America Idol Wild Cards

American Idol can stretch out a show to lengths that would test even Plastic Man’s limits, but last night’s show was brutally long and boring.

So we get the finalists and then we go on to the wild cards. I’m sorry, but the American Idol wild cards make absolutely no sense. These are singers who couldn’t get enough votes to stay in the watered down 12 person competition in the first place, so what sense does it make allowing them back on the show for the highly competitive final rounds against the obviously popular singers unless it’s to just add another week or two onto the running length of the show? I mention popular singers only because American Idol is less of a singing competition than it is a popularity contest and anyone making it to the final 24 is obviously a good singer. That they didn’t make it to the final 10 isn’t saying they’re not suddenly a good (define good by American Idol standards) singer, but that they weren’t personable enough to have viewers vote for them.

So how did the judges do in their wild card picks by my estimation? Here goes:

• I think they got it wrong not giving Julie a second chance.
• Lauren (Turner) – yes, you can sing. You can sing better than most of the others, but look in a mirror. This is American Idol and people like you, well, you just don’t belong.
• Kendra – you got robbed!
• I think giving Ashton a second chance was a mistake and a first week boot is probably a safe bet.
• I think they got it right with Naima. Not that she’s necessarily that good, or better than Kendra, but she looks the role.
• In a three-guy field of weak singers I’m not sure that any one of these bland personalities is necessarily better than the rest, so it’s pretty much close your eyes and just pick one. I’m not sure they picked the best singer of the three (I think Robbie was the best overall singer but they picked the prettiest.

The hightlight of the night last night came for me at the very end when the show came back from a commercial and a panicked Ryan asked the judges for their final three picks. The judges weren’t ready so Ryan told us we’d instead go to Jennifer Lopez’s new music video and then we’d come back for the wild card picks. My cynical guess is that this was planned to keep viewers – or at least one viewer – from turning off their TV sets before the premiere of the video.

Don’t forget to check in with Vote for the Worst to add a little snarky fun to your American Idol enjoyment and to see who their week one picks will be. At this point, it looks like ‘She’s Not Diana’ Ashton and ‘One-Note’ Scotty are leading the pack.