American Idol… a whole lot of confusion

by Sam Hooper


Simon Cowell called Tuesday’s episode of American Idol "officially the strangest show we've ever done.” Simon was referring to that splendid moment when, halfway through the show, Paula Abdul critiqued both of Jason Castro's songs after he'd sung only one. The final five contestants had to sing two Neil Diamond tunes during an hour-long production, it was indeed an unusually frenzied evening, and the judges refrained from commenting on the singers' first songs. At the end of the first half of the show, Ryan invited all the Idol contestants on stage and then had the judges run through their thoughts on the first half of the show.
Paula, who is usually confused and staggers when commenting on performances said, “Oh gosh—we've never had to write these things down, uh, fast enough…Jason, the first song, I loved hearing your lower register, which we never really hear.” She was doing well until she said "Um, the second song, I felt like your usual charm, it was missing for me. It kind of left me a little empty." What? The audience was nervously snickering and stage manager, Debbie Williams quietly began freaking out as Paula continued, unaware.
"So, David Cook," Paula continued, until Randy saved the day: "Oh, they've just done the first song though, just the first one." The tension was finally broken with this apology from Paula: "I thought you—Oh my god, I thought you sang twice!”
At times, it seems as though the show is scripted. Paula’s notes could have possibly been written by someone else or she may spend all week trying to come up with comments that exceed her vocabulary. The show was so rushed and disorganized, lets hope for a better episode next time.