The fun weeks of American Idol are over. All the interesting stoners, tattoo ladies, hayseeds, emotional wrecks, biker chicks, foreigners, cretins, cheerleaders, divas, endomorphs, satyrs, and future serial killers have been voted off. Now it's down to three and you know who's going to win so it's kind of like dragging a dead horse across the finish line to shoot it.
Sorry to say but American Idol has jumped the shark. I think it was the night Danny Noriega sang "Jailrock Rock."
The format has gotten tiresome. We're sick of seeing the damn Coca Cola backdrop. Tired of saying "Who the hell is that?" after each audience shot of a so-called "celebrity" (like we're supposed to recognize the great Diane Warren). And bored to tears of hearing "in the zone," "you look gorgeous tonight", and "you could sing the phone book, dawg". At least Paula mixes it up by critiquing performances that hadn't happened yet.
If there was a theme this week it was "going through the motions." David Archuleta, without the benefit of his dad Geppetto (banned from rehearsals by producers -- see my HuffPost rant on that subject) sang one of Billy Joel's lesser efforts, then got down with "With You" displaying a funky side we haven't seen since the Carpenters, and finally - the douchiest love song maybe ever, "Longer." I contend it's impossible to sit through that song if you have a gag reflex.
But the little girls in the Idoldome screamed. So who cares? He's going to win.
The one stand-out performance for me was David Cook singing Roberta Flack's 70s hit, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (or, as I used to call it in my disc jockey days -- "The First Time Ever Your Face was Sawed.") Too bad he's going to lose. His other two songs were better than anyone else's. Too bad he's going to lose. I think the Democratic Convention will have more suspense than the crowning of this year's Idol.
Poor Syesha Mercado was just schmuck bait -- someone else to fill out the show. She sang her heart out, vamped, and even danced in slacks. And I'm sure as you read this they're doing the final edits on her "have a nice life" tribute video. But not winning doesn't mean she'll have no career. Former losers have gone on to be huge rock stars, win Oscars, appear on Broadway, and lose ten pounds on the Celebrity Fit Club.
Next week I'll just recap the finale. Although truthfully, I could be like Paula and just review it now.
You can read more from Ken at kenlevine.blogspot.com