So...did you hear that Didi Benami won American Idol? (If only... :/ ) Of course you didn't...but if you'd been following my blog--and knew nothing about Season 9 of "Idol" went--that's what you'd have been under the impression of for the past...month and a half. I've been very neglectful of my Top 12 recap project, or of updating this here blog in any way, shape, or form. So let's get back to business...my Top 12 posts will resume (with a LOT of catch-up...I'm planning at least Andrew and Katie, and possibly Tim...oh, Tim...gah...) hopefully tomorrow, but covering a few odds and ends that have popped up in the time I've been away:
- Ellen's out of "Idol." I still like her, and I thought she did an OK job this past season, but she was smart to leave...the chemistry was definitely a little off between her and the other 3 judges. She would, however, be an excellent new host...Ryan, quit now if you know what's good for you. :) (Likelihood of that, though, btw? Next to none. One of the reasons Ellen said she quit was that the schedule was catching up to her. Hosting the show would probably take more time than judging it, so that option's out. Still, Ryan should quit anyhow. He's definitely past his expiration date in terms of actually being appealing or fun.)
- Kara might be out too. And Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler are rumored to take the 2 open spots on the panel. J.Lo? Good. I like her (OK, I also think she's EXTREMELY attractive, but still...), and think she's appealing, has the potential to be nice, and helpful (like she was in her Season 6 mentoring stint...didn't watch the show then, but thanks to YouTube, I'm covered :), but also to lay down the law. That said...we thought the same about Ellen. And look how that turned out ("nice." "good." "it was nice and good."). Also, there's another eerie similarity to Ellen...although J.Lo's star is fading a bit ("The Back-Up Plan" and "Louboutins," anyone?), she's still pretty dang well-known. And history on "Idol" has shown that big stars are hard to swallow as a part of a panel that also includes Randy Jackson (the guy who played bass for "Journey," produced for Mariah Carey, and stuff), and potentially Kara DioGuardi (that one chick who wrote hits and all that). As "Idol" producers learned way back in season 1, when they unleashed Randy, Paula (then, a washed-up 80s star, quite frankly), and Simon (then, some cranky British dude) on the public, sometimes lesser-known is the way to go.
- As for Steven Tyler...I say nope. He's crude. His singing talent is debatable. ("Dream On"? Yes. Anything Aerosmith's attempted this decade? For the love of humanity, no.) And not to hit below the belt...but physically, age has definitely caught up to him in the worst way. Not that we're looking for another Heidi and Tim on "Project Runway" here or anything, but millions of people do attempt to watch this show for 4 months. And lighting only does so much. So...definitely not a fan of this possibility. But if it does indeed happen...I'll manage, I suppose. And finally, I actually want Kara to stay. She's the only other remaining panelist besides Randy (well, they are the ONLY two remaining panelists) with experience and music cred on the show (and unlike Randy, she can actually form coherent sentences that actually HELP...), and even though that's not the end-all of judging on American Idol, I think we need a bit of that on the show, no matter what happens.
- My favorite names that have been floated around as judges (likelihood is slim for all of them, but who knows?): HARRY CONNICK, JR. (as you can tell, I'd really love for him to be considered :) ), Shania Twain, Elton John (well, he's better than Steven Tyler, at any rate), and...OK, anybody else I'd love is kind of far-fetched at this moment. A few I wouldn't want to see, though, are Jessica Simpson, the aforementioned Steven Tyler, and pretty much anyone...obnoxious? There. That works. :)
