gees song that even they abandoned. Kree weighed in with A Whiter Shade of Pale with a very loud organ that overshadowed her vocal. While she was supposed to redeem herself for the alleged judges, she chose to just perform a terrific rendition of that song. Angie chose Cry Me A River - yet another fantastic Glee performance.
   As far as the alleged judges, Randy is stuck with Dogs and Dudes and In It To Win It, Mariah, the D-Cup Diva has almost learned to put enough words together to make a complete sentence #what?, Keith usually gives constructive criticism without chastising the artist but needs to find a word to replace Baby. He's constantly looking to be moved by the artist, perhaps because his Australian-American country songs are so genuinely emotional. Then there's Ms. Onika Tanya Maraj (Nikki Minaj), who should be judging X-rated singers in a dark alley somewhere. She's like a potty-mouthed Fran Dresher of slang with serious hair issues.
   It's funny, I find myself agreeing with Jimmy Iovine more often than any of the judges. I'm not sure his advice eofre they sing is the best they could receive, but his critique after is usually spot on.
   I realize that my opinions are like armpits - everybody's got one, but someone has to be the adult in the room and offer up some serious honesty. I wonder - when the judges do their playback of the shows, do they judge themselves and realize what poor performances they are giving many times and yet they get to call out others about each song choice and emotional evocation and wardrobe selection and hairstyle and lipstick color and shoe heel height.

Peace - Ho'oponopono . . .