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'American Idol' Season 10: Did you end up missing Simon Cowell?
When Simon Cowell left "American Idol" after nine seasons, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said the show would be taking the nice guy approach: "If you like people being mean to people, you'll miss it."
So, did you miss it, "Idol" fans? The "it" being Cowell, of course.
When Cowell announced he was leaving the FOX reality show, fans and critics were concerned "Idol" couldn't survive without him. In a poll, 55% of Zap2it readers voted that the show would be "terrible" without the British judge and said the show needed him.
One year later, "Idol" proved that it can do just fine without Cowell, thank you very much. In fact, Season 10's finale ratings improved on Season 9's finale, which also acted as Cowell's swan song.
But the question still remains: Does the show need Cowell?
During the auditions, the new judging panel flourished. Every line out of Steven Tyler's mouth was pure comedy gold and Jennifer Lopez's concern and interest in the contestants was obvious. Returning judge Randy Jackson was the table's anchor, providing viewers with just the right amount of the past so the changes weren't so overwhelming.
Then the Top 13 happened.
Sure, Season 10's batch of contestants may have been one of the show's strongest ever, but criticism was still necessary. It never came. It seemed as if Tyler and Lopez were afraid to say anything negative, especially after early frontrunner Pia Toscano was eliminated the night after Lopez gave her some constructive remarks.
The judges didn't need to go Simon Cowell on the contestants (Could you imagine his response to Naima Adedapo's dancing?), but they did need to point out areas where the singers could improve. Yes, it's nice to compliment their choice of attire for the night, but a critique of their vocals would be even nicer.
Jackson and Lopez took a little heat later in the season for their criticism of contestant Haley Reinhart. During Top 5 and Top 4 Week, Reinhart was criticized for her song choices, but not her vocals. She sang an unreleased Lady Gaga song, which Jackson didn't think was a smart move as no one knew it. When James Durbin performed 30 Seconds to Mars, Jackson said it was brave to take on a song not a lot of people would know. Hypocritical much?
During the Top 13, we often found ourselves wishing Cowell had a Twitter account or a blog where he voiced his opinion on all of the contestant's performances. We found ourselves missing the way a contestant's breath would hitch just a tiny bit when it was time for Cowell to critique their performance.
Now, it's your turn. Did you miss Simon Cowell during Season 10? Vote in our poll and then hit the comments to tell us why you miss him or why you think "Idol" is better off without him.
So, did you miss it, "Idol" fans? The "it" being Cowell, of course.
When Cowell announced he was leaving the FOX reality show, fans and critics were concerned "Idol" couldn't survive without him. In a poll, 55% of Zap2it readers voted that the show would be "terrible" without the British judge and said the show needed him.
One year later, "Idol" proved that it can do just fine without Cowell, thank you very much. In fact, Season 10's finale ratings improved on Season 9's finale, which also acted as Cowell's swan song.
But the question still remains: Does the show need Cowell?
During the auditions, the new judging panel flourished. Every line out of Steven Tyler's mouth was pure comedy gold and Jennifer Lopez's concern and interest in the contestants was obvious. Returning judge Randy Jackson was the table's anchor, providing viewers with just the right amount of the past so the changes weren't so overwhelming.
Then the Top 13 happened.
Sure, Season 10's batch of contestants may have been one of the show's strongest ever, but criticism was still necessary. It never came. It seemed as if Tyler and Lopez were afraid to say anything negative, especially after early frontrunner Pia Toscano was eliminated the night after Lopez gave her some constructive remarks.
The judges didn't need to go Simon Cowell on the contestants (Could you imagine his response to Naima Adedapo's dancing?), but they did need to point out areas where the singers could improve. Yes, it's nice to compliment their choice of attire for the night, but a critique of their vocals would be even nicer.
Jackson and Lopez took a little heat later in the season for their criticism of contestant Haley Reinhart. During Top 5 and Top 4 Week, Reinhart was criticized for her song choices, but not her vocals. She sang an unreleased Lady Gaga song, which Jackson didn't think was a smart move as no one knew it. When James Durbin performed 30 Seconds to Mars, Jackson said it was brave to take on a song not a lot of people would know. Hypocritical much?
During the Top 13, we often found ourselves wishing Cowell had a Twitter account or a blog where he voiced his opinion on all of the contestant's performances. We found ourselves missing the way a contestant's breath would hitch just a tiny bit when it was time for Cowell to critique their performance.
Now, it's your turn. Did you miss Simon Cowell during Season 10? Vote in our poll and then hit the comments to tell us why you miss him or why you think "Idol" is better off without him.
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Idol without Simon was not only devoid of flavor, magic, and excitement, it was also like a classroom left in the hands of a substitute teacher. There was nothing but empty praise and light criticism from the so-called judges, but there was no brutal honesty to help the contestants to keep stepping up their game. Pia was eliminated too soon because despite her enormous talent, there were other things that she needed to work on to become a star rather than just a great singer, and Simon was not there to point those things out to her. You also refer to that gasp of breath that the contestants take just before receiving THE critique that matters most. That was also very sadly missing. There was no difficult judge that the contestants wanted to impress most of all. That made the competition much less challenging this season. American Idol needs Simon Cowell, hands down, and it should have been cancelled the minute he said sayonara.
They don't need Simon, but they need someone to be critical, otherwise it's fluff. The Voice is better because the judges work w the contestants and have little critiques/assessments, even if they don't say much of value post-performance. jimmy ivine is no Adam, Blake, Ce-Lo, or X-tina.
This would have been an entirely different season with Simon. Much better in terms of results.
Great article pointing out how good the judges were before the competition became live and real. They didn't really know how to create balanced critiques, or even how to manipulate the viewers with their words.
Simon was also great in that you knew he wasn't pushing a book or album. I think Tyler and Lopez both focused too much on trying to look good so people would buy their products. Simon didn't really have that problem.
If you want to survive in the music business you need to be able to accept criticism. The problem with being to easy on the contestants is that it doesn't give them any reason to improve or step up their game. I seriously doubt many of them would be rewarded a record contract if they hadn't been on American Idol.
Put it this way had Simon been a judge, not in a million years would Scotty or Lauren both country signers which he despises the music, would have had a chance. His favourite would have been Pia for or James.
I love the show with JLo and Steven Tyler. Honestly I would have to say itd be better with Simon and no Randy. Quite frankly I'm sick of Randy and the stupid things he says over and over and over.
I never watched Idol when Simon was aboard. Since Jlo and Steve came on, i decided to give it a try. ILOVE IT, but only with jlo and steve, the most unlikely group of people who clinked together fine.
No I didn't miss Simon what I did miss was the Randy, JLo & Steven up until Top 9 week. Something changed at that point. I don't believe it's a case of the judges changing their minds but a case of Nigel changing his. The judges are the mouthpieces for the producers. IMO keep the new judges but get rid of Nigel.
Joan, that is a stupid thing to say; Who one in 2005, and who predicted it? To be honest, most of the singers this season were horribly off key, that is not opinion, it is fact. Having Simon was like having bootcamp, it is necessary for weeding out the weak, just like in the military. We needed him for keeping it real, which none of the three judges seemed to do. With Simon, Scotty and Lauren would have never made it as far, not because they are country singers, but because they are lousy. Scotty would have been told like it is: He is an impersonator and would be better off having a career as one. Am I the only one who sees that his heart wasn't in it that much? Any way, without Simon , we will see sugar coated comments, telling all that they are great, then having brainless idiots believe they are listening to great singers because the judges " said so". Bottom line is, with the original judges, it was the perfect balance of extreme critique, slightly less( but still honest) with Randy, and Paula Abdul with the pure esteem building , and sometimes nonsensical comments.
Pffft. Good riddance to bad rubbish I say. Cowell was an arrogant British bully on the show and unnecessarily mean to the core. I truly believe the only people who actually enjoy watching pit bulls like Simon Cowell and Gordon Ramsay tear into people who are trembling with fear fall into two categories: They are either sociopaths and sadists who love seeing another human being humiliated, bullied and verbally abused or they are people who were tormented and bullied in school and now they seek revenge and satisfaction by relishing the sight of another person get ripped apart in public. Either way, it is a sick pathology. The bottom line is that many love seeing abuse dished out and will eat up all television serves them until they are licking their chops for more. Yeah, you love it don't you? It's always great when it's someone else and we can watch them squirm and break down into tears isn't it? Karma baby. Get to know it, because it's coming around for you. No, American Idol is better off and a much more classy show without the scowling, brooding sourpuss sitting there just waiting to ravage and demoralize the next contestant. Whether the cruel persona Cowell and Ramsay display on television is just an act for ratings or the true character of who they really are (God help their wives or girlfriends) remains to be known for sure. Regardless, it is disgusting and people who enjoy it are no different than pigs rolling in the slop and ****. I hope X-Factor fails big time and Cowell finds himself working an actual, real job where he can spend his days having some boss or foreman bullying him around for a change and be on the receiving end of some of the verbal puke he dished out for so many years. On the other hand, that would probably be too much poetic justice to ever happen.