Maybe this comes from watching the tape at 5am while on the treadmill, but last night's show was, IMHO, pretty sad. Don't understand what the producers are trying to do..but they've lost it...
BY my rough count, last night's show , which was 63 minutes long, BTW.. ( clever ploy to keep viewers tuned into House)..consisted of the following..
3 minutes of opening and closing credits
22 minutes of commericals and promos
3 minute recap at the beginning
5 minutes in total of judges preening, scratching heads, and being snarky
10 minutes to the idiot Brittnum twins
5 minutes to the selection room process
5 minutes to an insipid Brokeback Mountain take-off
5 minutes of various shots of groups eating and rehearsing in the hallways.
1 minute of several shots of the Odeom Theater marquee sayying "Welcome American Idol 2006"
Which leaves, about 4 minutes for actual singing, of which the only decent part was the 1 minute devoted to the 4 teenage boys who did a SUPERB riff on "Fly Me To the Moon.."
So, why has this happened? Just look at the thread..most here, who really enjoy the show, had no interest in it last night
1. The judges have lost it...it gets stale over time..
2. They honestly think that the viewers want more of all this contestant dynamics... a reality aspect to the show, if you will..than the actual singing. If so, I think they are nuts..They could easily fill two more hours with the actual group singing..let us see/hear it, instead of all this crapola.
3. Many of the people who advanced last night were really bad, truly awful...how they even got this far is beyond me..
Which leaves us only one obvious conclusion.. when the steak sucks, sell the sizzle. I think the level of talent overall is really bad this season..we're gonna be dreally disappointed. There may be 3-4 good singers..but the top 24 is gonna, pardon my French, really suck....in fact, I'll state now that the ratings will decline this season..( and that's before Paris has to sing a Barry Manilow song)
OK...I've had my morning rant..flame away..
As for the whole Brittenum situation, given what we saw, I would have sent them both home regardless of the "apology" (and, for the record, a proper apology would also have included all of the other contestants, not just the judges). If they're not capable of dealing with criticism, then save everyone the aggrivation and clear them away early.
Just look at the thread..most here, who really enjoy the show, had no interest in it last night
That's not accurate. Most of the regulars here probably had something else to do on Valentine's night. Plus there are the Olympics, which also had a competing live thread. I wasn't surprised by the low turnout last night.
I think the level of talent overall is really bad this season..we're gonna be dreally disappointed.
The show hasn't focused on the talent yet, Ken. This phase is dedicated to the freaks and to the drama--that's the way it's always been.
The final 24 will be selected tonight. And next week the live semi-finals will begin. That's where we'll see the talent.
They sent a bunch of people to Hollywood who have zero talent. We have seen so little actual performing so far in the Hollywood round that I don't have a clue about the overall talent at this point.
To make matters worse, I am absolutely convinced Paris is going to win the contest because the judges will do everything possible to throw it to her.
We didn't see Katherine McPhee last night, or did we and I just didn't recognize her. I also didn't see the undertaker. What happened to him?
At the moment there is one male singer who stands out to me. He's a young guy. Dark hair and terrible haircut. He wears his hair combed down over his forehead almost in his eyes. But underneath the hair, he's cute. Most importantly, he had a really terrific voice and some stage presence.
Mostly, I have been utterly bored by the show so far this year.