"God Bless the Child" on Idol?

The poor fellow over-cooked the song to death and added every pyrotechnic, vocal inflection and scat-jab in his bag. Can't blame him but it made for an uneven delivery.That said, the guy has really serious raw talent as does the upright-bass fellow and a few others.

Anyone care to guess how much "work" Tyler has had on that face? Or how truly vapid Lopez is :o) Anyway, its a nice mid-week diversion with the kids. Almost as much to make fun of as there is to genuinely like.. Viewer manipulations galore but there are some young singers this year that are better than any I've seen there since Daughtry.

I could not get a read on what the lyrics meant or didn't mean to the singer just from watching his performance or tears afterwards. My take was that he had huge adrenaline going, spent every last dime of his energy and the aftermath was the release of all the emotion, energy and stress that had built up inside.

Now, maybe the song did have personal meaning as well but how would anyone know that, unless there was some explanation I missed? It's a cooler story if it did, but no way to know.

If he had skipped the scatting and delivered the song with one or two less pyrotechnical runs from high-to-low it could have had an even greater "effect" on us. It still ranks as a very memorable audition, maybe the best on the show. To me though, he was intentionally showcasing his every talent during the song, which detracted 'slightly' from the impact it could have had. That was my only criticism, if you could call it that. Can't wait to se that develop.

My 11 year old put it very succinctly as she watched the finale. "This isn't American Idol, its American Teen Idol".

That is the show's viewer demographic and they play to it. Randy's simplistic, moronic feedback (In It to win it"). Jennifer's cloying personality, her um, music video's ....and Steven's placating "I loved it" blurbs are not just teen friendly, they are intended to appeal to that crowd. Haley was fun to watch because she improved so dramatically, but listening to the three stooges (judges) was excruciating this year so I opted out once she was shown the door.

The show was already headed to "Teen Idol" status before Simon left. After last year's down ratings they finished the transformation. They dumbed down the feedback, lowered the age of entry and got what they wanted... Young viewers, young winners and content that makes it difficult to watch for 20 and ups.

Sure Tube, you make good points. I agree, talent was up, Ivine especially, and other coaches were great. I did sit through most all the episodes with my girls and laughed at some, ok, many of Tylers quips. As always our favorite episodes were the auditions --for their comedic value.

Lopez however, started grating on me right away and Randy? That guy is a dope, pure and simple. Sure, Cowell was too caustic at times and yes, chemistry last year was awful, but this was the other extreme--sugar plum valley. If Tyler could have conjured even a little insight with his feedback I'd give him a pass but instead he just rubber-stamp raved about everyone.

For what the show tries to be, it was fine. Yes it was something we watched together and debated, made fun of and at times enjoyed. The young singers were (mostly) entertaining to watch develop and seeing Haley find a groove and stay in it was good entertainment. There was a lot to like, but Lopez and Jackson were hard to take and my daughters comment about it being Teen Idol rang very true.

Several better singers went home and bland milk toast sailed through with judges raving about what at times looked to us like mediocre performances. That ultimately, defined the show. Llooking back, it was set up to play out that way from the beginning.

I know, I am sure he's brilliant...secretly. And "Journey Is the greatest Rock and Roll band in history." RJ :o)

I'm aware of what his resume is, just commenting on his, uh, performance as a judge.

Yes, Tube, you about hit that one on all counts. My gripe is about weak, often annoying judging and the show's authenticity .. at least for this way-post-teen viewer. Oh, and the group sing-alongs and Ford commercials? The girls hide the remote so I can't fast-forward them.

:o)