AMERICAN IDOL–TOP 12

Today, I had planned on telling you guys about either the wonderful Los Angeles production of Dreamgirls at the Ahmanson Theatre, or this seasons Oscar Suites, but I’m so upset about last night’s American Idol results that I can’t write about anything else right now. They announced the Top 12, and never before was it so disappointing.

Who’s voting? I seriously want these people’s names and numbers to ask them what’s in their minds!!! This season’s Top 12 should be sub-titled “Revenge of the Nerds.” There is no way these people are the twelve best undiscovered singers in America! It’s just not even possible. (I said the other day that Adam Lambert ruined the show for future contestants because there’s no one in the world who can live up to him, on any level. But c’mon. There’s just got to be 12 better singers out there than these people.)

And three of the four who were let go last night are among the best they have. Todrick Hall should have gone all the way to the Top 3, along with Crystal Bowersox and Michael Lynche. Even Mr. X, who really can sing and knows music much better than I, is p-oed about Todrick’s dismissal. He says he’s the best singer there. I think he’s at least close to that, but he’s definitely the only true performer this season. And the only good dresser, to boot. (I love how some creepy journalists rag on Todrick’s attire. That’s because they don’t know style! It’s like a mathelete dissing a cheerleader .)

There’s nothing wrong with being a nerd in general, but there is when it’s a singing competition, and the competitors can’t sing. At least if they were hip and had personalities, like Kelli Pickler or something, we would have some reason to root for them in life.

The people who should have been eliminated this week are Lee, Tim, Aaron (this year’s waste-of-time “Chicken Little,” in my opinion,) Katie…and Kara and Ellen!!! Those last two just bring nothing to the table. Kara still has the same few unproductive things to say as last year, only now with Paula gone, she thinks she’s all that. At least last year, you could see her insecurity about her statements. Now, she says the same few words (“who you are as an artist,”) [note: I actually just spent several minutes sitting here trying to remember anything else she ever said, and I can’t even think of anything!], but presents them like she just won a debating contest! She may just be the biggest nerd of them all!

I’ve stated since the beginning of the season that the finale will come down to Crystal and Michael, but since we have to suffer through all the shows until then, we should at least be able to hear some talent along the way. And Tim Urban (with all the awful hair) and Aaron Kelly (he’s so forgettable that I had to look up his name) are just not special. Or even close to it. But you have idiots who listen to moronic Ellen DeGeneres saying that those two are adorable, (does she know any other word?), so they vote for them.

And Lee Dewyze (another one I had to look-up) can semi-sing, but I feel that people are still confused that Chris Daughtry went home earlier than projected several seasons ago, so they think they’re supposed to vote for Lee now, to make-up for that “mistake” somehow. It doesn’t help that the judges treat him like the second coming, when every other he sings is flat!!! (One judge said last night that he was “consistent.” I agree–consistently flat!) If can’t-hold-a-tune-nor-a-key me can hear it, why can’t the judges??? I feel like he must be holding their families hostage. There’s just no other explanation for them to kiss his butt like they do.

And I wish that other journalists didn’t make like it was a contest between Lilly Scott and the pretty bad Katie something-or-other. They just pair the eliminated contestant with whatever one who’s staying to make it dramatic. Only the two of each sex who go home are the bottom two vote-getters. The ones they stand with to find-out their fates are just there for drama. (That changes when they get to the Top 12 shows, where they feature the bottom 3 each show._

I was okay with the curly-haired blonde girl leaving, because the only female I like is Crystal and I don’t care about the others, but Lilly Scott should have been the second-to-top chick. Instead she doesn’t even make the Top 12??? Are voters nuts? I was so glad that she spoke the truth upon her elimination because it was what all intelligent folks were thinking. Yes, we agree that she did “do good,” and that we don’t have a clue as to what “America” wants.

When are they going to make it just 1-10 votes per phone line? Didn’t they learn their lesson after Kris Allen beat-out Adam Lambert last year in Arkansas-gate? (His state jammed the phone lines for Kris, thereby earning him the snickered-at dubious title, “Arkansas Idol.”) But no, they think there’s some pride to be had by boasting how many millions of votes they get. When Ryan claims, “We had sixty million votes!,” Mr. X adds, “From one thousand homes.”

And just how was Alex Lambert, with one of the most original, wonderful voices ever heard on this inane show, supposed to get confidence with the judges constantly ordering him to get it??? If ever there was an event to make you lose your confidence, it’s having others yelling at you to get it. No contestant could have ever been more lackluster than Kris Allen and he went all the way to the top! Not every singer has to be Lady Gaga, for goodness sake. And how rude of the producers was it to make sure that they kept poor Alex up there crying through the commercial break, just so they could show us his misery when they returned? Repulsive people running this show.)

But back to Todrick Hall for a moment. Since the beginning, Mr. X has said that he has the best voice this year. And he comes camera-ready; he’s beautiful, knew enough to get his teeth fixed without being on the show first, has the only sense of style among this year’s crop, sings great, and PERFORMS, people!!! He’s the only true performer up there! Yet, the voters listen to the judges put him down week-after-week. He should have been the top voter among the guys.

But Big Mike has this season’s featured story, (and it seems like the voters are gunning for minorities this year,) so Todrick just fell through the cracks. He needed to let us know about some hardship he faced, to make it through. Or not let us know he did Broadway with Fantasia. If he had instead appeared in the movie of Dreamgirls, with Jennifer Hudson, who’s much hipper than Fantasia nowadays, maybe it would have been a different story for him.

I can’t tell you how upset we are that Todrick’s not in the Top 12. (And yes, I did vote. I put in about an hour voting for Todrick, Alex, and Andrew Garcia. A lot of help my paltry 50 or so votes were, though, compared to all the middle-Americans-without-teeth fanatics out there.) Mr. X doesn’t even want to watch the show anymore. (He never really wanted to anyway, except last year to hear Adam.) And I almost don’t want to either. Unless next week, there’s some new twist, and we can eliminate Katie, Lee, Aaron, and Tim with one fell swoop. Maybe that will be the show’s new attention-getter, and I’ll be all for that eventuality.