How to fix American Idol

A lot of you probably gave up on American Idol seasons ago, and I don't blame you. It's gotten pretty stale and it seems as though the producers have been flailing for the past few years - new judges, new theme nights, cool starburst backdrops - all to lift ratings that have dropped year after year, and to draw back the younger viewers that have abandoned it to go watch the Voice.

But after not watching for, I'd say three years, I got sucked back in this year. And not because of the ridiculous and totally overblown Mariah/Nicki catfight, because they had some truly exceptional singers on this year.

Yep, great talent and no one seems to know this. The subject of how to fix the show has been discussed at great length on many entertainment websites, and almost all have been unanimous, get rid of the judges, and let the contestants have a greater choice of song titles.

Me, I'd start with the judges. They paid Mariah Carey $18 million, a woman famous for needing to be told she's thin and pretty before every interview. She said nothing relevant, looked bored a lot of the time and made a lot of the critiques about her.
The less said about Nicki the better. The show spent too much time forcing the younger, prettier contestants through, even through bad performances.

I started watching So You Think You Can Dance, a show that gets far less viewers, but there, the judges are passionate, opinionated and genuinely in love with the medium. It's so much more fun to watch. And more importantly, the judges are focused on the contestants, not their own careers. Because watching someone grow into excellence is really fun, which is why American Idol became a monster hit.

That said, check out the winner of American Idol this year, Candice Glover, starting with her performance of Lovesong, and then You've Changed, which are both awesome and on You Tube.

And anyone out there watching Hannibal? It's violent, and gruesome and complex and several shades of awesome. The acting is great, and while I already know the basic outline of the story, it's still managed to really entertaining and surprising.