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To be perfectly honest, I had written this season off before it even began. I mean, I planned to watch the show to see what I thought, but I was not planning on liking it. No Simon? Not interested. Especially after watching NBCs the Sing-Off--I loved that and decided it could fill my American Idol void.
I typically know the date of the first American Idol episode as soon as it is scheduled. While I knew it was usually the end of January, I had no idea what day the first episode was this year, and didn't care enough to look it up.
Wednesday morning, a friend of mine called.
"I forgot what we think of American Idol this year?"
"Well," I replied, "I think I will watch the first episode, but I am not planning on liking it. I figure I owe it a shot at least."
He then went on to inform me that the first episode was that day. Wow. That is when I realized how disinterested I was. Nevertheless, the DVR was set.
Thursday morning this same friend and his wife stopped by.
"Well, what did you think?"
"Of what?" I inquired.
Oh! American Idol!
I hadn't had a chance to watch it yet.
That night, I watched it (that would be last night). I then immediately followed it up with the second episode.
Let me tell you, judges, I loved it! I didn't expect to like it, much less love it. No offense to Simon, he made the show great, but the show doesn't need Simon. And you know what? It is kind of refreshing not to have him there. I learned from watching the Sing-Off that judges can be honest AND nice at the same time, something Paula and Simon failed to demonstrate in all of their years on Idol.
So what did I love about it?
For one, I love that the new judges (that is you Jennifer, and you, Steven), are successful performers. This brings in a couple of key elements. One is that they know what it takes to have real success--and not from the management side (maybe you do), but from the performer side.
What else does you being successful do? It ensures that you are confident. You aren't trying to prove anything (cough, cough, Kara). You aren't trying to impress anyone. You might not even care much if Idol doesn't last long for you, I don't know.
The point is you are interested in the people singing in front of you and not worried about how you look to the viewing public. You don't need to prove you can contribute like Ellen did. You didn't have to prove you had the credibility to comment like Paula did. You didn't have to prove you had the knowledge that Kara did. I mean, you are famous enough that Jennifer Lopez has commercials popping up during the show--you have endorsements, you are famous, you have money, people love you, and you know it.
Another reason I loved it is that it was fun. I loved that the you would sing along (another benefit to you being singers). How great is it to have someone judging your singing be able to sing themselves? It was a lighter atmosphere with fun spontenaeity. Jennifer and Steven, you were so nice! It was great to see niceness. Hopefully you can help Randy swing back to his former nicer self before Simon corrupted him back to middle school days of laughing at people.
Finally, I loved that you were able to look at the talent and past everything else. One woman walked in with a questionable outfit and sang a terrible song. She asked to do another song, and you listened. She was good. Then you told her to lose the gimmicks and believe in her voice. You looked beyond drab clothing to see the potential star behind it all. You didn't tell someone no because they were overweight. You are able to see potential. That was refreshing.
In short, I fully enjoyed the first two episodes and am very excited to see where this season leads!
Sincerely,
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