The judges in American idol are there for a purpose. They choose the people who will make it to the semi-final, and then from this point onwards it is up to the public to vote for those that they like to keep in the competition. Although the judges have no power to decide who gets eliminated each week, they certainly have the power to make comments - and part of the appeal of the show is to listen to what they have to say.
It is rather clear that this year the judges seem to be reluctant to criticise the contestants. We seem to miss Simon Cowell's usually scathing remarks, and, unless the standard has risen so high this year, must wonder why all the comments tend to be so positive.
In hindsight, the judges have not been terribly helpful to the contestants. By praising almost every contestant's performance, they make it look like everyone is doing very well. However, the ordinary person such as myself frequently finds a performance rather flawed or boring, and wonders how the judges can only find good things to say.
It is America that votes, and other than the fanatics who vote unconditionally for weak contestants, there are people who might like the judges to hint at who to vote or not vote for. Ideally, the best should stay long in the competition, but this does not always happen. People will get eliminated rather unexpectedly at some point, sometimes far earlier than they deserve. The judges should understand the psyche of the masses, and hope that their comments will encourage people to support the better contestants.
Casey and Pia - two cases:
We have had two significant instances so far of people being eliminated. Yes, America made the mistake, and should be blamed each time, but if we take into account the judges' views, maybe we should not be too surprised. Perhaps if they had told the truth, rather than used too many euphemisms, the outcomes might have been different.
Casey finished bottom of the final 11 week. Being such a "good" singer, the judges were shocked that this could have happened, and used their power to save him. However, it is unlikely that most people would have been terribly bothered about losing him from the competition as he did not really stand out as a star. The public seemed to find him acceptable but not phenomenal, and he eventually ended up sixth. Did the judges really need to intervene to save him?
Just two weeks later, this action of playing the trump card looked like a disastrous blunder. Having used it up too soon, the judges were left helpless and America stupefied when Pia was eliminated in a poor ninth place. What an amazing blindside (and I thought this sort of thing only happened in Survivor)! Everyone was appalled at the outcome. She was such a great singer, certainly one of the very best, and no way should she have gone home at that point.
Why did such a bizarre elimination mar the competition? There was nothing wrong with Pia's singing, and she was clearly one of the best. The judges had earlier mentioned she was always singing ballads and that she should change her image a little. They never mentioned that her dress sense was poor and that her rather mature image was not so appealing. She was certainly not "hot", and would not have received votes based on her outward appearance. I could imagine Simon commending her on her singing but harping on her needing to change her image. So she may have neglected this crucial area, and with the judges giving only positive comments about everyone's singing, they did not influence people to avoid voting for a poor singer.
Final 5:
In the final 5 week, we have finally heard the truth. The judges gave their comments after each performance as usual. But on the results show, the comments from the mentor Jimmy were broadcast. He was under no obligation to say wonderful things, and he told us what we feel the judges should really have said. We shall focus only on the bottom two.
On Lauren's second song (Unchained Melody), J. Lo said very few words - just that it was "beautiful", and there was "nothing to judge". Steven and Randy also said something positive. Later on, Jimmy told us the truth. Lauren had clearly dodged some difficult notes (to be precise, the line "I NEE-EED your love...") which he did not pretend not to notice, and correctly predicted a bottom two finish.
Jimmy also commented that Jacob lacked confidence, and that he was another candidate for the bottom two. He was spot on, unlike the judges, who gave unhelpful compliments as usual. My impression was that he seemed to always sing like a gospel singer. No one had ever mentioned that his singing every week was invariably in the same style (even to the extent of having a few musicians on the stage with him) and that something should have changed - especially as he had been in the bottom three twice before. Unsurprisingly, he was eliminated in fifth place.
Conclusion:
American Idol is not in need of another Simon Cowell. It is not necessary to criticise at every opportunity. As a person with no musical expertise, I have no problems deferring to the judges' opinions. But if I find a performance boring, I would expect at least some mention by the judges that this song might not appeal to everyone. What is the point of the judges praising a contestant who the public cannot quite see the merit of? Whatever they are saying, it is not very helpful. We are left with the shock blindside of Pia to regret, and must feel the judges are partly responsible.
