I did not watch the first season of American Idol. I heard some of the buzz surrounding the show about midway through, but never had the desire to turn it on. At the end, people were talking about a little girl with a big voice, who also happened to be big in the talent department--her name was Kelly Clarkson. I tuned in to the finale to see her win, and I’ve been a fan of Kelly’s ever since. Maybe that’s the best way to view the show.

On second thought, I’m sure it’s not, because then I would have missed Season Two.

Season Two is what will make the show go down in history as one of the best TV spectacles of all time. This was the year they gave us Aiken, and since he came along, the world of pop music is a better place.

The third year was a wash. No one memorable throughout the run, not even reigning Idol queen Fantasia made an impression on me.

Now, in the fourth year, it’s enjoyable again. I’ve got my favorites and the ones who make my nose wrinkle. There are lots of interesting personalities, singing styles and looks--it’s a nice assortment--all different from last year.

But there are two entities which remain the same: the judges and the host.

I’ll have to get to the host another time. He probably deserves a discussion all by himself. Ryan Seacrest should get some attention as the glue that often holds the entire crazy thing together. I’ve seen him do the show live from the front row and he’s pretty amazing.

But for now, let’s zero in on the judges. Have they really remained the same? Well, at first glance it seems they have. Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell are the same people exhibiting the same kinds of reactions to a new set of contestants. Right?

Not exactly.

Paula, of course, is the only female judge. I don’t know if it’s because of the gender difference that she feels compelled to always take on the role of the nurturing, reassuring, mother-earth force of acceptance, but something spurs her on to do it. It is consistent and in my opinion, sometimes pretty annoying. Why can’t she just give the contestants some constructive criticism, for God’s sake? Just because we don’t have certain body parts, it doesn’t mean we women don’t have a backbone! Women can give a direct critique with sensitivity and finesse. I find that when Paula does not have good things to say about someone’s performance, she has a tendency to say nothing at all. Yes, I would agree in the general scheme of things that this behavior is actually quite admirable--it’s what we teach our children to do when they are in elementary school, but we are talking talent competition here for crying out loud, and I believe these young men and women benefit and learn when they are given concrete reasons why they didn’t do well with a particular performance in a given week. I like the fact that Paula lays on the praise when someone sells a song; if she didn’t do it, there wouldn’t be enough to go around. But when the excess adoration oozes from every pore of her being, and it wasn’t that well deserved to begin with, it’s pretty hard to take. I find myself in disagreement with many of Paula’s reactions to performers this season.

Now for Mr. Jackson. All that comes to mind for me about Randy can be summed up with his own ongoing pat phrases: “What’s up Dawg? What is goin’ on here dude? What’s happenin’ baby?!” Hey, that’s what I’d like to know. What IS up Randy Jackson? Just when I think I’ve got you pegged as far as your musical taste and acumen are concerned, you turn it around and profess an opposite opinion. You shake your head when I loved it, or smile and give them the standing-O when I hated it! Sometimes, I do agree with your critiques, and say to myself “Wow--great minds think alike!”, but that’s when you change it up on the next one and completely disagree with what’s in my head. (Sigh). It’s been trying. Randy seems to vacillate too much. I find he’s not consistent with what he has to say.

So now, I will tell you that I’m just a bit bewildered, because for the first time, I find myself agreeing most often--just about 90% of the time--with that cad Simon Cowell. And I wonder “How could this be happening?”

Here is the man who has infuriated me with remarks like, “That was perfectly awwwwful” and “That was something I would expect to hear on a cruise ship.” (I don’t know--I’ve heard some mighty fine musical performances on cruise ships.) He’s the one who’d incur my wrath during Season 2 when he’d lambast Clay Aiken with comments like “I actually prefer you with my eyes closed”. How dare he make such a derisive reference to that handsome mug?! Cowell was the one who always had to come up with a quip for his critique, which got to the point of having no connection to the performance at hand. People would turn to each other with furrowed brows, wondering what on earth he was getting at. It became obvious that he was just expected to be cutting and sarcastic, even if it had no bearing in fact. Because of this, he lost his credibility, and on that basis, he was never my favorite judge.

But he is now--for a variety of reasons.

Simon has cleaned up his act a little--he’s slightly softer around the edges. What is noticeable now when he reacts to the performer onstage is that he still gives us his gut reaction and relies on his instincts to say what he thinks, but instead of relating to the person as an object or entity, he seems to have more of a connection to the fact that they are human. I see it in the expression on his face sometimes when he’s talking to them. Oh sure, he can still be obnoxious and fling out the annoying insult that’s often accompanied by that smarmy grin--but not as much now. When he gives his observations, he’s honest and incisive and shoots straight from the hip. For me, this kind of commentary is welcome. It is better than Randy’s back and forth uncertainty and Paula’s syrupy, unwarranted accolades. When Simon talks to the kids, they go away with something tangible to work on for next time. Not so with the other two judges.

I’ll illustrate by giving you a common scenario that unfolds while I watch the show this season.

I’m sitting there wincing at a particular contestant for whatever reason; it could be poor song choice and they’re just not hitting the notes, it could be that they’re trilling a tried and true ballad and making it completely unrecognizable. Maybe there’s a powerful voice coming out of that blonde head but I’m not seeing any sparkle or style. It could be any one of a myriad of reasons why I’m finding fault with the performance. But now it’s time to hear the judgments that come down from the Idol “gods”.

Randy is smiling, applauding and telling them “baby, that was the best performance of the night,” or perhaps, “I don’t know dude, that just wasn’t good for me”. I wince some more. Paula has already stood up for her ovation, and then tells them it could very well be the best performance of the entire season.

What am I missing?

I then hold my breath for the comments that could come out as “bloody awful,” but instead, I find myself heaving the big sigh of relief when I hear Simon Cowell relate in concrete terms just what I was thinking when I watched them perform. And, thank you Lord, he’s using a bit of tact while doing it! My gosh, he’s got a serious and heartfelt look on his face--minus the creepy grin! The man actually has a soul after all!

I knew it from the start. Simon Cowell can offer up concise, constructive criticism tempered with a bit of emotion. He can instruct, explain and provide guidelines to his Idol children, if he so desires. He won’t do it every time--God forbid he should be that consistent. But lately, for the most part, he’s got something a lot better to say than just “If this were the Stone Age, I’d be throwing the first rock!”

Will the trend continue? We can only hope. Maybe we should also hope he doesn’t read this. He’s got a bit of the rebel in him, I believe, and if he hears what I’m accusing him of, he may set out to prove me wrong and go back to the biting and inanely degrading remarks he’s so famous for from aforementioned shows.

Let’s just keep the faith, because the new man is much more tolerable and more interesting too. That’s why when “Simon Says” something now, I would still advise restraint in blindly following his commands, but I would definitely recommend that you listen.


Editor: Michelle Arce