Um...yay?
I'm okay with it, but I never forget that AI is first and foremost a business venture, and as such, forgettable. Simon Cowell is brilliant and spot-on, but he is a suit disguised as a V-neck sweater. And Seacrest? Also brilliant, in his way. Makes perfect sense that he's Casey Kasem's successor on American Top 40, because he projects that same squeaky-clean, transparent, context-free demeanor.
The show itself is a train wreck. The summer-camp singalongs, forced smiles, needless cameos, Abdul's Oscar-length speeches: all have got to go. And lose the inane Q &A, please. What do you know--I just trimmed down each episode to 15 minutes.
And yet, isn't AI the kind of show that rewards blandness and safety? Several veterans have gone on to viable careers, but I would venture to say only two of them--Kelly Clarkson and Chris Daughtry--have started to do anything musically distinctive. And with Clarkson, it took a while.
As for Cook, he was among my faves early on but grew much less distinctive as the machine lumbered to its end. I always thought his voice was a put-on, though, self-consciously "smoky" or "gravelly." Luckily, some interesting arrangements buoyed him.
And the hits just keep on comin'.
1 comment:
Yeah, I have to admit that Mike and I made it through the whole season in probably a quarter of its actual running time by recording the episodes on our DVR and fast-wording to the performances, the judges comments, and the results.
It's amazing I was able to connect to David Cook at all, considering I skipped over all those heartfelt interviews that are supposed to help you get to know the contestants better. And while I rooted for him all the way to the end, I definitely agree that he underwent a sort of sanitization the last few episodes. But I still liked his cover of the Collective Soul song.
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