jueves, 20 de enero de 2011

» It's a kinder, gentler — and less successful — "American Idol" - Salt Lake Tribune (blog)

Maybe people really did like Simon Cowell. Wednesday's 10th-season premiere of "American Idol" — the first time Cowell hasn't appeared on the show as a judge — was down 18 percent in the 18-49 demographic vs. the ninth-season premiere.

That's a big drop, even though "Idol" still easily won the night in the ratings.

And it's too bad, because the new version of "American Idol" was surprisingly good. Less mean. Less cruel. No Simon.

New judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler were actually quite likable. Charming, even. And the show focused on feel-good contestant stories instead of nasty put-downs.

I'm not exactly a big "American Idol" fan — I watched Wednesday's episode because it's my job — by I rather enjoyed it.

Let's not throw too many rose petals at the 10th-season premiere of "American Idol," however. The fact remains that the horrible singers we did see were passed through a couple of rounds of judging so that they could demonstrate their lack of talent to Jackson, Lopez and Tyler. And there's something inherently cruel in that, no matter how nice that trio is.

And two hours of "Idol" remains about an hour too much to sit through in one sitting.

The more troubling question might be whether viewers actually want nastiness and cruelty. In which case, the show's producers are headed in completely the wrong direction.

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