American Idol 2011 began its 10th season last night with a few changes. While the previous seasons had some judge shake ups – none were quite like this one. With the departures of both Kara DiGioduardi and Ellen DeGeneres, and of course of Simon Cowell, replaced by none other than Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez, we were left to wonder what the new American Idol would look like.
Well, it looks pretty much the same, but with better hair. I found this premiere episode to be a bit over the top with the admiration for the new judges – like I’m sure that the contestants were in awe of both JLo and Tyler, but did they really need to show all of them crying and fawning over them!? Maybe Jennifer had that written into her contract. Either way it got old after a while.
That being said I like the addition of Lopez and Tyler to the panel – because I like that Jennifer Lopez didn’t come off like a diva at all and that Tyler seemed to appreciate a different singing style than the judges of the past. Gone is the ‘know it all’ styling’s of Kara Di Gioguardi and in is the sincerity of Jennifer Lopez. Honestly I think even JLo was surprised at how hard it was to reject some of these kids.
I also noticed that we seemed to be seeing a lot more of the ‘yes’s’ than the absolute train wrecks that we have come to hate to love from the audition rounds. Maybe the new judges didn’t want to waste their time and play around as much as they did in the previous seasons – but I actually enjoyed seeing more of the better auditions than the bad ones. And is it just me or was I the only one who felt sorry for the Boy Scout who auditioned and was just terrible!? Kinda seemed to me like Fox was blatantly making fun of this boy who is young and impressionable enough for this to be hurtful. Sure they signed up to be on the show, but did anyone find that humorous?!
I did miss Simon – mostly because I missed having that ‘authority’ if you will on the judging panel. I missed his scathing honestly and I missed his deadpan expressions. I like Randy but he doesn’t have ‘it’. I would say that JLo will be the star of the judging panel, if not because she is the biggest star there but because she is so incredibly beautiful. Honestly – her hair, her face, her body, her voice – that woman is stunning. And add to that she seems to be a genuinely decent person – it will make her the go –to judge for sure!
Steven Tyler was fun but a bit pervy. I didn’t notice it until they did the bit with him winking and commenting on all the young girls. Not sure why this is surprising to me – he is a rock star. And not a new rock star – a legendary rock star. Like a *sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll* rock star. Of course he’s pervy!
But the thing about this season is it really wasn’t about the singers! Honestly – ask anyone what they thought of the show and they will talk about the new judges! I mean, I remember the Boy Scout – I remember the super happy 16 year old girl who was walking on sunshine, and I remember the totally adorable boy who was the last singer who I loved and now who I want to win the entire show. But out of 2 hours – that’s all I remember. However, I remember how beautiful JLo looked, and I remember that Randy dressed like Britney Spears and I remember that Steven Tyler looks like he’s had too much plastic surgery, but that’s it. And unlike last year, when the show premiered and it crashed twitter, this year people watched more so out of curiosity than to see the performers.
So, I might tune in for one more show and hopefully the talent will be enough for me to keep tuning in, but I’m not sure. Did you watch – what did you think?
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