The problem with American Idol

American Idol (AI) is back and it has a problem. The most popular talent search for television in the world, opened its 10th season last Thursday with an almost all-new set of judges. As everybody knows, the acerbic Simon Cowell is out of the show. So are talk show host Ellen De Generes who stayed only for the ninth season and songwriter Kara DioGuardi who was around for two. Producer Randy Jackson is the only remaining judge from the original set. With him now are pop star Jennifer Lopez and rocker Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.

Let’s face it, the trio of Randy, Simon and singer/dancer Paula Abdul, was bigger than any American Idol winner ever was. They sparkled together. They had chemistry. They were the ones we watched, listened to, liked, or in the case of Cowell, disliked. We watched the show last year missing Paula and we are watching now while missing Simon. We all know what happens to TV shows that lose stars. So did the Idol producers and I think it was an astute move on their part to jack up the star power among the judges this season.

The beautiful J. Lo makes for a glowing presence. Tyler, laidback now but still rakish, is every bit the rock star. Both are serious about the work and show themselves to be quite efficient judges. The problem with them is that they are too nice to the contestants and find it hard to say no. J. Lo was even reduced to tears by a sad story. There was even an instance when both she and Steven were swayed to give a yes to a pleading contestant.

There is nothing wrong with being nice. Randy is also his usual nice self. The problem is nice judges open the doors to the undeserving. And once the less talented contestants get into the finals, it becomes very easy for them to dominate the contest. They can mobilize an army of voters from among relatives and friends. They can even hire people to vote for them. They can win the contest but because they do not have star quality, that only real stars are born with, they end up with lackluster careers that cannot seem to take off.

This has already happened. Do you remember Kris Allen? Yes, he squared off against Adam Lambert and surprisingly won. What about Lee DeWyce? You don’t? I don’t either. It turns out he won last year. I believe that effort was made those past two years to keep Simon’s biting remarks to a minimum. He was getting to many haters. Besides, when you have three nice judges like Ellen, Kara and Randy ganging up on the Englishman, then there is no way he can cut and cut savagely through the forest to get to where the true American Idol is waiting for the chance to shine. That, I believe, was how he found Carrie Underwood.

Still, prospects are good for the show on its 10th season. All the elements for an enjoyable show are present. Tears, laughter, suspense, beautiful people and most of all, great music. Maybe the triumvirate of J.Lo, Tyler and Jackson will be able to bring back the errant viewers and lead us to another Kelly Clarkson.

* * *

Here is good news for those of you out there who are thinking of ways to celebrate the Valentine season without watching another concert. You might want to watch the return of the local staging of the award-winning Broadway musical Rent, directed by Robbie Carmona instead. Rent is very tragic and romantic. It is about artists coping with poverty and sickness while falling in love in the big city’s underbelly. I remember this version from two years ago with a particularly good cast and of course Rent has this great song, Season of Love choirs around here cannot seem to get enough of.

Produced in cooperation with Amber Ultralounge, Rent returns at Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium of the RCBC Plaza in Makati at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 13. Contact Chuckie 0917-5602111; Moks 0920-9796657; Janjan 0922-8216053 or Precious 0928-6721995 for tickets.