A year after Paula Abdul quit the show 'American Idol' Ellen Degeneres took the spot as the fourth judge. Her company includes Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell, and Kara DioGuardi. Speculation on Ellen's judging skills began well before the show began. "I knew it was going to be bad as soon as they announced it," said Brian Wheaton, who started a Facebook group called "Ellen is going to RUIN IDOL!" Also, Simon Cowell announcing that this would be his last season on the show did not help. The first two shows DeGeneres was a little tentative, not using her humor, which is her strong point. But now the final 24 contestants are up, and all comments made by DeGeneres will be heard, live and unedited.
By now it should be known that the show 'American Idol' is about more then displaying muscial talent, and valid critiques of that talent. The show is equally famous for displaying people who think they are amazing singers, but sound like horrible. The judging is sometimes brutal, but has tried to be as accurate as possible when judging purely musical talent. I understand bringing celebrities to the show brings refreshing, new personalities, and might help ratings. But aren't there enough extremely popular celebrities in american society today that have a background in music? The answer is obviously yes. It's true, Ellen DeGeneres is a fan of the show 'American Idol', and she is famous. But, she has no idea what she's talking about when she's trying to direct young, aspiring singers who are serious about pursuing a career in music.
'American Idol' needs to take a step back and realize why the show is successful. It is because audiences appreciate everyday people blowing them away with a beautiful voice. Yes, the judges are popular too. Simon Cowell's notorious comments probably equally as entertaining as the singers at times. But the reason Cowell is funny is because he knows what he's talking about. So 'Idol', stick to the music.
By Joseph Fuller
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Ellen Degeneres does have a huge career in show business, and I think there is a lot of similarity between her profession and the music industry. I haven't watched American Idol since Ellen became a judge, so I was wondering what kind of comments she's made to the contestants. Does it have to do with the technical side of singing? I can understand if they wanted to limit the comments to purely about singing, but I would think she has insight into being successful on stage and on television. I've heard Simon make comments about appealing to audiences and the show business image, in which case I would think she has pretty valid opinions.
ReplyDelete