Right! So as most folks may know, Im not the biggest fan of American Idol, but this year I watched and kinda got into it. I feel that I liked it much more because contestants could also play instruments which in my opinion goes hand-in-hand with being a great performer. What I think American Idol got wrong is that an “American Idol” can’t be JUST a singer. They have to be a performer. A real performer… they need to be able to not only sing great but be able to understand, read, and play music and thusly a musical instrument.

Im sure i’ll expand upon this much further later, but here are some thoughts of mine for this season of American Idol:

David Cook should probably win. (writing this before the final is announced)

David Archuletta is a phenomenal singer and was my original pick for the winner back when this whole ordeal started, however, it has become incredibly and increasingly apparent that he has no personality and with the crazy stage dad that he apparently also has… who knows what is in store for that future!

Michael Johns should have been in much longer.

Carly Smithson should have been in the finals.

How in the deep blue hell did Kristy Lee Cook stay in the competition that long after she sang that HORRIBLE hee haw grand ‘ole opry bit in week 2 or 3???

Jason Castro was awesome. I don’t care what ya say… that dude could sing. Yeah, so he didn’t dig being interviewed and didnt speak very well when he was on camera… but you cannot deny that his version of “Hallelujah” (and even some of the other tunes he sang) was great… absolutely incredible. I think if he wasn’t so sick of doing crappy Neil Diamond songs that he would have made it to the top three. Why do I think he just got tired of it…

PROOF —> Jason Castro messed up a BOB DYLAN song… He screwed up Mr. Tambourine Man… How… HOW… when you are Jason Castro, how do you screw up singing Dylan? Not only that, but his 2 song set included the infamous Mr. Tambourine Man and I Shot The Sheriff… Whether you take it as the Bob Marley version or the Eric Clapton version, it’s pretty obvious (to me at least) that the guy just wanted to have fun and sing what he loived to sing…

Syesha Mercado got really lucky when Castro messed up Mr. Tambourine Man… She wasn’t that great and I think she started to believe her own hype after she got to the top five… she was in the bottom 3 how many times???

Brooke White… reminds me of Phoebe from Friends… and cried a lot. I get it, but damn, take it easy!

I don’t really care about the others, but let’s not forget about HOW BAD Randy and Paula were this year. Horrendous, I yell! Paula was definitely drunk or on something like she usually is… Can we please let her go and get someone a tad more competent in music… I don’t know… maybe MC Hammer?

Randy Jackson… Dogg… you gotta get away from the pitch, Dogg… you say the same thing every time and then Paula copies you, Dogg, it’s getting old, Dogg… It wasn’t your best performance.

Simon was spot-on except for when he though David A. was better than David C.

Seacrest gets funnier every year… just being a smart-ass… props for trying to rise above that mess!

While listening to Howard Stern in the morning, he has been mentioning that Idol is trying to figure out why their ratings are going down… Howard has his thoughts and I definitely have mine. Some are the same, but here goes:

1. Too Long - the show is too damn long. Like God said in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, “GET ON WITH IT!”
2. No one cares about Neil Diamond, Andrew Lloyd Weber, Dolly Parton, etc… the people that they bring into the show to teach or train the contestants are so out of the loop that i just muddies the show. I don’t want to hear these 17-28’s singing Neil Diamond! If you want to find the “Next American Idol”, wouldn’t you find more contemporary or just more current artists to do the show?
3. No more group songs. When the Idols do a group song in the beginning of the show its just crap filler. I don’t care. Nor does America.
4. Result show should be 30 minutes. Seacrest comes up, screws around with the contestants and then boom, you’re outta here. Done and done!
5. Themes should be current like the guest. Keep the music current… or at least standard.
6. More instruments. This year was better because of the instruments. I think they should branch out to “American Band” and get real music and get real artist on there.

The real American Idols… the backup band.