The Business of Show
Despite the fact that it’s called show business and not show friends for a reason, there is nothing that leaves a sour taste in our mouth more than actors talking about money. Take the Hollywood Reporter’s recent Comedy Actor Emmy Roundtable for example. Did anyone really need to hear how Ed O’Neil and Rob Lowe were aghast over HBO’s insulting offer of a paltry $40,000 for what we’re sure were six long and arduous weeks of work alongside Al Pacino and Bette Middler? We sure as heck didn’t.

Rob Lowe
If the artist formerly known as Sam Seaborn is serious about taking his career to the next level he so richly believes he deserves, announcements like yesterday’s news that has Lowe signing on to play suspected wife killer Drew Peterson in an Lifetime Movie probably isn’t the best way to go about it. Oh sure, Lowe can dress up the movie all he wants (Telling EW.com, “These movies aren’t made anymore, and in the last five years, they’re not made on television either — except in very specific places. One of ‘em is Lifetime, and they do it really, really well. So I’m glad they’re makin’ stuff like this, on Lifetime.”), but the fact of the matter is that despite Lifetime’s fairly admirable job of reversing their “Mother, Mother May I Sleep with Danger” brand with high quality shows like DROP DEAD DIVA and ARMY WIVES, at the end of the day, a movie of the week is a movie of the week. A tawdry sex fuelled, scandal filled one that quite frankly, Lowe of all people should not be encouraging. We’re just sayin.

USA, TNT, ABC Family and DirecTV
So what exactly is our beef with four of the biggest reasons TV Addicts have — outside of HBO and Showtime — for not cutting our cable this summer? Simply put, we don’t get them. Which means no WHITE COLLAR, COVERT AFFAIRS, FALLING SKIES, SUITS, NINE LIVES OF CHLOE KING and DAMAGES among others. In other words: #FML

GAME OF THRONES Haters
Question: What’s the only thing more shocking than Sunday’s insanely unexpected ending to GAME OF THRONES penultimate episode of the season? Answer: Fans complaining about it! Seriously. Rather than crying fowl, fans should be applauding, cheering, and encouraging one of the few times Hollywood actually had the — for lack of a better word — cojones to stick to a creator’s original vision. No matter how bloody shocking it may be.

Stars Negotiation Through the Media
Memo to any media outlet and/or journalist that just ran — or is about to run — a story in which [Insert ridiculously overpaid star here] is hemming and hawing about whether or not to return to [insert aging series here] that made them a household name: You’re being played courtesy of a time honored tradition known as “negotiating through the media.” So unless you’ve thrown in the towel, along with your journalistic integrity and ethics for a percentage of the salary bump Jennifer Lopez’s is sure to see when she inevitably signs onto another season of AMERICAN IDOL,

Most Chilling Premiere: Just how terrifying was the beautifully shot, ridiculously well acted and meticulously paced murder mystery that was Sunday’s premiere of THE KILLING? Rumor has it that the CSI, NCIS and LAW & ORDER franchisees were last spotted curled up in the corner in the fetal position crying. Suffice to say, AMC just raised the bar for procedurals. Big time.

Proof We’re In The Wrong Business: JERSEY SHORE “star” Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi earned around $24,000 for two 80-minute appearances at Rutgers University.

Best Unintentional Product Placement: When a scheduling conflict for Titus Welliver precluded an appearance by Glenn Childs on Tuesday’s episode of THE GOOD WIFE the producers turned to a talking doll to deliver Childs’ message to Matt Czuchry’s Cary. An adorable animatronic lion produced by a small Japanese company that we simply must own!

The “Why Bother” Award Goes To…: Britain’s ITV who, apparently not realizing that the ship sailed several years ago, are making a four-part movie to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the “Titanic.”

Saddest Ending: Despite an uneven freshman season that didn’t quite live up to its promise, Tuesday’s NO ORDINARY FAMILY finale most definitely set up what would surely be a comically cool second season featuring 80 big baddies on the loose… assuming of course the proverbial powers at ABC are feeling generous.

Best Advice We Have To Give: Hey, TEEN MOM star Farrah Abraham… listen up. Rather than writing what your website, in an audacious display of delusion, proclaims to be “the most anticipated book of 2011” and then going on a book tour… raise your dang baby!

Biggest Bandwagon Alert: If our Twitter feed continues to explode during every single AMERICAN IDOL results show, we may have to actually start watching this thing again. Seriously folks, get a grip.

The Accidental Prophet Award Goes To…: Glenn Beck, for having spent months predicting that the end of the world was upon us when, in reality, it was actually the end of his Fox News Channel show that was drawing nigh.

Most Cleverly Timed Announcement: Have we really become that cynical that the first thought to pop into our head following the news that Tina Fey has a “bun in the oven” was just how clever it was that she timed her pregnancy announcement to coincide with the release of her hilarious new book Bossypants? Why yes we have.
 
Meltdown O’ The Week: Cold fish Alexandria kept her cool on AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL even as bitchy beauty Brittani berated her in front of Nigel and clients. When called out for behavior unbecoming a model, Britt ran back stage and hyperventilated, cried and had a mini panic attack.
 
Best Mythbusting: When it came time for TOP MODEL’s Tyra to announce who’d be going home, she made it clear that she’d been outvoted, explaining that despite what many believe, she does not, in fact, have final say if she disagrees with the judge’s decision.
 
Most Blatant Rip-Off: Could someone please tell TLC and Ryan Seacrest that their “new” show — I KID WITH BRAD GARRETT (in which the gentle giant interacts with children) — is a big ol’ rip off of the INFOMANIA segment “Kid’s Kouch” with the hilarious Ben Hoffman. And not nearly as funny.
 
Oddest Decision: WWE head Vince McMahon announced he wants to take the “wrestling” out of World Wrestling Entertainment. So what will WWE stand for now? Apparently, nothing, as they’ll just be three kinda random letters.
 
Biggest Shock: After surviving weeks on Redemption Island, SURVIVOR’s Matt rejoined the newly-merged tribes… only to be blindsided by a vote that sent him straight back to the island.

Biggest Headscratcher: Between COMMUNITY’s love affair with COUGAR TOWN, THE OFFICE’s shout-out to DALLAS, PARKS AND RECREATIONS’ nod to NCIS: LOS ANGELES and 30 ROCK’s myriad of pop culture zingers touching on RIZZOLI & ISLES, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, AMAZING RACE, ROSWELL and ENTOURAGE, one can’t help but wonder how the fledgling fourth place Peacock Network might be doing ratings-wise if their own shows paid half as much attention to NBC’s roster as they do others!

Loudest Fan Outcry: Viewers of GENERAL HOSPITAL were so upset about the soap turning four-year-old Jake into road kill that their response garnered attention from such media outlets as The New York Post.

And the Award For Best Ending We Didn’t See Coming But Probably Should Have Goes to…: BIG LOVE, which just about made up for two seasons of disappointment with a finale that gave us the BIG ending we were hoping for. God only knows what we’ll be without you indeed.

Faux Campaign We Can Really Get Behind: All we can say to Ellen DeGeneres’ plea that networks stop airing two-hour episodes of reality shows is… Amen!

Best For Your Consideration Emmy Reel: Following Monday’s fantastic father-son reunion between Barney and his bio-dad on HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, is anyone else up for forgoing all of that silly campaigning by just awarding Neil Patrick Harris and John Lithgow their Emmys now?

Biggest Jaw Dropper: Blake’s revelation that Kalinda was one of Peter Florrick’s ‘Goddesses’ on Tuesday’s shocking final moments of THE GOOD WIFE was the very definition of winning TV.

Smartest Marketing: This season of GLEE has been more hit than miss, but releasing an entire album of Warbler tunes is the best thing to happen since New Directions breathed new life into “Don’t Stop Believing.”

Biggest Jaw Dropper Runner-up: Fox didn’t just reward the critically acclaimed albeit ratings anemic FRINGE with an early fourth season pickup, they gave the best show you — yes YOU — aren’t watching a full 22 episode order to boot. Slushies all around!

Strangest News Of The Week: TMZ reported that AMERICAN IDOL contestants have fled their Beverly Hills mansion… because it’s haunted. (Are they sure someone didn’t just leave a CD of Sanjaya’s wailing playing?)

Runner-up to our Biggest Jaw Dropper Runner-up: Based on his hilarious cameo on Thursday’s 30 ROCK, fast-talking Academy Award winning writer Aaron Sorkin actually has a sense of humor about himself. Who knew?
 
The Charlie Sheen Award For Bad Behavior Being Rewarded Goes To…: Chris Brown, who threw a hissy at GOOD MORNING, AMERICA… only to be invited back and not lose his booking on DANCING WITH THE STARS.

Runner-up to our Runner-up to our Biggest Jaw Dropper Runner-up: Notorious show-killer Eric Balfour was surprisingly stellar as NO ORDINARY FAMILY big baddie on Tuesday.

Coolest Anniversary Gift: THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL celebrated it’s 24th year on the air by sending members of the media a cool lunchbox featuring artwork by Chris Morris.

Runner-up to our Runner-up to our Runner-up to our Biggest Jaw Dropper Runner-up: (Last one, we swear!) Michael Scott’s proposal to Holly managed to outshine a series worth of Jim and Pam’s “Aww-shucks” moments. Now, that we didn’t see coming!

An The Award For This Week’s Event That Actually Lived Up To The Hype Is …: V’s second season and possibly series finale, which thanks to copious amounts of blood, numerous character deaths and one genuinely game-changer of an ending actually has us wondering what on earth happens next. (Assuming of course what on earth happens next doesn’t involve resuscitating Tyler!)

Best Guest Star: What type of an actor does it take to completely steal the show from the likes of Amy Poehler, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman and Chris Pratt? Answer: A four-legged one and the star of PARKS AND RECREATION’s Harvest Festival, Li’l Sebastian. Awwwwww

Least Anticipated Theme of the Week: AMERICAN IDOL’s yearly tradition that challenges contestants to pick songs from the year they were born does little more than make us feel really, really, old. We’re just sayin’

Biggest Miscalculation: Memo to Dan Harmon, constructing an episode of COMMUNITY that revolved primarily around Shirley, Chang and Britta is not exactly what we’d call streets ahead.

Best Reason to Renew Our Subscription to Entertainment Weekly Despite Their Refusal to get with the Program and Offer an iPad App: This week’s cover features Geek God Nathan Fillion.

Biggest Headscratcher: Five days later, we’re proud to say we still have absolutely no idea why “Rebecca Black” is trending on twitter.

Most Disappointing Cameo: The uninspired Sarah Palin-esque Tea Party candidate on this week’s GLEE should have been left to an actual D-lister rather than waste the talents of the usually funny Kathy Griffin.

Favorite Musical Number of the Week: With apologies to both AMERICAN IDOL and GLEE, it was MR. SUNSHINE’s Allison Janney that gets our vote thanks to a surprisingly beautiful duet with James Taylor. And speaking of MR. SUNSHINE…

Smartest Showrunner: Matthew Perry not only had the foresight to create a show for himself, but one that gives him the ability to write stories that have him dating the quarterback of a woman’s lingerie football team! Evidently, it’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it.

Best Reality TV Show That Wasn’t: If THE REAL HOUSEWIVES franchise was even half as funny as QUEEN OF JORDAN — 30 ROCK’s inspired and hilarious spoof of the genre featuring Tracy Jordan’s wife Angie — we probably wouldn’t detest the genre nearly as much as we do.

Most Welcome Flop of the Week: Despite the fact that we had absolutely no doubt in our mind that JERSEY SHORE’s Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino was a talentless hack, it sure was nice to see his talents, or lackthereof displayed for all to see as he went down in flames during what was otherwise a surprisingly entertaining Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump.

You looked like you were in such pain when you found out that you were going home. What exactly was going through your head in that very moment?
Ashton Jones: You know what, it really was not pain. It was moreso leaving the stage and the friends that I had made, and I just had to let it out. I always hold stuff in. I’m a very, very strong person. Over the years the things that I’ve been through have made me strong, so sometimes you have to let it out. You’ve got to show your emotion. I’m a real person just like America. I’m just Ashton, and I’m from Nashville, and sometimes you can’t hold back. But I cried because of all of the things that I went through on the show—the experiences. I couldn’t believe that I had made it so far.

Do you think there is any stigma to being the first person voted off?
You know what? I think it’s not always a bad thing to be the first person. It could be a good thing because everything that I went through on the show—now I’m going to take it and put it toward my career. And I don’t think anything is going to stop me, and I feel like it was all in God’s timing. And he has something better for me. I’m not saying AMERICAN IDOL was not. But something great is what I feel in my spirit right now, and I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen.

What do you think America was missing about you during that Top 24 round?
I don’t know, but I’ve been thinking about that a lot. I just wanted people to see my personality, and I don’t really think that the show showed my personality as much as I wanted to. But it was okay because everything happens for a reason. But I’m kind of glad that the judges saw that personality of a diva, but I didn’t want the world to see me as diva—like I think I’m all that. I wanted them to see the confidence that I have came from God, and that’s it. I have faith and confidence in myself, and I was never timid on stage. I’ve been performing before, even back home. And I’ve always liked to engage in the crowd and dance with them and have confidence. So now I feel like America is going to see that now that I’ve moved on. And I can’t wait to perform again.

What was the best piece of advice that you received from one of the judges?
Oh man. I want to say it was from Jennifer Lopez. Now Steven and Randy told me some great things, but Jennifer always had something real to say that came straight from her spirit. And I knew it was from her spirit. She always told me that, “You’re amazing. You’re going to go far. Don’t stop. I know you got something. I see it.” She said, “I see it. I see it. I see it’s coming.” And then last she told me, she said, “You know, it’s all about the songs in the music business.” She said, “Even when you get that first record, make sure it’s a hit before you put it out because that’s what America is going to notice. They’re going to remember those great songs and they’re never going to go away.” So it was the best advice that she could give.

If you could describe Steven Tyler in one word, what would it be?
Oh, my goodness. Fabulous. He was fabulous, from his clothes, to his shoes, from—everything. And what he said, he did not care. He didn’t care what people thought. He said exactly what he felt, and for the most part everything was true and he was just amazing. And behind the scenes he was the most humble and sweet person. Humble.

Moving forward, are there any specific producers or artists out there that you’d like to work with on some music?
You know, I actually enjoyed working with Rodney Jerkins and Jimmy Iovine. I really, really enjoyed it. They brought me into a place that I’d never known that I could go to. They had me singing notes that I couldn’t even hit before. And when you’re bringing the best out of someone—I just think that they would be great, great producers that I could work with. And I also followed Monica, of course. I sang her on the show. I would love to meet Diana Ross. Barry Gordy was there, and if he has anything for me to do, I don’t care what it is, I would do it, and I would be happy to.

As everybody knows, being a finalist, or even winning AMERICAN IDOL, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to have a flourishing career. What do you think it takes to find that success post the show?
That’s an interesting question because I say that all the time. And when I got on the show I always had to remind myself that some of the greatest that didn’t even win are doing well, and very comfortable in their careers, and millionaires—doing great, awesome. And I constantly had to remind myself of that, and I still believe that. And that’s also kept me sane and kept me driven. Right now, as I’m not on the show anymore, but I’m still driven because I know that. And, like said before, I have a wonderful feeling that there’s something. And I don’t care if it’s one thing or ten things, there’s going to be an opportunity there for me that I can do. And I’m going to be able to do exactly what my goal was. I want to buy my mom a house; I want my family to never have to worry about anything. And I just want to have an amazing career in music because I love to do it. I don’t want to go back to working jobs that I don’t want to work. I don’t want to struggle anymore. I don’t want to feel pain anymore. I just want to show the world who I am and spread the love, spread the faith, and let everybody know, “Don’t stop.” I want people to see me and say, “Hey, she’s my idol anyway.” And that’s the biggest thing. It’s not about winning. You have to feel like you’re already a winner.

A lot has been made over Casey Abrams hospitalization. Just how stressful is it being on a show like AMERICAN IDOL?
It can be stressful if you make it stressful. You have to stay grounded, and that’s why I believe in God and believe in faith so much because if it wasn’t for Him, I would have been crushed as far as I probably wouldn’t have been able to talk to you right now. And with that being said, you have to whatever you do—your meditation, whatever you do to continue—you have to do it because it can stress you out. It really can stress you out. But you’re constantly moving. It’s fast paced, fast paced, and sometimes you don’t have time to think. But even when you have those down times, you have to go to a place in your spiritual world, your meditation, and you have to stop and think about what you’ve accomplished already. So when elimination comes, nothing can stop you from being the best that you can be.

What was your most memorable or special moment over the whole journey of AMERICAN IDOL?
There are so many moments. But I must say every contestant, of course, all of the contestants. But the most part that stuck out to me was every time I got on the stage. It was something about the stage. For some reason every time I got on the stage I felt like I can conquer the world. I just got on there and the confidence and everything just came out. And I didn’t want America to take that in a weird way. But that’s who I am. I’m really this sweet person, humble backstage, goofy, corny, have fun, kick it. But when I get on the stage, it’s something else. And that was the thing that stuck out to me was the lights, the cameras, the 30 million people watching, the audience, the judges, and the stage. And it was just an amazing experience, and I hope that I can continue to do that for the people that are my fans.

What are you going to tell your grandkids about this whole experience when you reflect back on it?
Man, that’s so funny you asked about that because last night I was telling one of the other contestants how we can tell whoever—our kids, our grandkids—they’re going to look back and say, “Oh my gosh. My grandmother did this—accomplished this” because really, honestly, this is not the end. Some people, they end right here, and there is no way that I can end right here. And that’s what I’m going to tell them, “I couldn’t end right there.” It’s only the beginning of something great, and you have to continue to go on. You can’t live off of, “I was AMERICAN IDOL and Top 13.” You can’t live off that for the rest of your life. You have to go further, and you constantly have to be driven. And I just thank God for even allowing me to be there because it made me stronger than I already thought I was. I wasn’t even as strong as I thought I was. And now there’s an inner strength that’s come and burst out of me, and just happiness, and a glow that I’m so thankful for.

Dying to know which contestants America sent packing, but not enough to actually sit through the commercial-filled, over-produced, two-hour-long borefest that was tonight’s AMERICAN IDOL results show? Never fear… theTVaddict.com is here with the results, after the jump.

The Top 10: Casey Abrams, Lauren Alaina, James Durbin, Jacob Lusk, Scotty McCreery, Paul McDonald, This Megia, Haley Reinhart, Karen Rodriguez, Pia Toscano

The Wild Cards: Naima Adedapo, Ashthon Jones, Stefano Langone

The Ones Who Were Sent Packing: Robbie Rosen, Clint Jun Gamboa, Jordan Dorsey, Jovany Barreto, Ta-Tynisa Wilson, Julie Zorrilla, Kendra Chantelle, Tim Halperin, Lauren Turner, Brett Loewenstern, Rachel Zevita

Emmy-Worthy Performance That Will Never Be Acknowledged: With this week’s episode of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, Ian Somerhalder proved yet again that while the Emmy voters may scoff, some of the best acting on television takes place on “genre’” programming.

Saddest Death: NBC’s corporate logo is dropping the beloved peacock in favor of… um, purple?

Biggest Letdown that we probably should have seen coming: After weeks of teasing HAWAII FIVE-0 fans that “this is the one wave you don’t want to ride,” Sunday’s post-Football crisis was averted when the TERRIFYING KILLER TSUNAMI THAT WAS MERE MOMENTS FROM DESTROYING ALL OF HAWAII turned out to be nothing more than a fake-out contrived by a criminal to create a diversion.

Idea We’d Most Like To Encourage: ABC is considering the return of it’s Friday night block of family-friendly comedies. We’ve had the STEP BY STEP theme in our head ever since hearing the news.

Biggest Letdown that we’re totally okay with: Despite the fact that the circumstances surrounding Castle and Beckett’s almost-three-years-in-the-making lip lock weren’t quite how we envisioned things going down, there’s no denying that the episode was worth the wait. Particularly when you toss in some serious screen time for Ryan and Esposito, the adorable way in which our leading players uncharacteristically started to refer to each other by their first names, and Mama Castle’s pointed interrogation of her son that went a little something like so: “I think you should be honest with yourself about why you’re doing this. You had written 22 novels before you met her and you didn’t need to spend every day at the police station in order to finish them.”

Most Blatant, Unacknowledged Rip-Off: New promos for the upcoming NBC comedy reveal to fans of bad 80′s flicks that the series is a pretty blatant rip-off of ABOUT LAST NIGHT. Wonder if they got the “idea” after hiring that movie’s star, Row Lowe, for PARKS & RECREATION?

Best Evidence that there is Still Hope for our Universe: The surprisingly stellar ratings for FRINGE’s debut last Friday that not only saw 4.3 million viewers tune in, but gains of an additional 42% when DVR playback after only three days was taken into account.

Person Most In Need Of Having Her Gaydar Repaired: Seriously, Fran Drescher? You were married to your hubby for 21 years and you didn’t know he was gay? He created THE NANNY!

Best Crossover: Michael Scott bumping into David Brent not only had us wishing Ricky Gervais would step into Steve Carell’s shoes when THE OFFICE star makes his exit this spring, but had us dusting off our old UK OFFICE DVDs in preparation for a serious re-watch.

Folks Most Likely To Be Breathing A Sigh Of Relief: They may have talked a good game, but the producers of TNT’s DALLAS update knew you can’t go back to the land of 10-gallon hats without Larry Hagman’s JR on board.

Show We Most Wish We’d Been Hired As A Consultant On: NBC’s PERFECT COUPLES features one divine pair (Kyle Bornheimer and Christine Woods) and two pairs in desperate need of fine-tuning.

Most Prescient Interview: One day after TWO AND A HALF MEN star Jon Cryer jokingly told Conan O’Brian that he checks TMZ on a daily basis to find out if he has to go into work the next day, Charlie Sheen, his troubled co-star ends up making headlines again.

Worst Timing of the Week: It’s a tie… between every single IDOL hopeful who had to audition after Milwaukee contestant Chris Medina brought a nation to tears with his remarkable voice and tragic story involving his wife-to-be suffering a catastrophic brain injury mere months after being proposed to, and the poor Congressman saddled with delivering the Republican response following President Obama’s State of the Union.

Did you have any concerns about joining AMERICAN IDOL?
Steven Tyler: None whatsoever. I got such an identity with this band and for all the videos that I’ve done I figured it’d be a shoe in. The part that’s a little difficult is judging young kids that I think they all have a voice, but actually being honest and open. It took me a couple of minutes to get into the role of that, but I’ve grown accustomed to it and it’s fun, and I get to sit next to J. Lo and Randy taking the you know what out of everybody, and it’s been good. I don’t take whatever happened to me this morning or last night or with the band or with exes, I don’t take that into judging kids like some other people might have. I kind of take what I’ve grown up with, which is being a very harsh judge of myself—my own vocals, my own band—and kind of laid that across the talent that comes across my view.

Have you said anything so far as to any of the contestants during the auditions that you’ve regretted immediately afterwards?
Yes. I made some harsh comments the first week, and they snapped back and said, “What do you mean?” But I only did two of those. There were only two of those because I didn’t want that to happen again. I couldn’t say that you were no good without substantiating why, and a couple times that I said, “You know you just don’t have it,” they did ask me why, and I couldn’t tell them why. I just heard—It’s like I’m looking for that certain something. Well I heard that certain something in a negative way. I didn’t see the star. I didn’t see this and I didn’t have the … to tell them that. I hadn’t ever really watched the show, and I wasn’t really versed in that type of judging. I’ve got three daughters, so it’s hard for me. Those two times after that I was ready to go and I jumped back in both feet.

Do you feel adding someone of your stature gives the show an extra layer of credibility it might not have had before?
I like to think so. It’s interesting; I was just saying I’m not bringing some grumpiness or something in my life that’s not been good. I’m not bringing that to the table, and letting that cloak my judging of these kids. I’m taking what they give me, cutting it up in three different pieces: One is can they sing? Are they in pitch? Two, do they have character? Three, do they have a star quality about them? Kind of folding that all into one but that would be my expertise, and J. Lo’s got her own singing style. But don’t forget I’m a drummer. I’ve got the pitch from my father, Juilliard, my own. I’ve got the drumming sensibility and there’s a tonality and harmonic stuff, and I think I’m going to take it up a notch.

Do you think as a road dog that you can be as sympathetic to some guy who’s been working in a gas station as you can to some guy who’s been out playing every night for the last three or ten years at Joe’s Roadside Tavern?
That’s a great question. I’ve been sympathetic to that because it did color my opinions in the past about someone who didn’t go through the clubs, and didn’t walk the gauntlet in order to get their start. I’m listening to these kids regardless. I listen for that certain something that someone might have— I mean look it I remember what I had before I was allowed in the doors of this club. It’s an incredible thing to be able to come out with the stars that causes me to have character, but if they’re good to begin with I’m hoping to see that. It’s certainly not a coloring my thing. I’ve got my own melodic sensibility that’s judging theirs and regardless of whether you’ve sung in church, and sometimes most people that have put their time in church have a great sense of blues or time or melody more than the other ones. I’m hoping … really close.

One of the most overdone songs on AMERICAN IDOL is “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” which is a song that I don’t think anyone can sing as well as you can. Aerosmith songs get covered actually a lot in the show sometimes with good results a lot of times with bad. I’m just wondering are you going to call moratorium on Aerosmith songs on the show. If not, how would you be able to judge a song that you had sung yourself so well?
Well they have to sing it good, and a moratorium you’re calling, how do you know? They must have sung in the 7 weeks they probably got 15/16 “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” and a bunch of … song by Pink—they sang that song as well. It was hard for me because it always seemed to me when they said they were going to sing it I knew that someone at home would—“If you sing this song Tyler will be enamored.” When I didn’t like it I felt a little ill at ease to tell them, “You know what you didn’t really sing it good,” but after the third or fourth, like I said I got into it.

I think if anyone’s got anything bad to say about me this season it will get better the next season, and I take that back. It will be easier for me to judge live on TV because I’ve been through this mine field of teenage entitlement with all the songs they brought, but specifically for the Aerosmith songs, wow. I wish they would have sung like a little something else but “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” is definitely a hard one especially when they have no accompaniment. They would stand in front of me all by themselves and sing it, but if any of them sing it now remember we’re down to 20 great people, so if they did it would be nothing but good.

After months and months of seemingly endless media speculation and hype AMERICAN IDOL Version 2.0 finally arrived. But did the revamped reality competition, complete with new judges (pop diva Jennifer Lopez and aging rock star Steven Tyler) and an emphasis on “talent” still have what it takes to compete in the increasingly cluttered primetime television landscape? One reader, who wishes to remain anonymous for what we can only assume is a fear of reprisal from the all-too-powerful FOX network sure as hell didn’t think so. See for yourself after the jump.

At 10PM on Wednesday night (EST), AMERICAN IDOL died. The hit singing contest, once the most popular kid in school, suffered a slow death as a result of a complete lack of authenticity.

Over the past ten years we have seen good singers and bad singers parade across the stage, but the constant remained an attachment to the people behind the judging panel. Yes the Lythgoe [Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe] propaganda office would like us to believe the show is about the talent, but when for a majority of the show that talent can not connect to its audience, we turn to the only person on the tube who we both loathe and love Simon Cowell for that connection. Randy Jackson never had anything authentic to say to begin with and being in first position on the panel made it easier to fast forward over his comments.  Steven Tyler physically lacks authenticity and his washed up rock star “cool” oozes pathetic. He is truly difficult to watch. Jennifer Lopez fares best on the panel as she brings bits of authenticity and truth. However her comment that it was surreal to sit in the judging chair was somewhat bizarre coming from J Lo. Why couldn’t she have replaced Paula and saved us from Cara/Kara whats her name. Lopez and Cowell could have been epic.

As we built up to the final singer of the night, Travis Orlando, I thought his down on his luck story and incredible talent gave hope that perhaps it was all about the talent and that the shark may stay away. Unfortunately the sharks circled when that panel opened their mouths, it was not all about the talent. At that Orlando moment I realized it was not Simon’s meanness that we loved, it was his authenticity. If a kid was good a wink and a “I like you” warmed the hearts of viewers and excited us about a talent. Through Simon, the good and the bad, we could all connect to the talent.  Last nigh we had no conduit, no connection, no authenticity and therefore IDOL was dead on arrival.