American Idol Finding It Hard To Hit Those High Notes On Its Ninth Season

By: Angelina Berube
Posted In: Opinion

For the past five seasons, I have tuned in every week to see the talent, and lack there of, on the TV show, American Idol. Every season I usually have a favorite picked out by the end of the Hollywood week auditions and can tell who will be the top contenders in the Top 12 round. This season, now in its ninth and possibly final as rumors have stated, no one contestant has that “wow” factor that makes me want to jump out of my seat and want to download their song on iTunes.

Even though recently certain contestants have started to grow on me, I am still not blown away by their performances as a group overall which leads me to my biggest problem with the show currently- the judges’ appraisal of the contestants. I understand that the judges are there to make suggestions on what the performers can improve on and give them encouragement about their performances, but after hearing some of those renditions and then hearing the judges’ appraisal of lackluster performances, I find myself wondering if the judges have lost their minds.

This is most evident in the judges’ use of the “save” on contestant Michael Lynche. Last season, the show switched up its elimination methods and implemented a “judges’ save” where, unanimously, the judges can save a contestant who has the lowest number of votes at the end of one week’s show. This past week, the only save of the season was given to Lynche. To say the least, the save is unnecessary in the show. There is usually a reason why a contestant is in the bottom three and then voted off.

Michael Lynche butchered “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles, turning it into this theatrical number. Although most of the judges praised him for his performance and making the song contemporary, the main issue of mine with the show, Lynche deserved to go home. Week after week, he delivers the same type of performance, over sung and ultimately boring. Yes, he stays on pitch, but his renditions of the songs he chooses are drawn out and kill the mood of the original song.

In the long run, the save is pointless. It gives a false hope to contestants that just because the judges view the contestant as worthy of staying, that they actually have a shot at winning the whole thing. But in actuality, they will be voted off shortly, if not immediately the next week.

Besides the save, what bothers me is that in this season in particular, I feel the judges are giving each contestant week after week the exact same reviews. With the exception of this week’s critique from Simon Cowell, one of my favorite contestants, Tim Urban, always receives the same criticisms from the judges most of the time. This past week, Randy Jackson said he had to start judging Urban based on how good of an “Urban” performance he gave, not in relation to the other contestants. This was a low remark on Jackson’s account.

This also goes along with the judges telling contestants they just made a certain song contemporary. This past week’s theme was the songs of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. It made me cringed every time the judges, particularly Kara DioGuardi, said a contestant’s rendition of a song gave the song a current vibe and basically transformed this old song into something playable again on the radio. What? As a fan of The Beatles, I took this as a huge insult. The Beatles’ music is timeless and speaks to every generation. It does not matter that the song was written in 1964. These songs are amazing and do not need to be changed in the first place.

Although this season is my least favorite, I do still enjoy watching the show. I’m hooked. Each week I hope the contestants do better than the last. I want the contestants to improve and change my opinion that there is no “wow” factor this season. I root for my two favorite contestants, Siobhan Magnus and Tim Urban every week. However, I no longer value the opinions of the judges besides Cowell. The judges are ruining this season for me. They hype up certain contestants, but then those contestants don’t deliver. Just let them sing. If the people voting don’t vote for someone and they are in the bottom, then I’m pretty sure they belong there.