The saga continues as to who will be the judges for American Idol Season 10. With Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Kara DioGuardi and Ellen Degeneres having flown the coop, all that’s left is Randy and a lot of rumors.

It’s hard to imagine American Idol without Simon. All of the judges have their place but Simon was the one whose positive opinion was so sought after that a thumbs up from Simon was like twenty gold stars from the teacher. I found myself agreeing with Simon quite a bit. He often said what many were thinking but nobody wanted to say out loud.

I’m really going to miss Ellen. I started out hostile toward her for the lack of a musical background but she totally won me over. She kept it entertaining with her references to Snookie’s Poof and ripe bananas. I always looked forward to what she’d come out with next. Rumor has it that it was just too tough for her to give bad news and hurt feelings so she decided on a graceful exit. I understand but I sure wish she would have stayed.

Kara was a star for me during her first year. I really enjoyed her and found her opinion to be refreshing. The last year however, it almost seemed as if she were trying to take Simon’s place and it wasn’t working. I speculated that maybe she was being groomed to become the next Simon. Maybe she didn’t like the role and that’s why she’s gone although I recently read that she was “not invited back” this season.

Rumors are everywhere as to who the new judges will be. At various times I’ve heard Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Bret Michaels of Poison, Howard Stern, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Justin Timberlake, Chris Isaak, Harry Connick Jr., Jessica Simpson, Elton John, Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Lopez.

My big hope was that Bret Michaels would be one of the new judges. I became a big fan of Bret’s during Celebrity Apprentice and his appearance on the season finale of American Idol Season 9. I’d never heard of him before, not being a Poison fan. He totally won me over and he was one of the biggest draws that year for me on Celebrity Apprentice.

He publicly declared that he would accept if American Idol offered. Apparently it started with a stray comment by Simon who said that Bret would be a good replacement for himself. Once it got started the snowball started growing and public polls declared Bret the winner with 70% of the public vote. Bret actually had discussions with the decision makers but many big names were being considered so there’s no predicting which way the winds will blow.

As we know, Jennifer Lopez is a lock in. I don’t know much about her persona, whether she’ll be a “nice” judge or a “naughty” judge, but assuming that she wouldn’t be quite as trigger happy as Simon I’m guessing that they’ll probably want a “harder” person for the third judge. Bret wouldn’t qualify. Like Ellen, he’s got heart and doesn’t like hurting feelings.

The hardest nut hanging on the tree is probably Howard Stern. He wouldn’t pull any punches and would fill that slot nicely. Three people I hope don’t make it are Jessica Simpson, Jamie Foxx and Mariah Carey. That would be a HUGE turn off. As for the others, I just don’t know what persona’s they’d bring to the table enough to cast a vote except I’m not sure I’d want to watch Steven Tyler every week. He’s a wee bit funny in the face.

So there it is. We’ve got Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and ??? as the judges for Season 10 of American Idol. As for the rumors, Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe calls them “baloney” and says that he’s more interested in the chemistry of the judge’s panel and the honesty of the judge. What he doesn’t want is a nicey-nicey which nixes my favorite choice. Who ever thought the lead singer of a rock band called “Poison” would be a guy with heart?

No matter how you spin it, whatever is going to happen has already happened according to American Idol’s official website. They just haven’t told us yet.  Stay tuned for the September 22 official American Idol announcement declaring the new judge’s panel.

Tags: 2011, aerosmith, american idol, american idol 2011, american idol judge, american idol judge's, american idol new judge, american idol season 10, bret michaels, celebrity apprentice, chris isaak, ellen degeneres, elton john, harry connick, howard stern, j lo, jamie foxx, jennifer lopez, jessica simpson, jlo, justin timberlake, kara dioguardi, madonna, mariah carey, new judge for american idol, new judge on american idol, nigel lythgoe, paula abdul, poison, randy jackson, season 10, season 10 american idol, simon cowell, steven tyler

Category: Off Beat

Ryan started out wishing everybody a happy Cinco de Mayo. During his lead in I drifted off to things that could affect the voting. Siobhan Magnus was voted off last week leaving her voters looking for a new horse to back. I figured her votes would go to Crystal so even though Crystal had a couple of bad weeks, the influx of Siobhan’s votes would raise her to safety.

I had already predicted that Big Mike and Lee would be safe and that left Casey and Aaron. I figured that since Casey almost got voted off last week, his fans would kick into gear which left Aaron. So my final prediction was Aaron.

Ryan announced that next week’s mentor would be Jamie Foxx for a “Songs of the Cinema” theme.

They gave us a peek of what a normal Tuesday was for the American Idol contestants leading up to their live performance. It started with breakfast being sent to the room, a different breakfast every day such as breakfast burritos and tots. I wondered what would happen if someone didn’t happen to like breakfast burritos. Do they have an alternative?

Then came the really interesting tidbit. Before the live performance, the Idols had a rehearsal in front of stand-in judges who actually commented on their performance. The only difference being that the stand-in judges were always nice.

Ryan singled out Mike, Crystal and Casey to ask questions about what results night feels like leaving the viewers to wonder if there was any significance in his choice of who to ask.

He then sent Lee to safety with a bit of advice from Simon, who told Lee that if he kept believing in himself he actually had a shot at winning.

One safe, four to wonder their fate with no hope of reprieve until Lady Gaga and Harry Connick, Jr. sang a song.

Lady Gaga went first with her song “Alejandro.” She is one strange bird. She came out in a widow’s veil and cape looking like some sort of death witch. Underneath it she was near naked and covered in a fishnet spiderweb from head to toe. It even covered her face. She’s definitely out there. It was hard to even listen to the song as her get up and performance was so distracting. You had to close your eyes to actually hear the song. If you opened them again you saw what looked like an evil spider queen from a Spiderman movie.

Next up was Harry Connick, Jr. They replayed some of his moments as the American Idol mentor and two of the more memorable playbacks involved Crystal and Mike. He told Crystal she had a bird on her ear, referring to her big feather earring. He told Mike to drop that “I have a baby” thing. Then Harry sang The Beatles’ song “And I Love Her.”

Harry wore no earpieces. Back in the olden days performers didn’t have earpieces, they just came out and sang. Harry came out like an old school performer. Even the instruments he brought with him were old school.

The Idols did a group song next and I’d swear that Lee reads this blog because last night I said he should sing to the camera and show the world his eyes and lo and behold, tonight he did just that.

Harry told the story of his first meet with Frank Sinatra at Frank’s 75th birthday party. Harry was in his early twenties and sang at the event. He was scared to death. Henry Mancini was conducting the orchestra and when the moment came for Harry to start singing, he froze. He completely forgot the lyrics.

Harry finally did get the song out and it wasn’t very good and he was mortified so later, he cornered Frank in the elevator. It was Frank and his wife, and Harry and his girlfriend (now his wife). Harry tried to apologize to Frank and carried on and on. Frank’s response was to take the hand of Harry’s girlfriend and tell her, “You’re beautiful!” He kissed her full on the lips and left.

That must have taken the wind right out of Harry’s sails just as Ryan was about to do to one of the Idols. Ryan divided the Idols into two groups: Crystal Bowersox and Casey James, then Aaron Kelly and Big Mike.

Ryan put Lee on the spot asking him which was the safe group. Lee declined to answer. The safe group turned out to be Casey and Crystal leaving Mike and Aaron as the bottom two. As I predicted at the beginning of the show, Aaron was the American Idol voted off this week. Aaron and Mike hugged and that was a wrap for the week.

Tags: aaron, aaron kelly, american idol, bowersox, casey, casey james, cowell, crystal bowersox, degeneres, dewyze, ellen, ellen degeneres, frank sinatra, harry connick, kara dioguardi, lady gaga, lee dewyze, lynche, michael lynche, ryan, ryan seacrest, seacrest, season 9, simon, simon cowell

Category: American Idol 2010

The theme was old blue eyes himself, Frank Sinatra; the mentor was Harry Connick, Jr. The Idols had some huge shoes to fill, especially with Frank’s daughters Nancy and Tina in the audience. To pump it up even more, Harry brought several musicians from his own band and played the piano himself to accompany the Idols. No pressure.

Aaron Kelly

Up first was Aaron singing one of Frank’s best songs, “Fly Me To The Moon.” The song was way too big for Aaron and it totally swallowed him up. The song was too old for him and needed someone with life experience to make it real. It just wasn’t believable for me. Randy had been worried about how Aaron would fare being so young but thought he did a good job. Ellen thought the piano was a little pitchy and she couldn’t believe she didn’t hear any country. Ellen thought he showed beautiful vocals. Kara didn’t think it was as strong as last week though she did predict he’d be back next week. She told him he needed to fill the stage more. Simon agreed with Kara and added that Frank was the King of Cool. Simon said if Frank was a lion, Aaron was a mouse but that people would like Aaron because he tried hard.

Casey James

Casey was up next with “Blue Skies.” He really seemed to enjoy himself and he jived with the song but it was not the best song choice for him. The judges were really hard on Casey which doesn’t bode well for tomorrow’s elimination. I really hope he’s not the one to go but I am afraid for him. Randy called it his worst performance ever. Ellen didn’t seem to know what to say. For the first time she was lost for words but finally came up with, “It felt very stiff.” Kara told him he sounded like a lamb, ba-a-a-a, with too much vibrato. Simon said, “This is really uncomfortable.” I don’t think Simon wanted to be so critical but couldn’t help himself this time. He said, “You weren’t fantastic… you came over a bit embarrassed.” I think the problem for Casey was that he didn’t have his guitar which is an integral part of his performance. I think he’s losing confidence with the judge’s consistently giving him bad critique even when he does well.

Crystal Bowersox

Crystal strolled out in an evening gown, totally out of character for her but in theme. She sang “Summer Wind” which I’d never heard before. Crystal said she had a deep connection to the lyrics of this song. I’m afraid she’s falling into a black hole attempting to sing songs that send messages to her boyfriend. She isn’t doing nearly as well with that plan. She sang the song well and she did it better than Aaron or Casey but I just didn’t connect as I usually do with her. Randy called it one of her more subdued performances and said it was “sleepy.” Ellen talked about all the different sides that Crystal has shown and said she was really impressive. Kara liked her phrasing. Simon thought it was indulgent and said that she’d now had two “okay weeks.” He advised her that she needed to be in it to win it and that it’s not about her anymore (presuming this trend of her singing to her boyfriend). If she doesn’t get back to her roots it could cost her the big win. She’s got the talent to blow the others away but it isn’t happening right now. She’s one of my faves.

Michael Lynche

Big Mike came out dressed for the part in a suit, tie and hat. He’s lasted several weeks past the Judge’s Save. I couldn’t help but wonder tonight if the judges had regrets last week when Siobhan got voted off. Did they wish they hadn’t used up their save? Or has Mike redeemed himself? Mike sang “The Way You Look Tonight” and he owned the song. It wasn’t my favorite version of that song but he topped Crystal and I predict he’s definitely safe this week. Randy called it an unbelievable vocal adding, “Eyes on Mike! He’s in it to win it!” Ellen commented that Mike appeared to be the most comfortable on stage of the five remaining Idols and said that he had lots of charisma. Kara said he’d found the drama in the song. Simon said that the first three performances were okay but that Mike was fantastic and that it all just clicked. “Well done!”

Lee Dewyze

Lee closed it out with “That’s Life.” Harry said of Lee, “He looks like a new and improved version of me!” I expected Lee to blow me away this week and while he did better than some of the others I was a bit disappointed. One thing he needs to do and this could cost him big, he needs to look into the camera and show the world his eyes. They sparkle when he looks into the camera but he rarely does, either playing to the audience or closing his eyes. Time later to play for audiences, Lee, right now you need to play for the voters. I didn’t think it was a good song choice and he didn’t wow me the way I was anticipating. Randy however, loved it, and thought he stayed true to his rocker self. Ellen said she was distracted by Harry’s organ but made up for it with a huge compliment for Lee. She said if this was the last night of performances he would have won the whole thing. Kara asked him, “Do you think you can win? You need to believe you can win this thing.” Simon thought he showed confidence and personality and called it the best performance of the night by far. He must have felt a lot of support from Harry because Lee hugged Harry and then it went to the playbacks for voting.

Michael and Lee are most likely safe putting Crystal, Aaron and Casey fighting to stay in. I hate to say it because he’s grown so much but I think Aaron is the weakest link right now. America will probably send one of my fave’s home, though, as Aaron seems to have a pretty strong fan base. I sure would hate to see Casey or Crystal go.

Tags: aaron, aaron kelly, american idol, bowersox, casey, casey james, cowell, crystal bowersox, degeneres, dewyze, ellen, ellen degeneres, frank sinatra, harry connick, kara dioguardi, lee dewyze, lynche, michael lynche, nancy sinatra, ryan, ryan seacrest, seacrest, season 9, simon, simon cowell

Category: American Idol 2010