American Idol

Is it just me, or is this this worst season yet? I know, I know, we only had the first "real" episodes this week (I don't consider the audition/Hollywood rounds to be real episodes. They're just wastes of time), but I'm just not impressed. I don't really like anybody yet and the show has had too many weird moments and pointless changes.

Has enough time passed that we can admit the inclusion of Kara was a mistake? She's not bad by any means, and some of what she says has value, but she certainly doesn't say anything the other judges haven't said. Has she ever disagreed with the other 3 even once? Has she added anything exciting or different? It was a pointless addition that just makes the judgment segments drag on that much longer.

We had a top 13 instead of a top 12? Ok, that was definitely an unexpected, emotional moment for Anoop, who thought he was out for the second time, and then realized he was still in. But did they decide to up the group to 13 because the talent was too strong to cut or because there wasn't enough talent and they needed to spread it that much thinner? I ask because I don't know.

And now there's a new rule unveiled last night that the judges have veto power to save somebody from elimination. They can only use it once per season, it has to be a single, unanimous decision by the judges (or, more realistically, by FOX), and it has to be used before they get to the top Five. Does anybody really like this or think it makes any sense? Why even let people vote if the judges are going to be able to override that vote, even if it's just the one time? The voters are the people who are either going to buy or ignore the winner's album. Don't we know best? Forcing a people through won't make me like them more, it will make me like them less.

But they justified it by saying that Chris Daughtry could've been saved and gone on to win had the judges been given this power years ago. First of all, Daughtry is doing just fine without help from American Idol. Had he won that year, he'd probably be playing some club in Branson, or wherever the heck Taylor Hicks is right now. And, second of all, Daughtry made it into the top five so their veto power wouldn't have been able to save him anyway!

It's just one more thing that will make the show go too long. So now everytime Ryan is about to eliminate somebody, we have to sit through him saying, "One of you will be going home... unless the judges decide to save you tonight."

I suppose, from a certain point of view, the Judges' save almost legitimizes having the losers sing their song again after they get eliminated. Since the judges decide after the song, the show actually has a reason to have the loser sing again aside from just sadism on their part. I say sadism because it has always been cruel to force some crying, emotional kid to sing after getting eliminated, and because they force the audience to sit through the song they voted against the night before. Have the person with the highest votes sing, not the the one with the lowest!

Does anybody else remember when the elimination show used to be 30 minutes long? Even that was too long. They should just have a crawl on the bottom the screen during House (or whatever) that says, "That Jorge guy was eliminated. No, the judges didn't save him."