Ever since crooner Harry Connick Jr. sweetly but firmly beat last season’s “American Idol” contestants into tuneful submission with his insistence that they, you know, understood the words that they were singing, a lot of people who still cared about “American Idol” – a group whose numbers are diminishing all the time – rallied to have him replace somebody on the judging panel. Anybody, really. Seriously. Well, all except Keith Urban, who seemed to be more interested in the constructive criticism and support of the singers he was supposed to be judging than made-up diva beef or ways to conjugate “dog.” Like a judge.
Well, somebody was listening. Mr. Connick, Jr. will be joining Keith and returning diva judge person whose love don’t cost a thing Jennifer Lopez on the panel. Last year’s Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj have been sent back to wherever they came from, and original judge Randy Jackson has been shuffled off to the mentor seat previously occupied by Jimmy Iovine, where he’ll either be refreshed and newly energized or just be as ineffectual and pointless as he was as a judge.
Even though we appear to be at the “shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic” stage of the show, Connick’s hiring, along with the firing of producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick at least prove that FOX wants to make some big changes. Who knows what changes new producers and MTV veteran production duo Den of Thieves will make? I read in an interview that their favorite “Idol” contestants are Adam Lambert, David Cook and Carrie Underwood, which is a great sign. Lambert and Cook were both expert interpreters of older songs, had a great musical vocabulary, and were great performers. I was never a fan of Carrie on the show, but she’s a flawless singer and a huge superstar, so if they like her I’m led to believe that they are looking for an “it” factor and not mealy-mouthed kids or people with moving back stories who don’t have the goods to match. Yes. I mean Lazaro.
Connick’s presence, should he stick to the same formula he used as a guest mentor, seems to signal something very important, that the show sees the value in real critical advice, that it encourages staff who will be lovingly tough on the kids rather than shine sunshine up their butts because they don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
Connick’s attention to detail wrung an excellent performance out of finalist Amber Holcomb, who had been singing “My Funny Valentine” for years, even doing it earlier in the show, without any clue what it meant. Connick called her on it and made her take the lyric seriously, resulting in a chastened but authentic rendering. If he can do that as a judge, and insist that the kids take the music and themselves seriously, he might help turn this sinking ship around.
At least it as more of a shot.
