Here, in part, is how I marked the occasion when the house of cards upon which American Idol was built began to fall apart:
[W]hen Paula was unceremoniously dumped a year ago, almost every TV critic said that the show would not only survive but thrive without her distracting and seemingly drug-induced ramblings.
By contrast, here, in part, was my prescient admonition:
I know conventional wisdom has it that most people tune in to watch Simon rip untalented fools masquerading as wannabe idols to shreds with his nasty, acerbic comments. But hasn’t his shtick become a bit trite and predictable?
On the other hand, I’ve seen enough episodes of this show to assert that just as many people probably tune in to watch Paula. And that they do so for the same reason so many people tuned in to watch the human train wreck that was The Anna Nicole Show; namely, because her seemingly drug-induced ramblings made for perversely suspenseful and entertaining TV.
Not to mention the side drama of wondering which new talent might end up being the object of her Mrs. Robinson-style mentoring… It’s undeniable: Paula was good for ratings. And her absence is bound to result in significantly lower ratings for Idol next season.
(Paula Abdul quitting American Idol, The iPINIONS Journal, August 9, 2009)
And here’s how I presaged the spectacular failure of the “it girl” Idol brought in to replace Paula:
Apropos of success, Ellen DeGeneres is having even less of it in prime time than Jay Leno. Frankly, the folks at FOX must have been taking advice from the geniuses at NBC. For only this explains why they thought Ellen’s folksy humor, which only appeals to the vanilla, stay-at-home moms who tune in to her daytime show, would appeal to the diverse people who tune in to Idol during primetime.
For the sake of her career, I urge Ellen to stick to daytime.
(American Idol Jumps the shark, The iPINIONS Journal, May 27, 2010)
These opening quotes should indicate why I was not at all surprised when Ellen DeGeneres announced last week that she’s leaving American Idol after serving only one year of her five-year contract. She protests – too much methinks – that she’s leaving because she could not muster the mean-spiritedness to criticize the no-talent foils who provided the fodder for Simon’s celebrated barbs. In fact, her reason is about as credible as a scandal-plagued politician claiming that he’s resigning to spend more time with his family. She was fired.
More to the point, though, with Paula gone, and Simon now jumping this sinking ship, firing Ellen and the fourth judge, what’s her name, is rather like putting a band aid on a hemorrhaging wound. And it has been clear from year one that all Randy Jackson brings to the show – with his “hey dog” comments – is dead weight….
Granted, hiring Jennifer Lopez to join him at the judge’s table might make it a little more buoyant. Unfortunately, whatever lift she brings will probably be offset by the downer hiring the barely-out-of-rehab Steven Tyler, lead singer of Aerosmith, is bound to cause.
For, if reports of his hiring turn out to be true, I suspect that after a few episodes of listening to this erstwhile poster boy for sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll trying to sound professorial, most viewers will be screaming at him to just shut and sing.
Not to mention that most people who enjoy the kind of buffoonery Idol peddles as entertainment can now watch the Jersey Shore to see Snooki do the kind of carousing on screen that Tyler only used to do backstage during his heyday.
That’s a wrap!
Related commentaries:
Paula Abdul quitting American Idol
American Idol jumps the shark
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