It’s a new season and a lot has changed, but how much has really changed?

Idol began with a great formula of funny personalities, train wrecks of performance, and enough actual talent to make you care. Unfortunately after we lost Paula, we realized how lucky they were with the initial judges. Paula may have been ‘the nice one’ but she was enough of a wild card that she was entertaining about it. Simon could be a prick but he was an amusing one and he was often the most insightful in calling out what we were all thinking in an amusingly insulting way. And Randy, well nobody could call out a ‘that was a little pitchy dawg’ like Randy.

So ignoring the transition judges, how are the new kids? Well they all seem to have a decent dynamic, get along, engage with each other and all that. Randy has stepped up to Simon’s chair and with it apparently the responsibility to tell it like it is. Unfortunately he’s not quite as critical and not quite as caustic and when a bunch of people are just fine I prefer a someone a little more perceptive and a little more funny. JLo and Steven Tyler have split up the Paula persona with enough nice to go around and although Steven is taking on a bit of the wild card I’m not sure it’s enough. Time will tell of course, they’re really just starting the live critiques of people who require more than a yay or nay.

What else has changed?

• The contestants are younger. Who cares. Though there might be one or two of the new kids who wouldn’t have been eligible I think for the most part they could come back next year and I wouldn’t miss them.
• Condensed semis. Potentially a good idea. The winnowing down period that is almost like the finals, but not, dragged on for quite a while with week after week of bad performances, but now one off night might mean the wrong finalists (though the dragging on process didn’t guarantee the right ones either).
• No more guest mentors. Thank gawd. Hanging with random artists and random critiques didn’t bring much, so hearing from A&M record’s Jimmy Lovine might give some real world feedback and his enlisted producers might help each of the arrangements work a little better, overall more entertaining, maybe not.
• Less extreme theme weeks. The jury is out. The more extreme themes (show tunes, country, etc.) brought out the worst in some of the singers who would never in reality be the kind of ‘artist’ who would sing such a thing, but it was sometimes illuminating to see how folks could handle a variety of material and ‘make it their own’ and also good for some bad performances.

And so who’s the next American Idol? The dudes are rocking it and although every year gives the option of a dark horse, I’m hoping red beard Casey, who seems to be talented and entertaining, can keep it going, and keep out of the hospital (ulcer?). I’m also keeping an eye on metalesque James and won’t count out belt it out Jacob and country boy Scotty.

The pain isn’t over, it just gets more serious. The semi finals are over and I will just come to accept the fact that the wrong four were kicked off. Todrick, Alex, Katelyn, and Lacey may not have been favorites to win, but they had more talent and potential than Aaron, Tim, Paige, and Katie. But it reminds me that one of the things that keeps Idol interesting is the possible injustice of it all. So I expect those four to go, even if it’s not in the order I would choose.

What else makes Idol interesting? That’s a good question and every year at this time I start to wonder. And I have to remind myself that Kris Allen, who wasn’t even an early favorite, was the one who took the title last year. So this year will favorites Crystal or Big Mike continue to shine or will there be another upset or just a limp to the finish line?

I will say that it’s as fun to see a performer pick the right songs, continue to improve, and show us why we really enjoy watching performances as it is frustrating to see folks not living up to their potential and the wrong people keep coming back. I’ll keep watching for now… though I may have to skip out on the next few weeks until we cull the herd. Well, maybe after this next week.

Ok so I have sort of missed the past couple of weeks, and I admittedly didn’t feel like I was missing much, I mean Gokey was never my bag. Watching the Adam and Kris showdown in the finale part one didn’t offer up any big surprised but for me it was still fun.

It did raise a few questions for me:

1. Does anyone who is going to vote really change their vote at this point?
2. Does winning Idol help or hurt you?
3. Is the winning song required to be lame?
4. Why does the finale need to be two hours?

So like we know, Adam has chops but there is def a styliness to him that not everyone is down with, and Kris is a good entertainer as long as he stays in his wheelhouse. Who’s going to take it? I think Adam is clearly the better talent and I’m tempted to give him the edge just for that. But America doesn’t always work that way and Kris might pick up more of Danny’s votes to go along with his girly fandom.

I guess we’ll all just tune in tomorrow night for two plus hours to find out who will be the next American Idol.