Early in the season, I was rather optimistic about the judges. Here’s what I said:

The new judging panel seems to be working out quite well – none of them are as useless as Ellen was last year, J-Lo is figuring out a way to be supportive and not sound Paula-nuts, and Randy is settling into an “overseer” role, keeping things going. Perhaps most importantly, as I said last year, they didn’t try to replace the “nasty judge” slot that Simon filled.

That was back in the semi-finals. Boy, was my early optimism misplaced. Here’s what I said during the top eight week:

They were doing a good enough balance of giving criticism and praise earlier in the season; this week they ladled on the praise so thickly everyone at home was liable to become diabetic. It’s almost like we took Paula Abdul, took out the drunkenness and whatever else she was on, then cloned her three times. It’s enough to make you wish for Kara DioGuardi.

If anything, they were even worse this week. Their comments this week were more of the same vacuous, useless praise. “In it to win it” has become Randy’s new “pitchy”. Steven Tyler is either a mad prophet (sometimes, he is remarkably prescient), or just plain mad. J-Lo offers more lucid “advice” than the former Aerosmith frontman, but hers is not particularly useful either – and that advice comes in between some rather blatant self-promotion. Oy.

Of course, viewer unhappiness with Idol is nothing new. Simon Cowell was, by the end of his Idol tenure, frequently clueless (with comments that made no sense), gratuitously cruel, or trying too hard to manipulate viewers to what he wanted. The less said about Ellen, the better. Kara DioGuardi showed some potential, but the team dynamics were never in her favor.

So judge problems are something of an Idol tradition. The odd thing is, however, no other reality TV show seems to have so severe judge problems. I don’t follow other reality shows as much as I do Idol, but I never hear Dancing With The Stars fans complain so much about the judging. If there is complaining, it’s about a point or so in either direction – not the kind of “are they out of their mind?” thoughts that inhabit the Idolsphere every week.

Even Nigel Lythgoe should know that judges on TV shows don’t usually get the kind of fire Randy, J-Lo, or Steven have received. After all, he’s a judge on So You Think You Can Dance. I don’t see the eternally-shifting judging panels there draw the same fire that the Idol panel does. Clearly something is off in Idol-land.

The effects of the failure of Idol‘s judges to, ugh, judge were obvious: with no useful feedback, contestants got stuck in creative ruts. I understand that the “kinder, gentler” judging is a direct reaction to the cruelty of Simon’s later years, but they’ve gone too far. Criticism does not have to be cruel (a point Simon largely forget by the end of his tenure). It also requires judges who aren’t afraid of a little fire coming their way. High-profile celebrities like J-Lo and Steven have images to protect; they may think that “being tough” would hurt their images. Pointless, personal criticism would; but reasoned, well-meaning criticism won’t. The question is whether they’re capable of it.

Steven is probably a lost cause, but that’s fine. One cheerleader on the panel is not a problem. Jennifer and Randy, though… they’re not lost causes. They need a serious sit-down with Nigel post-season – or even right now – to lay out what’s expected of judges. They are not cheerleaders; they are there to deliver honest criticism and help turn these unpolished singers into true singers who can make it onto the national stage. This isn’t rocket science. So why is it so damn hard for Idol to pull it off. I don’t know; given that Nigel is such a self-professed “control freak” it’s a mystery why he’s letting this pass unnoticed. Either the panel has no cojones to do what’s necessary, or he wants it this way. (The latter might make sense as a contrast to Nasty Simon, but even then it’s gone way too far.)

Whatever the case, I can say this much: it’s turned what should have been a good Idol season – and still can be, to be fair – into an immensely frustrating one.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 7th, 2011 at 12:13 pm and is filed under Season Ten. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.