Well it’s been a while since we checked in on Idol, and the weeks and the performers have gone by… During this period I almost give up on tuning in week after week as it’s just a matter of time until we narrow it down to the top contenders. But somehow I still get upset when Alexis goes home before Anoop or Megan goes home before Scott.

But all is forgiven as long as Adam still keeps cranking out the winners. I actually missed last week’s performance show and it sounded like I missed Adam getting a standing O from Simon so I went back to the site to check out the performances.

And what do we think about the kids, and by we I obviously mean me:

• Adam – clearly the favorite, his voice, his performances, his song choice, his ability to mix it up while still presenting (as Kara might say) his unique artistry, is impressive
• Allison – the only other person who week after week sounds good and feels like she could actually be a recording artist
• Danny – has a good voice and some character, but he’s just got this awkward white guy singing vibe to him that makes it hard to picture him recording anything you’d buy
• Lil – also has a good voice but doesn’t seem capable of picking the right songs, showcasing her voice, or adding any personal style to her presentation
• Matt – has some chops and some style but is inconsistent and not quite willing to put himself into the Justin Timberlake box folks want him to be in
• Kris – a cutie patootie and though he’s not a powerhouse he seems to be picking songs that let him sing just enough, likable but not a ton of personality
• Anoop – though he won our hearts with his early enthusiasm he just doesn’t have the voice or the stylings to be a threat

So stay tuned, or just wait a few weeks for a little more riffraff to go, and see if Adam will be your idol. Next week Quentin Tarantino joins us for ‘Idols at the Movies.’

Between what America wants and what the judges want we’ve rounded out our thirteen finalists! And we’ll get to watch them week after week, after week. For those who don’t recall now we start the theme weeks which are a challenge for some, we’ll continue to hear lots of comments on the importance of song choice. Tonight we’ll hear the work of Michael Jackson. The format mostly keeps to Tuesday performances and Wednesday results (with ridiculous group numbers and dragged out results).

Of the competitors I predict Broadway boy Adam to go far along with MJB singer Lil, though admittedly Danny’s a crowd favorite. But what’s good about this stage is still the surprises, one of our favorites will tend to get flat week after week and one of the less known kids will start to wow with strong week after week performances. We hope. What’s bad about this stage is the kids that just don’t have the chops and having to hear them for weeks too many, as the worst one usually isn’t even the one voted off. Let’s hope Megan Quirkery and Anoop Dawg find a way to work it.

And yes it’s all up to America now. We do hear from each of our now four judges as to what they think, we’re agreeing with Paula that four judges may be too many but Cara is doing a good job with sensical comments. Though I would miss Paula’s slurring non sequiturs and her interplay with Simon should she not return next season. But for now it’s up to us to dial those numbers. The latest is that apparently they didn’t really plan to have that 13th contestant (at least not soon enough) because the usual telephone number format digits are only secured 01-12 and the version with ’13’ dials phone sex, whoops. We’ll have special digits tonight, use them or you can’t complain about who gets kicked off. Oh sure you can, it’s the American way.

After a couple weeks of Hollywood we’re finally narrowing things down. There are just still too many people at this point to really have heard enough of them singing to really get behind a favorite. And although I enjoy the train wreck of group night, I think it’s a ridiculous waste of energy for the kids and I don’t know how relevant it is to the solo singing they have to do on the show. Though I guess I try to block out the horrendous group numbers they do on results nights that I fast forward through.

I guess I also blocked out that the last show is just the annoying one-by-one bringing the kids into the ‘mansion’ to tell them yea or nay. I mean in theory if they’re not performing again then they could have just picked the last 36 (previous seasons only 24) when they narrowed it down by eliminating one of the four rooms. Though hopefully they at least took some time to re-review the performances, plus this time they did a couple sing offs for folks on the edge. Totally uncomfortable for them but actually seems fair enough, though how tough was it to pick the pairs. 

The other thing I wonder is how much the choice of which folks they feature impacts at least the early rounds of the people voting. I know I won’t be voting for Tatiana, the featured most annoying girl in the world. The jury is still out on the dude who plays the character Norman Gentle, not sure this is the right competition for that sort of thing. But from now on let the people vote.

I had given up American Idol for years but with the strike happening last year I figured it was a good way to kill some tv hours. And overall I guess it was. I’m least enamored with the early rounds of bad musical talent and start to get more engaged once they head to Hollywood for the narrowing down. Once we get to the final rounds there are weeks that I wish we could skip (you all know who most of the early eliminations will or should be) but it all adds to the moment where I find myself actually caring who is going to win. Yeah David Cook!

They discussed adjusting the format this year and focusing less on the early bad cattle call and more on the Hollywood days. And I did tune in to the first rounds for the one clear new thing, the fourth judge. Kara DioGuardi joins the gang and so we tuned in to see how drastic a difference this would make, and so far, not so drastic. She’s apparently qualified, written for and worked with tons of talent. She seems sane, knowledgeable, gets along with Paula (they’re apparently old friends), and is willing to stand up to Simon. But so far she just doesn’t add anything for me.

I’m out ’til Hollywood so we’ll see how things evolve. Though I was happy to catch the highlight of Ryan trying to high-five a blind contestant and then the moment he realized what he was doing.